Does your resume tell a story?

Click image for Weekly Ramble video

I have several coaching clients who are in career transition. These are amazing individuals who have been doing a type of work for most of their career, and now they want to do a different type of work. Perhaps in a different sector, field, or at a different size organization. For some it’s a shift, for others, a hard turn.  It is not a coincidence that most of these clients are in their late 30’s or 40’s. They have spent the first part of their working life acquiring education and skills, proving their competency, establishing core values, and climbing the organizational chart. Now they are looking to pivot, to find work that aligns with an emerging desire to make a difference in the world, and most significantly, to create the working conditions under which their success is measured by their wellbeing.

Our work life, like your relational life, has its own natural rhythm. The task is to find the connection between the change in your work or career and the underlying developmental rhythm in your life. William Bridges.

In the past, the resume has functioned as a list of things you have done in the past. However, if your resume only represents who you were, it is unlikely to get you work that reflects who you want to be. Assuming you know ‘what’ you want, (the meat of the work of a career transitions coach and client) it is vital to build a resume that signals those desires to the potential employee. If you don’t, they might assume you are looking to do the work you’ve already done. Right?

In our informational and creative age, here are three things employers care about:
1)  What motivates you?
2)  Do you have an adaptable and developing mindset?
3)  Do you understand how your attributes and transferable skills will meet the unmet needs of the organization?

Here’s three things the 21st century employer cares much less about than they did 20 years ago. Bridges refers to them as the 3 E’s:
1) Education – Unless your education is vocational or industry specific, it just doesn’t carry the same weight it used to. I know… it’s painful to think about. Employers want to see you have it, but they are not as interested in where you got it, or what you studied. Additionally, in recognition of the systemic barriers that prevent BIPOC from having equal access to higher education, some socially responsive organizations and corporations are removing degree requirements from their job postings.
2) Experience – By this I mean, how long you have been in the job. It’s the difference you made that matters, not how long you were there. In fact, because adaptability is so valued today, a long tenure at a company can work against you.
3) Endorsements – a referral or recommendation can be helpful in getting your resume read or even an interview. But there are often power dynamics between the employer and referrer (they went to Harvard Business School together and frequently trade favors) that could result in a courtesy interview situation. Most importantly, only the employer really knows what attributes are required to get the job done. And, emotionally intelligent employers are looking to understand a candidate’s areas for growth, and referrals seldom go there.

You can’t rely on your cover letter to sell yourself. What if they don’t open it? If that possibility fills you with horror, that’s an indicator that your resume isn’t telling your story.  How can you structure the first page of your resume to read like a snapshot of who you are as a human being and professional? Here’s my 5 suggestions to ensure that your resume tells the story of who you are, what matters to you, and the difference you can make. Your resume should:
1) Reveal your core values through achievements and milestones - You don’t have to list everything you have been responsible for in your previous positions. It’s boring and they will scan over it. Focus on selected achievements and milestones, big or small, that were meaningful to you and impactful to others and to the organization.
2) Codify your professional identity - How would you answer the question, ‘What do you do?’ Create a heading that succinctly articulates your whole professional identity. For example, mine is Coach. Consult. Lead. Search.
3) Promote your potential - Be future oriented! How could your cumulative skills and experiences transfer to the position and help the organization move things forward.
4) Illustrate your whole-self - There’s no such thing as work life balance. There’s just life. “I am myself for a living.” (James Taylor). The things you love and value in life can be valuable assets to an organization.
5) Document your career evolution - Show ways in which you have invested in your development as a professional, by taking risks, failing, falling and getting back up, moving to a new company or place, surfacing stronger after a challenging organizational transition, taking on new responsibilities that are out of your lane, seizing training opportunities etc.

Overhauling your resume is a necessary step along the journey of any career transition. There is a great deal of reflection, reimagining and exploring to be done before you start. Again, if you know what you want, what you are good at, what matters to you, and the difference you want to make, it will write itself. I’ll leave you with the words of management consultant Peter Drucker. Good luck, and you know where you find me if you’d like to partner with someone to write your story.

Successful careers are not planned. They are the careers of people prepared for the opportunity because they know their strengths, the way they work and their values. For knowing where one belongs makes ordinary people, hardworking, competent but mediocre otherwise, into outstanding performers. Peter Drucker – Management Challenges for the 21st Century