Spoke to a potential customer today who had paid someone else for resume writing services and was now looking for additional help because he was not happy with the results. To keep his identity confidential we will call him Harry.
Harry emailed me his resume and we reviewed it online while we spoke over the phone. When I opened his email attachment, I was not immediately impressed, because his resume was a plain, black and white, nothing-special-to-offer type of resume. It did not pop. The position he was seeking was not clearly visible to me, the bulleted points had no quantifiable information, and the resume content was a weak attempt to promote skills in various different with no personality jumping out at me.
As I communicated to Harry all the problems with his current resume and how he and I could solve each resume issue, I grew increasingly animated (not kidding). I hadn’t realized that my voice got stronger, more energized, and I was literally coaching him on how his resume is not just a resume but an account of his career life!
Harry became very motivated and eager to work with me. He said (and I quote), “I want your enthusiasm to transfer onto the page of my resume—that is what I want.” That is when I realized, I had entered that zone, again, during my conversation “THE ZONE WHERE EITHER I SCARE CLIENTS AWAY OR CAPTURE THEM AS LIFE-LONG CLIENTS.” Harry was not scared away. Good thing.
After our conversation, I reflected on what transpired during this call between Harry and I, and here is what I deduced and now would like to turn it into some value for you:
I write resumes because I sincerely and passionately believe a resume is so much more than just a resume. A resume is your life history, account, biography, story, script…whatever you want to call it -–it is a synopsis of what your career life has meant to you, has produced for your bosses, how it has helped your colleagues, your customers, and without documenting it on paper, how it has played a role in your family life. Think about it. Your resume needs to reflect how well you have invested 40+ hours a week, on average of 50 weeks a year, for as long as you have been working. Therefore, you need to create a document that motivates, inspires, makes you proud, and more importantly-- excites and convinces your new employer to call you in for an interview.
This resume balancing act of making you feel confident while first targeting the needs of your new employer is a very fine line to walk, because, as I have said before, if something makes you proud, but is meaningless to your new employer—then your resume lacks functionality and purpose. Yet, I assure you, you can create a document that reflects your accomplishments, tells your unique story, and is relevant to your new employer.This is where all that talk about finding your niche, your brand, your unique selling proposition, and targeting your job search will come in handy (more on this in another post. Stay connected).
My point? Don’t approach the writing of your resume as “it is just a resume.” Sit down, reflect, be your own cheerleader, and write your resume with a focus on the new job target while omitting your weaknesses and promoting relevant value. Whew! You got some work to do.
When you are finished (now this is really important) go over the resume again. But, this time, ask yourself what the last 10 years or so have meant to you (focusing on the positive). How have you grown? What did you take away from each job? What connects each job to the other? Who is this person on paper and would you be interested in meeting this person?
If you feel just a tiny bit moved or proud when you read your polished and heavily edited resume, then you can at least be certain your resume does not come across as just another resume in the sea of resumes submitted daily during this tough job market phase. Oh! Make sure your resume visually pops... immediately! Take a look at our resume samples.
Good luck,
Rosa E. Vargas
