3FE: Lock The Job – Why Your Resume Doesn’t Work

You resume will not get you the job.  In fact, it will just barely get you through the door.

Truthfully, your resume either just barely works, or doesn’t work at all.  You may think you have put together the ideal document.  You may think you have laid it out in a fashion that attracts attention.  You may think with your references, and your job experiences listed you have satisfied the requirements necessary in order to lock the job. 

You are wrong.

Please bear with me and allow me to explain.  Your resume is a black and white document on varying grades of paper.  You are using one font, maybe two, some bold and italics, and maybe some bullets.  You are using catchphrases and clichés to describe yourself.  You have actually been told to put industry watch-words in your resume, you know, so you can look like you know what you’re talking about.  You’ve listed multiple certifications, awards, and accolades, on top of where you went to school.  You’ve given your pedigree.  You’ve laid it all out.  You think you’ve encapsulated yourself quite nicely, with contact information so a prospective employer can know how to reach you.  You’ve got it all together.

You’re boring.

What you’ve actually done is the exact same thing 99.9% of your competition is doing.  That is the mind-numbing, eye tearing, soul-blasting truth.  You are boring.  You are mundane.  You are just like every other person putting a resume together, submitting it online, dropping it off at career-fairs, putting it in the hands of friends and acquaintances, hoping that it will get noticed.  Hoping that you will be selected, hoping that your resume will stand out.

The point of critical consideration is how to stand out in a positive fashion.  You hope you will stand out and be considered for the job.  However, your chances of doing this are drastically reduced when you look just like every other candidate on paper.  This is the fundamental truth, and this is why your resume does not work.

If you want to stand out, then stand out.  Differentiate yourself in a manner that highlights not only what you bring to the table, but the imagination and innovation you bring to the concept of the resume.  Yes, you can make your resume stand out in a positive manner by doing the things most resume experts and job recruiters will tell you NOT to do. 

Here’s the deal, you’ve tried it their way, now try it my way.  After all, it can’t hurt.  If anything go ahead and submit both resumes.  Yes, I’m being radical here, but 9 times out of ten then won’t even know you’ve submitted two resumes.  THEY SAY THEY WILL BUT THEY WON’T! 

What you want to do in order to Lock The Job is submit to what I call the 3FE: Red Resume treatment. The Red Resume treatment requires that you take a wholistic look at yourself, your skills, your story, and then redefine how you want to market your brand in your resume.  One of the first things I tell people to do is put some color in it.  Yes, that’s right, put some color in your resume.  Red for Red Resume treatment, highlight the hot skills, Red for what you do well, or Red for when the company was losing money just before you swooped in and played captain save ‘em, or Red for those watch words that everyone likes to see. 

Put some green on there for where you made a profit, gained some efficiency, or lowered cost.  Put some blue on there in the area where you tell the story of you.  Yes, that’s right, tell your story.  Add a paragraph in your resume and truly regale the prospective employer with the story of you, and why you are so very special. 

Put your picture on the resume!  This is the age of diversity and no matter how many people lament it history is clearly moving in the right direction.  You have nothing to fear from putting your picture on the resume.  Remember, if the place you’re considering doesn’t like Asians, or discriminates in age or weight, then is it really some place you want to work, even if you’re desperate?  Consider it.

Just make sure the picture you put on your resume is the very best professional picture you have.  Some of you definitely need to clean up before taking the shot.  Present your best self.  And don’t spend ten pages telling me about your last ten jobs. When confronted with a ten page resume the very first thing I will do is sigh.  Yes, I will sigh, and exhale deeply!  You don’t want your resume to be the one to make me sigh, or if you do it better be one hell of a damn resume. 

In truth, the most relevant information around your skillset will be comprised of the last two years.  You can make all the relevant information fit in under four pages, two to three years of employment history will suffice.  In truth it takes just about that long to gain a strong foothold and perhaps become expert in whatever it is you’re doing.  If the job you’re applying for is in the same field, then that is where I want you to concentrate your resume effort.  That’s what I’m interested in reading.  Some of your earlier jobs, I don’t need to see them.  Understand, I don’t need you to tell me about your entire job history from high school when you worked at the hot dog stand all the way up to now.  Don’t worry, I’ll do a background check on you anyway. 

These are but a few of the things you need to do in order to truly Lock The Job, be it for your next promotion, or your new position at that brand new hot IT organization.  The point is you need to truly think critically about the phrase positive differentiation, and your personal brand.  You begin to do this, and follow through, then you’ll get there.  You will Lock The Job.

The Aspiring Critical Thinker,

D.S. Brown