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Last night I read a post in Exile Lifestyle that perfectly echoes how I feel about resumes and I’d like to share a few excerpts from it here.
I believe my resume primarily indicates the number of years I was institutionalized in Corporate America and it is not a fully accurate reflection of all my talents, skills and accomplishments. I also haven’t figured out an easy way to indicate my day job experience alongside by freelance work in a chronological resume. |
Burn Your Résumé clearly explains the many limitations of a standard resume:
The Truth About Resumes
Unfortunately, the standard resume format remains for many people, “the best way to communicate your skill set and professional experience, especially when you are not a big networker, are trying to finagle your way into a new field in which you have no contacts, or are simply looking for a job in an area that IS résumé-driven”.
“When you are asked to show a résumé, you are really being asked to show how well you play within the rules. Did you put your purpose statement at the top? Did you use solid numbers instead of ranges? Did you account for any time between legitimate, salaried positions?”
“While it was once practical to frame your work experience in the résumé format, the project-oriented lifestyle that I and most entrepreneurs and young professionals now live does not fit within those parameters. How would I explain in a résumé that I took a certain small project that was below my usual price range and not something I would probably put in my portfolio because it allowed me to practice building websites with Joomla? I couldn’t”.
Conclusion
The post concludes with a more effective and genuine alternative to a resume: “…the real path to getting work (or creating work) that you really enjoy and are rewarded fairly for is to ditch the résumé, make connections, talk up your work and make use of projects that can slingshot you toward more opportunities”.
Amen.
You can enjoy the full article here: Burn Your Résumé
8 June 2009 at 11:55 am
It really depends on the purpose and the audience. I agree that the standard resume does not apply to freelancers, but for a regular employee there is not much choice. We just have to tailor our resume to the purpose it has to serve. For that reason I have at least three different resumes. It’s a pain to keep them up to date, but until I can be a full-time freelancer it has to be this way
9 June 2009 at 12:29 pm
Having multiple resumes as you suggest is probably the best alternative to keep things simple (less explaining to do as well). Thanks for you feedback!
16 June 2009 at 2:15 pm
Many professional artists maintain a curriculum vitae that comprehensively lists everything produced, published or that provides any reference to their work often comprising 10s of pages. I’ve seen them 40+ pages or better.
Since those who hire (or pre-screen) off a resume key on just one or two specific items it is usually a go-no go type of situation where your resume has about 2 seconds to do the job. Actually the purpose of the resume is just to gain an interview.
For years I maintained a vitae then researched what an employer was looking for and specifically tailored a resume just for them. Often that would gain an interview to which I brought a vitae regularly evaluated by weight and number of pages.
No one in HR ever had (or found) the time to actually read anything.
16 June 2009 at 4:13 pm
Wow! thanks for the long comment. As you wrote in your most recent post, every effort to deviate from the standard resume will probably be met with resistance.