I read a lot about strategies people use in their job hunt, and strategies that "career counselors" push to, in my opinion, benefit themselves, and probably one of the biggest lines I see fed out there is, "the resume is no longer relevant" or something along those lines. To all those that actually believe that; I hope you'll reconsider because without a resume it just might make your job hunt tougher.
Now listen, everyone gets lucky sometimes, and everyone has a personal network, a professional network or knows someone that has a great job where there is an opening. And there are absolutely legitimate success stories out there where you will hear about people getting hired in unconventional ways, but that is not the norm.
I do believe that there are many helpful tools out there that can help you stand out and help you make connections to get warm leads into interviews, but you've got to have a strong resume to make it further than the interview. Use web 2.0, use your networks, be creative and think outside of the box about how you brand yourself. This is a marketing exercise, after all. You are your own product. But be careful of the "job coaches" out there that are trying to sell you something "new and different" by eliminating the need for a resume. You might get lucky, and they most certainly will have some valuable tools and ideas, but if they tell you "don't worry about a resume, it's not needed anymore" I hope you'll tell them, "Okay, thank you for your time." And walk out (or hang up).
I work in technology, and for a fortune 100, global organization. If any company is going to be driven by a "new way" of finding candidates, we'd be it. Guess what the single most important document our recruiters and hiring managers use to gauge interest in a candidate is? I think you've figured it out!
There may come a time when the concept of a resume is no longer relevant, but I don't think I'll see it in my lifetime. So, don't leave out an essential part of your brand messaging. Get to work on your resume!
Questions or Comments? Please post them here or email josh@resumeguy.com.
Now listen, everyone gets lucky sometimes, and everyone has a personal network, a professional network or knows someone that has a great job where there is an opening. And there are absolutely legitimate success stories out there where you will hear about people getting hired in unconventional ways, but that is not the norm.
I do believe that there are many helpful tools out there that can help you stand out and help you make connections to get warm leads into interviews, but you've got to have a strong resume to make it further than the interview. Use web 2.0, use your networks, be creative and think outside of the box about how you brand yourself. This is a marketing exercise, after all. You are your own product. But be careful of the "job coaches" out there that are trying to sell you something "new and different" by eliminating the need for a resume. You might get lucky, and they most certainly will have some valuable tools and ideas, but if they tell you "don't worry about a resume, it's not needed anymore" I hope you'll tell them, "Okay, thank you for your time." And walk out (or hang up).
I work in technology, and for a fortune 100, global organization. If any company is going to be driven by a "new way" of finding candidates, we'd be it. Guess what the single most important document our recruiters and hiring managers use to gauge interest in a candidate is? I think you've figured it out!
There may come a time when the concept of a resume is no longer relevant, but I don't think I'll see it in my lifetime. So, don't leave out an essential part of your brand messaging. Get to work on your resume!
Questions or Comments? Please post them here or email josh@resumeguy.com.
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