How to Write a Resume so You Don't Lose the Job
I've always secretly despised resumes. This is not to say that we don't need them; unfortunately we do. They are a necessary evil in the land of branding and worldly success. But I have to say they are the root canals of the job search, and without the anesthesia.
My problem is not just that they all look mind-numbingly alike (though they do), or that most are dreadfully dull (though they are), or even that every job hunter thinks that more is better than less and packs these babies to the point of bursting...
My issue is that typical resumes require serious heavy lifting on the part of the reader. It is up to them to decipher what your value is, what problem they have that you are the answer to, to digest all the tasty morsels and bon mots that you are offering.
Think about it: what if you were to write a Personal Narrative--no more than a hearty paragraph long--that accompanies your resume on its critical mission, so that BEFORE scanning your CV, I would know how to think about you, I would have your brand embedded in my brain, and I could then turn to your resume merely as a form of corroboration for the narrative I had just read?
Isn't that the object of all marketing? To distinguish a product from its competition, to stand out from the crowd, to create its own "category of one," separate and distinct from all the wannabes around it?
Stay tuned: examples will abound!
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There's no catch and it's absolutely free. Just email me your current resume.
Print This/ Hang Near Desk
My late-in-professional-life-crush on Seth Godin continues unabated. OK, so I was tickled that he pinged me back after my last post about him. It just goes to show how a little "reach out and touch someone" can make all the difference. He is so prolific, such a blasted content and wisdom machine, that I steered clear, even when people I really admire kept bringing him up, going to his events, quoting him endlessly. Enough, already!
But I decided to take him up on his offer of reading him vs Oreos and baby, you haven't let me down. Here's what he had to say today in his blog and, as the title of this post implies, it's worth a little ink to print it out.
Effort takes many forms. Showing up, certainly. Knowing stuff (being smart might be luck of the draw, but knowing stuff is the result of effort). Being kind when it's more fun not to. Paying forward when there's no hope of tangible reward. Doing the right thing. You've heard these things a hundred times before, of course, but I guess it's easier to bet on luck.
And that's the key to the paradox of effort: While luck may be more appealing than effort, you don't get to choose luck. Effort, on the other hand, is totally available, all the time
It's easy, especially in these last few weeks of economic wrack and potential ruin, to lose heart, to lose the faith necessary to put yourself out there every day, to market yourself and to brand your business with the same dedication and certainty we all felt when the sailing was smoother. Why try, we wonder, if everything around us is collapsing anyway.
But giving into that fear isn't our only option and we can find the inspiration we need. Consider this recent Hubspot (another worthy read) post:
But, I do believe that we can get ourselves out of this mess by basically stepping on the gas pedal of innovation and doubling down on our respective career and business growth strategies. And not doing anything, or retreating from our strategies because we "fear" it could get worse, would be disastrous for each of us individually, the businesses we manage and the economy collectively.
It's all another way of saying, as Churchill famously did, that "we have nothing to fear but fear itself." These next few months may be some of the toughest we've ever seen but it's no time to let up.
Energy in always equals energy out. Especially now.
Meet Me on the Road
Catch me if you can in December! I'll be talking about Personal Branding to the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Lunch and Learn series. Sponsored by Constant Contact.
Interested in bringing me to speak at your organization? Email me at lyn@skyepr.com.
With a tip of the hat to Garrison Keillor:
Be well. Do good work. Stay in touch.
Lyn
What We Do
Whether in the executive suite or as an entrepreneur, every leader must win the hearts and minds of their customers. We work individually with small-business owners, entrepreneurs, sales executives, vice presidents, and CEOs to develop the messages, stories, and winning performances critical for top-performer advancement and success.
We offer a full range of individual brand consulting packages, as well as ongoing personal brand seminars and workshops. Our work is hands-on and highly interactive, teaching you how to determine your innate brand value, and your market differentiation, AND how to leverage your personal brand as an in-demand market asset.
About Lyn
Lyn Chamberlin, founder and principal partner of skye|PR, is an Emmy Award-winning television producer. She has more than twenty years of experience in the design and execution of strategic public relations programs, sales training, and leadership coaching. She is a former Director of Communications at Harvard University and a Vice President for Communications at MIT. As Director of Television Programming for The Monitor Channel, she participated in the launch of the award-winning 24-hour international cable news channel. A television producer, writer, and corporate media consultant, she uses her reporter's eye for finding the stories behind the people and companies that she represents.
A graduate of Columbia University, she lectures frequently on strategic communications and personal branding.
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