Do I Need a Resume?
YOU PROBABLY ALREADY HAVE ONE, whether you want one or not.
Let me explain.
No, ‘Old’ doesn’t mean an outdated draft of your resume. ‘Old’ here means “the kind of resume you’ve always heard about, since you were a kid.”
In the days before the Internet’s popularity the only way an employer could learn much about you prior to hiring you, was from a piece of paper that you handed them or mailed to them, ahead of time. On that paper was a summary of what you had done, and where you had been.
It was of course what we call “a resume.” It was (and is) also called your curriculum vitae, or C.V. for short. From that piece, or pieces, of paper, the employer was supposed to guess what kind of person you are and what kind of employee you’d be.
And that was about the limit to what an employer could learn about you, save for references or hiring a private detective.
Because the employer’s information about you was limited to the paper you handed them, you were in command of what the employer knew; you could omit anything that was embarrassing, or anything from your past that you have long since regretted. You had control over how you came across to a prospective employer.
Now, welcome to the twenty-first century. That control is gone. There is a new Resume in town, and if you’ve been at all active on the Internet—if you’ve been on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, or if you have you own website or webcasts or photo album or blog or tweets—then there’s hardly any limit to what employers can learn about you. They have only to ‘Google’ your name and see what turns up. And there you are revealed (or will be) in all your hidden glory.
What will they see? Those impressive achievements you’ve made, where you far exceeded people’s expectations—they’re there; but so are those playful photos you’ve allowed your friends to post on your page, that make you look like an idiot. They’re there, too. And more.
All these things, together, comprise your New Resume, a richer body of data about You than your old Resume ever hoped to be. And from this, now, prospective employers can better guess what kind of person you are and what kind of employee you’d be.
Or at least they will think they can, even if personally you feel the Internet is only offering a distorted, ‘fun house mirror’ picture of you.
So, the answer to the question “will employers need a resume from you,” is: actually, they’ve already got one—if you’ve been at all active on the Internet. It’s The New Resume—all there is about you on the Internet—courtesy of Google. And at least half of all employers, at this writing, go looking for this New Resume before they hire you, or anyone else. That number will only increase as time moves on.
So, what can I do about this New Resume, when heaven knows what they’ll find?
Actually, you’re not as helpless or as vulnerable here, as you might at first suppose. There are actions you can take, and four things you can do—edit, add, fill in, and expand—to improve the way you look on the Internet. Let’s drill down.
Edit. First of all, think of how you want to come across, when you go in for a job interview. Make a list of adjectives you’d like the employer to think of, when they see you. For example, would you want them to think of you as: professional? well informed? creative? hard working? team-member? born leader? disciplined? honest? trustworthy? kind? Or what?
Secondly, ‘Google’ yourself, and go over everything the search engine pulls up about you. Go over any pages you have put up on social sites like Facebook, or MySpace, or YouTube, or Flickr and look for anything you posted there, or allowed others to post, that would cause a would-be employer to think, “Uh, let’s not call them in, after all.” Look particularly for unflattering pictures or four-letter text.
If you find anything you don’t want an employer to see, you have two options. One is: look to see if the site allows you to choose privacy settings. If it does, choose “friends only” or some narrow permission like that.
Your other option is to remove just the offending item. If you don’t know how to remove an item from a particular site, put the following into a search engine like Google: “how to remove an item from my page on Facebook” or whatever. You’re hardly the first one with this need to edit. With any site you can name, someone’s already figured out how to remove stuff, if it’s humanly possible. Trust me. The inventiveness at work out there is mind-boggling.
Add. Next, write and post the Old kind of resume right on top of the New, as it were. Once you’ve written it, post it everywhere online: on the omnibus job boards, famous job boards, community bulletin boards, and niche sites. Post it, above all, on the actual website of companies that interest you, if their site allows that. (You have chosen companies or organizations that interest you, I hope.)
Just remember that this resume—this piece of electronic paper—may be and most probably will be copied to multiple sites, with or without your help. After that, there is really no way for you to ever take it down. It may hang out in cyberspace for the next one hundred years. So, make sure you’re pleased with it, before posting.
If you need help, ‘Google’ “how to write a resume” and you should find oodles of help (a resume’s structure is even outlined on Wikipedia).
If after all this advice, you still can’t write one to save your life, look up ‘resume writers’ in the phone book’s Yellow Pages. Or ask around, among your friends, for who they think is good. You’re interested in not how their resumes look, but how many have gotten their clients an invitation to come in for a job interview.
During these brutal economic times, this posting of your traditional resume will work better with smaller companies than with large. (“Smaller companies” are typically defined either as those that have 100 employees or less, or those that have 50 employees or less. Probably we need a new vocabulary, like: “small companies” and “small-small companies.”)
Don’t expect any acknowledgement or reply from companies. Studies have shown that less than 45% of employers ever acknowledge resumes even when posted right on their own site. So, just post the thing, cross your fingers, and pray it has arrived at the right place at the right time.
Why should I post this Old type of resume, when my New Resume is already spread all over the Internet?
Well, let’s consider the historic purpose of the Old type of resume.
It has traditionally had but one purpose: to get yourself invited in, for an interview. Nothing more. We have been told that the resume is not there to ‘sell you,’ or to secure a job. It’s only there to get an interview. ‘Selling’ is what you do after you’re in the interview room. It’s your task, not the resume’s.
So, the traditional advice has been: before you post it read over every single sentence and ask yourself this one question: “Will this make them want to invite me in, for an interview?” If not, omit that sentence. Above all, your resume is no place for ‘true confessions.’ (“I kind of botched up, at the end, in that job; that’s why they let me go, as I’m sure they’ll tell you when you check my references.”) Save that also for the interview room, and near the end of the interview, at that.
But with the advent of the New Resume—all there is about you, scattered all over the Internet—a new purpose has been found for your carefully written resume: to summarize in one succinct place what you most want a prospective employer to first see about you. Before they see all the rest.
That done, your next task is to fill in.
Fill In. Next, on any Internet site that allows you to fill out a profile, do it. Fill it out completely. Cross every t, and dot every i. Leave no part of the profile blank unless you have a very good reason. As my friend Guy Kawasaki says, “You should fill out your profile like it’s an executive bio, so include past companies, education, affiliations, and activities.” Moreover, as time goes on, be sure to keep it up-to-date. There is nothing that makes you look less like a professional than having an obviously outdated profile from two years back or more.
Oh, and get on LinkedIn, if you’re not already; it’s the site of first resort when someone is curious about you. To help them find you, put a link back to your LinkedIn profile, as part of your email signature.
Expand. Expand your presence on the Internet, so there is a greater likelihood that an employer will trip over you. How to do this? Several ways.
Forums. Professional sites like LinkedIn have forums, or groups, organized by subject matter. So do other social networking sites. Look through the directory of those groups or forums, choose one or two that are related to your industry or interests, and after signing up, speak up regularly whenever you have something to say that will quietly demonstrate you are an expert in this subject area. That way you will get noticed by employers when they’re searching for expert talent in these fields.
Blogs. Start a blog (short for “web log,” as you probably know), if you don’t already have one. It doesn’t matter what your expertise, if it’s related to the job you are looking for, do a blog, and update it regularly.
If you already have a blog, but it roams all over the land, in terms of subject matter, then start a new blog that is more narrowly preoccupied with your area of expertise.
Post helpful articles there, focused on action. Generally speaking, employers are looking for concrete action, rather than lofty philosophical thought. Unless, of course, they represent a think tank.
Let’s say you are an expert plumber; you can post entries on your blog that deal with such problems as “how to fix a leaky toilet,” etc. That type of thing.
And if you don’t know how to blog, there are helpful sites such as www.blogger.com/start which can give you detailed instructions.
Videos. If you’ve been asleep for the past few years, you may not have noticed that presentation is moving more and more to the visual. Otherwise, you’re bound to have noticed.
There are the incredibly popular video sites: YouTube is in a class by itself, but there are also Vimeo, Jumpcut, and others.
Then there are the photo sites: Flickr, Picnik, and the like.
And finally let’s not forget Netflix and Hulu.
So, if you’re trying to expand your presence on the Internet, one of the things you might consider doing is posting a video on your blog. Vimeo and Jumpcut are among the sites which make that easy.
You can add a small video clip even if all you or a friend have is a simple little camera such as the Flip video camcorder, which you can pick up on Amazon for about sixty bucks (used).
Thus our plumber, above, wouldn’t have to just write out instructions for fixing a leaky toilet. He could actually demonstrate the steps. A video will make your presence on the Internet more noticeable. Post one, whatever else you do, on YouTube.
In sum, people, including employers, will usually pay more attention to a blog that has video than they will to one that just has text, text, text. In video lurks astonishment, wonder, and joy. Think Paul Potts. Think Susan Boyle.
Web Site. If you’re truly determined to expand your presence on the Internet as much as possible, start a website of your own. On your favorite subject or expertise related to the kind of work you’re looking for. Go to sites like Yola.com for free help and instructions.
It seems to me that all of these maneuvers are assuming that employers are prowling the Internet looking for job-hunters who could fill their vacancies. But in fact, aren’t far fewer employers doing this, during this brutal economy?
Undeniably. But they have friends. Who have friends. These friends may be on the Internet for other reasons than looking for job candidates. But they can’t help noticing if someone really stands out, as they’re circulating through cyberspace; and they may mention it to an employer friend who could use you, sooner or later.
Also, what you are doing here is assembling a portfolio of resources concerning your talent and achievements, that you can refer prospective employers to, whenever you make contact with them. Thus you will stand out from 19 other candidates whose background superficially looks equal to yours. All of this is hard work, and many if not most job-hunters won’t be willing to work this hard at their job-hunt. You will definitely make an impression.
Will you get hired through the Internet? As we saw in the previous chapter, your chances are 10% or less—without all the work in this chapter. With this much work, your chances definitely improve. Though it’s hard to put a figure on it.
But it’s worth giving it a shot. Just don’t pin all your hopes on it. Nor think something’s wrong with you, if nothing comes of it. There are other job-hunting strategies, as we have seen.
Conclusion: If you do all the things I suggest in this chapter, and no bright-eyed employer comes to discover you, there are things you can still do. If the Internet won’t save you. If resumes won’t save you. Then you must save yourself (with God’s help).
You’ve got some hard work ahead. Thinking. You must take the initiative, now, by doing homework on yourself.