The Value of Your Resume – in Real Terms, Pt. 2

(Cont’d.)

In reality, as a headhunter with over 20 years of experience on two continents, working with those who populate every level of employment and position, from the ground floor to the board room, let me tell you, your resume represents two things. It is a calling card with your contact info and your marketing brochure (representing you, the product) and that’s all! All it is meant to do is to help you get a foot in the door by providing information about you; it’s just a door opener as well as to provide a preview of your experience to a potential employer, but once that has been accomplished, then what?

Completely lost in the minds of too many people are the critical interview skills that most people have lost or, if you’re under 40 – you have never learned. As a result people are walking around thinking their resume will bring them success in getting a job!

Of course you need a decent resume, but it is in reality a small component in the overall process; it is no wonder people are so frustrated. If you think I am off-base, if I’m not being sensitive enough you’d better grab a tissue because I’m telling it like it is. If you read this blog regularly, you are not among the clueless zombies out there bumping into walls and wondering why they get nowhere. Or, you’re at least striving to do more for yourself, which means you are already setting yourself apart and ahead of many others. If you know someone who’s frustrated and doesn’t know what to do, give them a gentle nudge – or if necessary a tough-love slap on the back of the head and refer them to this blog because finding work in this difficult economy, during this recovery is tough and getting tougher and you’d better evolve and adapt to meet the challenges.

For the record, I am not suggesting you don’t need a resume, yeah you do, but it’s just a piece of paper. Maybe you still think I am exaggerating so, okay, let’s say you have a great resume or CV, written by a real certified professional and it helped you to get an interview. After you are seated before an HR screener or a hiring manager and the introductions and pleasantries are out of the way and they say to you, “So tell me about yourself?” So now what? Please, don’t say you’ll just recite and repeat what’s on that wonderful piece of paper, no, no, no, that simply won’t fly. But it did get you five minutes into the interview process and served its purpose; now it is relegated to that of a mere reference sheet with contact info and it is at that moment the resume you spent so much time perfecting is no longer of much use; now, it’s your turn. So what are you going to say, or do? How much is that resume into which you’ve invested so much time and relied so heavily upon now worth, from that moment forward?

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