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Can a resume be more than a "door opener"? It's no secret that resumes in general have a lousy reputation. A good resume is almost an extraordinary exception. Why? Why do many hiring authorities view resumes as having limited value in the selection/hiring process? Is there a connection between the lousy rep resumes have and this fact: predominately they're self-prepared by job-seekers seeing them as a necessary evil in a process they think is unchanged from 5, 10, and 20 or more years ago? In answering those questions, let's first look at the bigger picture of the current job market and the era we live in, one of rapid pace, heavy job demands and an unrelenting sense of urgency. Both can be instructive in shaping an outlook and developing a search strategy and self-marketing message leading to more than simplistic job replacement. The current job market is characterized by relatively low unemployment. Some experts are going further in describing conditions as the leading edge of a long-term structural labor shortage. Seemingly, this is ideal for job-seekers looking to move up the food chain or maybe unhook from management systems and work cultures that aren't a good match for them. In this rapid paced era, advantage in job-seeking goes to those who have command of their written (e.g. resume & letter of intro) and spoken message (e.g. interviewing). One mistake many make in marketing themselves is to assume they need to show extensive talent so they reach for everything but the kitchen sink and put it in their resume. Their misguided zeal buries what they do really well and makes it hard for a stressed hiring authority to figure it or them out. Not the outcome wanted. Hiring managers often hire because of a single talent (e.g. technical skill) a candidate has. In high tech sales hiring in the past, for example, it was key for a candidate to demonstrate they could turn numbers. In other words "sales" skills were most highly prized. According to some knowledgeable search professionals, that's changing. Now, preference in sales positions is given to technical proficiency first and sales skills second. Hiring authorities believe they can take a person with the requisite technical proficiency and strengthen their sales skills if need be. The options for a person in an organization that's changing their preferences is to either quickly "skill up" (not always realistic) or search for an organization that prizes whatever it is they do best and know how to present what that is on paper and in person. For many job-seekers, "selling themselves" ends up meaning "selling themselves short." This happens as a result of choosing vagueness they mistakenly think "expands" their marketability when all it does is make them look fuzzy to a busy hiring manager. It happens as a result of resume content that dwells too heavily on job descriptions and duties instead of specific outcomes. It happens as result of resumes that compromise credibility by featuring the quantity of the candidate's skills rather than the quality of the results. It happens as a result of resumes deficient in describing the challenges and their context that give perspective to the achievements. Yes, the resume can be more than a simplistic door opener if it is seen as a key part of the branding process. Properly drafted it can proactively influence the nature of the interview "dialogue" rather than letting it drift into a one-way interrogation. By judiciously leaving out some details, it can be a basis for talking points and amplification during the interview that can ease the stress of an interview, and turn it into more of a conversational rather than inquisitorial process. Which kind of process do you think leads to more heads and hearts being won? |
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