If there is one topic of major concern to a job seeker it’s the resume. It is the common starting point of a job search, and it seems everyone has an idea on how to make the perfect resume.
That’s why Jeff Lipshultz’s blog post on How Much Is Your Resume Worth is so timely, and important. What’s better is that some real experts have commented on his post with relevant and insightful comments…a must-read for people who need to improve their own resume.
People like Bill Vick of Employment Digest who reminded us that networking is at least as important as the resume itself. And JobAwfulTruth showed us their own series on the resume. Then Dorothy Beach hit an important point, that job seekers need to be able to validate proof of ability. Miriam of Keppie Careers adds that job seekers need a muli-facted approach these days. (A point we try to make daily with our own job search engine Linkup, which should be one site of many to check for jobs. LinkUp only shows jobs from company websites. Cindy Kraft exposes one of the issues confronting job seekers who try to find someone to help them with their resume…almost anyone can SAY they can help, like being an AVON rep. Susan Joyce made the concise point that a one sized resume has not worked for years. Good point as well from Robert Dagnall, the resume guru, who says that a cheaply done resume can, in fact, be costly in terms of lost opportunities. Dave Opton, the CEO of Execunet, compares the resume to a good piece of sales collateral, an important piece but used in conjunction with other techniques. Organizations hire people, not paper, Dave says. Going further, Dawn Bugni of The Write Solution justifies the actual cost of having a professional help with your resume.
Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter says a real pro offers ‘career introspection’ as well as simple resume crafting skills. There are dozens of great comments that add wisdom to this poll and discussion.
I hope you can jump over to Jeff’s blog and read all the comments. Excellent.
3 users commented in " Improving Your Resume "
Thanks for the mention. The reality is, just like in every profession, there are great resume writers and there are terrible resume writers. While a client comes to us for a resume, the value in working with a professional is that they walk away with the intangible … a clear understanding of their marketable value proposition (what they have that a company is willing to pay to get) and how to clearly articulate that value. That’s a process that is intensive and requires partnering with the client.
If there is a disconnect between the resume and who the client is, then enough work hasn’t been done to allow the writer to find the client’s voice. It should not be my version of the client that appears in the resume, but rather, the authentic voice of the client … loud and clear.
Cindy Kraft, the CFO-Coach
Resumes only became customary after World War II, as a means for employers to eliminate unqualified candidates among scores of GIs looking for new jobs. Not much has changed. Nowadays, nearly every individual, starting a job search, begins by developing a resume, but decision makers only spend and average of ten seconds scanning them. A resume cannot do the heavy lifting in a job search. Its purpose is strictly to function, in conjunction with a follow-up call, as a marketing tool to initiate a conversation with the decision maker. Your goal should be to present your background and accomplishments in a visually appealing, reverse chronological order, with dates, succinctly and honestly. Stay away from functional resumes, extensive formatting and leaving dates off to hide age.
“People like Bill Vick of Employment Digest who reminded us that networking is at least as important as the resume itself.”
Kodus to Bill in emphasizing networking at this point in time. In my short experience as a recruiter and years of experience as a job seeker, there are certain facts that are not out in the open. Like the simple fact that a certain percent of job opportunities are not advertised in traditional media.
So where do you find them? Through people, conversations, and engagements. If you just talk to the right people and at the right time, you’ll be surprised that you’ll be ahead of the pack in your job search by playing it smart.
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