Resume My Life

Always keep your resume updated, just in a case a great opportunity comes along.

In these days when nothing is certain and change is everywhere, that seems like a great idea. So I dutifully compile my work experience and skills on a clean document, using readable fonts, bullet points and action words, keeping it to the maximum length of one page.

Project complete, I look it over and think, “Who is this person?”

Fair or not, there are many things that could be assumed about someone who has been with the same company for over 20 years, most of them not good. Add to the equation that my career of choice finds itself hanging off the edge of a cliff holding onto a precariously skinny branch hearing snapping sounds and the prospect is more worrisome. And the fact that I’m in my 50’s? Ah yes…there’s that too.

I’ve had success in my career, but the world is changing, the way we do business is changing, and I am changing. So how does one become what they were meant to be when your resume speaks to who you no longer are?

In the “old days”, people would read your cover letter and resume. Real people. They would open the envelope and unfold the contents. They would hold that piece of paper that represented ‘you’ in their hands, and feel the quality of the carefully chosen stock. They could read between the lines and pick up on nuances and personality intended to reveal just enough to make them want to set up an interview. 

Today, electronically submitted resumes are screened by a computer. Unless your application contains key words and information programmed in their search criteria, a human being might never know you applied. So after hours of agonizing over your application and putting yourself out there for inspection with a hope and a prayer, you may get an automated response indicating you will never hear anything from a human being, ever- if you get a response at all. 

Efficient? Perhaps, especially in these times when an interesting job can get hundreds of responses. Effective? I say no. Not because I’m a “fuddy-duddy” who doesn’t understand technology, but because I’ve been around long enough to see the difference in the ‘old way’ vs. the ‘new way’. Almost none of my great employees had the perfectly matched, relevant work experience that a computer would be excited about. Almost all of them showed a spark of excitement or enthusiasm that computers could care less about. But it’s that non-scannable spark that made them great.

With nothing to lose, I’ve decided to re-write my resume to make it even more repugnant to computers. My new skill set: I always let people cross the street. I’m authentic. I don’t lie. I can bust a move. I check and fill my own oil. I’m a survivor. I try to make a difference. I love learning. I find typos everywhere. I can get ready in 5 minutes. I don’t get sick on spinning rides. I’m an excellent driver. I have a million bad ideas, but a couple of really great ones. I listen. I spend more time researching a vacation than I spend on the actual trip. I eat dessert. I’ll never leave the copy machine paper tray empty. Resume scanning systems and I do not get along.

Confident that my new resume better reflects who I am, I realize the next opportunity will most likely happen the same way my career has unfolded: Someone who knows someone who knows someone I know needs someone exactly like me. 

Low tech? Yes. Effective? Definitely.