What is a Resume?

Everyone knows what a resume is –  Right? . . . . . . .  .. . . Wrong.  
After 20 years of teaching and preaching about resumes, and the role a resume plays in a job seeker’s success, I still see job seeker after job seeker producing resumes that are too long, unfocused, and irrelevant to the position for which they are applying or to the company they are targeting.

I still meet and talk with so many job seekers who are immensely frustrated with and aggravated by the process of sending hundreds of resumes to organizations from which they never hear back.
And, I still find myself reading resume after resume, and asking: “What does this person want to do?  What type of job or work are they looking for?”  Because their resume doesn’t give me a clue!

So, what is a resume?  Knowing the real answer to this question can save opportunities that would otherwise be lost to you by submitting a rambling, hard-to-read, unfocused, and irrelevant resume.

Here’s a definition:  A resume is a strategic, focused, future-oriented, relevant, and succinct 

written representation of your career history and qualifications, using appropriate language, that is designed to help you get you the job you want  

– not just a repeat of the job you had.  

A resume should tell the reader  --  without too much work on the reader’s part ---
    1.  What type of work you do and want to do in your next position.
    2.  The level at which you want to work.
    3.  That you’re qualified to perform the type and level of work you are seeking.

You’re in sales now!
It is fair to say that your resume is your most important “marketing tool!”  Think of it as a sales brochure  –

your sales brochure  –  because when you are looking for your next position or role you are on the market  –  selling yourself and your capabilities.  In your sales brochure, or resume, you present “selective” information about your career and job history in a succinct manner, and show why YOU should be seriously considered as a  candidate for the position, promotion, or additional job responsibility.  In other words  – “in sales speak”  –  you show the features you bring and the benefits of hiring you!

                 A First Impression Is A Lasting Impression if Not  A  Last Impression!
For additional information on marketing yourself and your capabilities, please refer to the many articles found under the Articles tabs of the AJC–Career Strategy website.
 ____________________________________________________________________________

nancy@ajcglobal.com              www.ajcglobal.com             AJC - for Your Career Path

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