A networking colleague of mine recently recommended a number of articles, including one by Meridith Levinson entitled “Give Your Resume Sex Appeal“. I suspect that the reason David Perry sent me the article (apart from the fact that they are good) is the fact that each featured him – That is OK I sometimes do the same to network connections of mine.
Levinson states “You know you should tailor your résumé to the job to which you’re applying and to prospective employers’ needs and challenges”. I have heard this statement on many occasions over the years but have always disagreed with it. To me crafting a new resume to suit the current role that I am applying for is to me too much hard work. I do however invite your comment on this and other topics in this article.
I think it is important to have a good resume that demonstrates the value you can bring to an organisation. I have normally only had one resume, which has gone through countless generations (as I learn and adapt). In fact I am considering doing another version in the next few weeks and to please David this one will be entirely Guerilla in origin built from the ground up. With my active resumes I have found it necessary to have two: one with a Financial corporate focus; and a ‘normal’ one. The main reason that I have done this is because banks and financial institutions want ’special words’ included that normally bore everyone else to tears. This way I can satisfy two audiences.
Anyway back to the title subject. We all know that SEX SELLS. It is one of the basic rules of marketing. But if you take the viewpoint that sex does not sell, I will agree that it does cause attention. I would love to make my resume extremely sexy using pictures and not words (NO NOT THOSE ONES! Get your mind out of the gutter!). Sometime last year one Mind Mapping software supplier challenged people to put their resume in a mind map – I liked this idea but worried that my audience (Presidents and CEOs) will not appreciate it.
If you want your résumé to get you to first base with a potential employer, it has to push the all the right buttons.Very true! You can do that with logos and with recommendations – printed in the body of your resume, but is there space? According to David Perry there is. For more on David Perry’s views read “Guerilla Marketing for Job Hunters“. This does mean that you have to learn how to use Microsoft Word properly. Much will depend on the use and placement of text boxes in order to fill the space effectively. Funnily enough I have had some very competant programmers ask ‘what is a text box?’ when I make such a statement.
In my experience few users understand more than about 5% of Word’s functionality, but that said you can do a lot with that 5% of functionality, but that is another story.
Your resume has to be good! Nothing less than your future career is at stake as soon as you send it out. I have always sought to be at the cutting edge of resumes, however in the current climate it is necessary to shine out like a bright light. However draw solace from the fact that the reason you are not being contacted by employers may be more due to the state of the economy than the state of your resume.
Do you include logos of your former employers into your resume? I would love to do this, but do find that the size of the file goes up as soon as you do. This is a question of balance. and recruiters can be afraid of pictoral resumes – I have tried it and gotten feedback they do not understand what I am showing them and if the recruitment agend does not understand it they will not pass you along to the approved pile. Think about all of the audience with what you are presenting.
More jobs are found today through networking than through recruiters today (and that percentage is going up with the current hard times). In an earlier article on this site I stated “Staying in work or getting a new job depends largely on having a strong network” so what do you do if you don’t know anyone? This is a problem you can face when moving to a new area. This is discussed by Furtune Magazing in the article “How to get a job when no one is hiring“. This is where a different approach is required.
Every tried sending a fold-up chair to a prospective employer? Buy a cheap fold-up chair and sent it to the target manager (know the name of the person) with the message “You can’t say you don’t have a chair for me now!” as well as your resume added to it. This is another suggestion made by David Perry – You can guarantee you will be seen in a different light. Even if the company is not hiring the manager may see you, and you may get the chair back if you ask nicely to do the same trick on someone else.
During the course of my search I have found it essential to develop a good Plan B that will make you money (even if it is below your prior standard of living). Develop your Plan B early and even make it your Plan A at the appropriate time. I am working on Plan B right now and do have 3 clients.
