The typical résumé is often historical in nature. This does not mean that a reader will find evidence of the exact location of Atlantis or the true meaning of the Declaration of independence within its words. It usually means that the résumé lists positions a person has had and what duties were involved in each position. It’s not that there is anything wrong with that; it’s just that it lacks impetus and direction. Where should the reader go after reading about all the places you have worked and all the things you have done? Perhaps directly to jail without passing go?
You will be passed over if the interviewer cannot picture you working in his or her company. A good résumé allows the reader to imagine your skills being put to work in the potential employer’s company. Something in your résumé must make him or her see you as a yet undefined possibility.
Make your résumé a strategic rather than a historical document and future-oriented rather than past-directed. Select and highlight those aspects of your background that you want to offer and state them in ways that relate to the needs of the current market. To help with this, ask yourself:
• What kinds of skills do you have that the market may also want?
• What kinds of things would like to do next?
• What do you have to offer that may give you credibility or negotiating leverage?
Remember that only you can control your résumé. Determine the impression you are trying to create and make it happen. Tell the interviewer the kind of person you are. You are so much more than your credentials, and résumés are cold hard facts with no humanity injected between the words.
Keep at it. Good luck.
Related Reading:
“What Are Hard and Soft Skills?”
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