Why I Hate Resumes

"Think of your career as a series of lessons you want to learn." That was my counsel this last week. I hope, dear Candidate, to help prepare you for a successful job search this year. I hate even calling it a "job search," when what we are really discussing is the next step in your career, not a J-O-B. When you are thinking about where you are, in relation to where you want to go in your career, lately, it's not so obvious how to step out into your search, represent your experience accurately and with the type of flare on your resume that makes people (like me) want to stop and read it, AND invite you to interview. Most recruiters, external and internal to companies, don't even respond when you send in your resume, or "apply online." That's a black hole if there ever was one. And right NOW, if you've been "re-organized," or laid off, you might even be finding yourself in the in-between place.... you knew what you were supposed to do to find a good job 10 years ago. But the rules have changed. (Are there even any rules)? If there are, good luck figuring them out on your own, especially in an environment that says, "I'll communicate with you if I'm interested in you;" otherwise you get zero feedback. This isn't a rant. Hopefully, this is where we turn on the flashlight (or torch, as the case may be). Dear Candidate, you have my undying devotion. I pledge to be with you on your travels, waiting with you in the dark, but hopefully helping to light the way.

So back to the title of this article, "Why I Hate Resumes," I have a point, don't worry. If we were to suddenly suck into the vortex all resumes, thoughts of resumes, opinions of resumes, we'd actually be in a difficult situation because we wouldn't have a ready alternative. The resume will be around for a while yet, quite simply, because to transition away from the resume as a form of application would cause a large financial burden that no company budgets for. An entire Hiring Industry would have to evolve overnight. Still, I wish I could pluck the resume right out of the hiring process. It's stiff, one-dimensional, and shallow. In my opinion, the resume is the worst form of human marketing there is. Yet, it's the only currently viable form of explanation every Candidate has for the history of their career. Literally everyone you speak with on the topic will have a different opinion of what constitutes a "Good Resume." That makes it nebulous, undefinable, basically a crap-shoot.

But what if your resume was a history of the professional lessons you've learned in your career to date? What if, instead of the chronology of where you've been, and for how long, the resume was, instead, a chronology of the lessons you've learned, and how you've grown from them? My resume might look like this:

1997-2000 Learned how to start and sustain a successful small business whose clientele consisted of Fortune 100-1000 companies, both private and public, rooted in technology and US-based manufacturing. Sustained business growth into Y2K.

2000-2007 Streamlined household expenses to align with single-income, and figured out how to keep 3 children alive and well, and build a successful marriage.

2007-2015 In response to significant and unexpected medical needs, transitioned successfully to the private sector, supporting the President of a 6-generation, family-owned dental supply distributor, administratively, emotionally, and strategically. Became a professional "Right Arm." Observed multi-dimensional human interaction in the workplace.

2015-pres Launched, and Leading professional Recruiting business dedicated to the dental industry. Supporting the ongoing needs of the best industry in the world, in the best country in the world. Acting as industry flashlight. Learning how humans build the most effective teams.

When you think about it like this, what would your resume say? Back to the challenge I issued this week to think about your career as a series of lessons you want to learn, when you put it in this context, can you start to imagine what comes next?

I'll be writing a lot this year. It will get better. Stay tuned.