Least complicated

A recent client confided in me that he hadn't interviewed in about 20 years.

He was a high-level executive at a Fortune 50 company. For every promotion he earned, he hadn't needed to interview formally - he had worked hard in the roles that he was in and that was enough.

He had interviewed many folks, so he knew how to interview others. He just wasn't sure about how to present himself in an interview.

For me, an interview really should be a conversation. Yes, you want to do your homework on the company and the role. You also want to be prepared with some questions to ask and have a few examples that you want to share.

But you don't want to allow the thought that "I haven't interviewed in 20 years" to make it so that you go into the interview nervous.

You've had lots of conversations in the past 20 years, right?

And, at this stage in your career, you've talked with lots of different folks about all sorts of topics.

That's the experience and confidence that I want you to bring to your interviews. If a company is interested enough in you to schedule an interview, they want to hear more about you and the impact that you can deliver. Go into the interview prepared and confident, ready to talk through all of the great work that you have done. And, remember, you are interviewing them too - don't dismiss any red flags or anything that makes you feel uneasy about the opportunity.

Question of the week

I paid a resume writer to redo my resume. I have 20+ years of experience and previously had a 2-page resume. However, the writer condensed my resume into one page and now I'm not getting any interviews. What should I do next?

I come from the engineering world, where answers are typically clear-cut. It's either true or false - there is no in-between.

Well, job search and career development is a completely different world. If you ask 10 different writers/coaches their opinions on resume writing best practices, you're going to get 10 different answers.

I would not recommend a 1-page resume for an experienced job seeker. Typically, if you have more than 5-10 years of experience, you are going to need a 2-page resume to share your experience and tell your story in a way that makes sense. With that said, I wouldn't go past 2 pages unless you have compelling experience (i.e. name brand companies, board roles, publications, awards, etc) or you are writing an academic CV.

In case you missed these LinkedIn posts:

Board Roles: how do you talk about them on LinkedIn?

The 5 most common LinkedIn mistakes I see

Poll: How long has it been since you updated your resume (~1700 votes)

40% of retirees were forced into retirement.

Marketing is a tough space to be right now.

You were laid off from a great job with a big name firm.

Want to work with me?

I'm currently booked through the end of March - I have a few open client spots available in April, so reach out now if you'd like to secure your space for a new resume, LinkedIn profile, executive bio, and/or 1-hour strategy call.

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Take care of yourself and have a wonderful weekend!

Colleen