Who Needs a Resume
by Motte Brown on 03/27/2008 at 8:54 AM
If you're as great as your resume says you are, you probably don't need one. At least that's what marketing expert Seth Godin says. Instead, just show potential employers a project you completed or your personal blog. Oh, and it helps if you can get recommended by someone your prospective boss knows and respects.
Come to think of it, if you can score the latter, you may not need the former.
I found this job-getting advice on the popular "how to" blog, Lifehacker.com. But if you lack such convenient recommendations or project experience, the post continues with some good resume tips from career adviser Penelope Trunk:
Don't focus on your responsibilities, focus on what you achieved. [...] Most people do not think in terms of quantified achievements when they are in the job, but on the resume, that's the only part of the job that matters. No one can see that you were a "good team player" on your resume unless you can say "established a team to solve problem x and increased sales x%" or "joined under-performing team and helped that team beat production delivery dates by three weeks."
That's good advice. And it's applicable for recent grads and new job seekers too. You just need to develop the art of educing your accomplishments from whatever work experience you've had.
Here's one example:
Say you worked for a mortgage lender making cold calls to generate clients. You could say something like, "Sold loan programs to existing clients and other pre-selected leads." But it'd be much better to say, "Sold more loan programs than 80% of staff of 15 loan officers within three months of employment."
Or to follow Godin's advice, you could just blog about it and then send your prospective employer the loan files. =)
1. Jacob said the following at 10:08 AM on Mar 27:
How ironic....just yesterday I got a call from a potential employer who was impressed by my resume, especially by the college I graduated from.
2. Amir Larijani said the following at 10:14 AM on Mar 27:
Don't focus on your responsibilities, focus on what you achieved
That is huge. At the end of the day, the employer is making an economic decision (as are you).
If you can quantify--economically--how you benefited the organization, you are demonstrating (a) your past economic value, (b) a basis for salary negotiations once you reach that stage, and (c) you get it: this is not merely about "I have this set of skills" but rather "this is how I can maximize your earning potential".
3. Tami said the following at 11:50 AM on Mar 27:
Aaaah! Seth Godin! Sometimes I think he says stuff like that to stir the pot... and sell books. ;) I am not getting rid of my Crane stationery just yet. :)
But I do think putting solid data into your resume is a really good idea. In this environment, everyone wants metrics, metrics, metrics. It's smart to show that you understand that, right there in your resume. Also shows you're focused on achieving your goals, and understand how to quantify your success.
4. P&P said the following at 12:31 PM on Mar 27:
Your resume is your passport. A blog is nice, but if a candidate submitted a blog without a resume, I'd hit the delete key and move on to the next person. A lot of companies have tight filters on their internet servers that prevent access to blogs and other "entertainment" sites and frankly, I can't be bothered to click through someone's ramblings about kittens to get so a post with some genuine value for my organization.
That being said, when I do review resumes (and revise my own), I always ask "so what?" after each bullet point. It helps me decide how important each statement is and how valuable it makes the candidate to my organization.
5. DannieA said the following at 12:51 PM on Mar 27:
ok this may be good advice for people in the marketing/accounting/CEO world where you do work on projects and you can visually see %ages go up etc....
but in a job where you deal with people, it's not as clear cut....such as education....speech pathology.....in that case a good recommendation from your boss is key
6. Maxim said the following at 1:09 PM on Mar 27:
This may be a digression. I've struggled with a related ethical question. As a Christian, isn't it deceptive to make yourself appear better in a resume or during an interview than you really are? I'm not referring to outright lying, but the standard practice of selective emphasis on the good parts while conveniently avoiding the bad. That being said, I like having a job, and this selective emphasis is about the only way to convince a potential employer to hire me.
7. kaj said the following at 1:37 PM on Mar 27:
As a graphic designer, I have a hard time knowing how to put numbers and metrics to my accomplishments, let alone some of my non-design-related jobs. For example, I am unsure if my brochures increased sales or foot traffic.
Any suggestions?
8. Tami said the following at 1:59 PM on Mar 27:
kaj -- (1) I think your portfolio and your list of clients/jobs helps you with that piece of your resume. (2) If you have a good business relationship with the folks you've designed pieces for, they may be willing to tell you (at least anecdotally) how your piece fit into the overall campaign, or how it was used to drive business (sales calls, point-of-purchase, etc.).
Sometimes it's hard to tell what impact marketing collateral has had (even if it's a direct mail piece, and the piece garnered a good response rate... is it because of the design? or the copy? or...?). So maybe just talking about how your work fit into the overall campaign, or how it was used (direct mail, a sales push, a convention, etc.) will provide some context for your future clients/employers.
9. Mike said the following at 5:10 PM on Mar 27:
By the way, the same issue arises for those of us who write letters of recommendation for others. I try to stress solid metrics of my students' performance (e.g., was in top 20% of the class, performed analysis for project that was eventually published in journal XYZ, wrote best final project for class).
Vague letters of recommendation don't help students, colleagues, etc. I won't write a letter if I can't say anything concrete because it means I don't know the person well enough.
10. Rachael said the following at 5:33 PM on Mar 27:
Maxim (6) asks an interesting, honest question. Of course in interviews and resumes people focus on their positive attributes. The employers will understand no one is perfect and won't expect the interviewee to bring up all their weaknesses. If people feel guilty about it, maybe it can help them to think "Well, if the employer really wants to know, let him/her ask me about my weaknesses." And who knows, perhaps the employer will ask about the person's weaknesses or areas of growth or areas in need of growth.
On another note --> Knowing the right people definitely seems it would be helpful for both getting and giving (or passing on info. about) jobs.
Also getting on listservs/e-mail lists (maybe at your work) that disseminate info. about related opportunities is helpful.
Good luck to all the job-hunters out there!
11. Leah said the following at 8:10 AM on Mar 28:
DannieA is spot-on, not all jobs are purely economic (although they all have economic consequences eventually). There are some jobs where your people-skills are what generates the income (like teaching, even certain health practices, etc). Neither a teacher nor a physiotherapist can boast about the % increase in sales they made, but they can boast the skills they learnt (eg. a teacher might have had experience in a Special Needs unit, or a physio may have had specific experience in back problems).
Maxim, if what you're telling your employer is truth, then you can't possibly be making yourself sound better than you are. You're possibly making yourself sound better than you think you deserve to sound, but if you really did increase sales by 45%, or if you really did help design the new bridge in town, or if you really did cure a higher-than-average number of arthritics, or if you really did improve the literacy of Grade 5s in your school, then telling your prospective employer that is not making yourself sound better than you are, because that's what you really achieved.