Rethinking Resumes for Modern Times

It’s a bit hard to get attention in today’s world. We are bombarded with stimulus in every direction: social media posts, advertisements, messages from friends, etc. Attention span is non-existent in modern times. The average person can hardly read an entire article, as it’s just too detailed for our brains to maintain attention.

Now imagine your job was to sort resumes. You put a job posting on all the popular job boards (LinkedIn, Indeed, etc) and let it sit for a few days. And in come all the resumes! By the time you check it several days later, you have 500 applicants.

Reading 500 resumes is difficult enough. If you spent just one minute on each, it would take you an entire uninterrupted day. But think about how the average resume reads. It’s a bunch of bullet points featuring industry jargon, inflated accomplishments, and other SUPER BORING content.

In anything you do, it’s important to know your audience. And that’s your audience!!! Being a recruiter isn’t a fun job. But that’s not the point. It’s that you’re doing your resume completely wrong.

First, nobody is going to read all your bullet points. While you might think you’re an accomplished candidate, the recruiter isn’t going to be impressed when comparing you to hundreds of other applicants. You all have good qualifications.

Second, your recruiter will probably be experiencing excruciating boredom by the time they read yours. It’s painful to read these things. So anything that you think is exceptional will probably be skimmed over.

Third, you’re probably forgetting technology. The recruiter doesn’t actually read all those resumes. They use software to filter most of them out. Most applicants aren’t considering this and make mistakes that cause them to be among the filtered.

And fourth, you are probably doing a horrific job of marketing yourself. Imagine a website with only bullet points. Or imagine a mail ad or brochure with only bullets. That company would go out of business using a marketing strategy like most do on their resume.

So What Should You Do?

You have to modernize your approach to the resume. It’s certainly not impossible to get a job using traditional methods. But the odds are stacked against you. Your 1/500 chance isn’t too good! That makes traditional strategies the most risky. You never stand out against a lot of competitive people. You never highlight your best qualifications where you’re certain the employer will see them. And if you’re just like everyone else, you’re not too interesting as an interview candidate.

Instead, it’s time to take a more modern approach.

What do I mean by this? Here are a few of the many ideas I advise people to consider…

1 — Spice up the formatting on your resume. Remember that a resume is no different than any other advertising. You are advertising your skills and value to prospective employers. That means getting their attention just like all ads are supposed to. Formatting can go a long way to helping do that. And potentially consider doing it online too! You can see my guide to online resumes for more.

2 — Always demonstrate your skills. In modern days, it’s really easy to demonstrate skills rather than just stating them. Anyone can say they’re qualified. Now you need a professional portfolio to prove it.

3 — Use other media types. Videos, powerpoint presentations, pictures, work demos, websites, and other forms of media really help. They will get an employer’s attention, allow you to prove your skills, and show confidence in what you bring to the table.

4 — Take a chance. If you’re applying to jobs on a job board, you really are competing with hundreds of others. Make yourself intriguing rather than just average. This might mean a completely unconventional resume. You will turn heads and make the employer want to meet you.

5 — Proposals are so much better than resumes. If you’re applying to a very specific job, writing a custom proposal is a winning idea. Proposals contain information about how you’ll specifically approach the job, perspectives, and other information that demonstrates your subject matter expertise.

6 — Truly customize your resume. When a recruiter reads your resume, it should come across like you’re speaking directly to them. Create some resume space where you’re talking about the specific company and role you’re applying toward. It makes you seem much more serious and few others will do it.

7 — Be forward-looking. My rule of thumb is to be 50% forward-looking. Are your statements about things in the past or about things you can do in the future? It should be at least 50% of the latter.

8 — Remember those resume filters! The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is the resume filters I referred to earlier. You have to customize your resume to the keywords that the employer enters. You can guess what those are from the job description. This part is crucial to make sure a human reads it!

9 — Proactively apply for jobs. In the old days, you would walk into offices and hand your resume to employers directly. There was something personal about that. Nowadays, people are lazy and impersonal with the job boards and their 1-click applications. Get to know hirers. And contact them directly.

10 — Create your own job. Not all jobs need to be created via an open position. We have tons of information about companies: news articles, their website, their financials, analyst reports, social media, and direct interactions with their products. Find something you can help them with and propose your own job. You’d be surprised how often that leads to work!

11 — Have employers come to you. Perhaps you put together a website via your own website and lead employers there via content or SEO. Perhaps you make a great LinkedIn profile. Or maybe you send articles to contacts in hiring positions.

12 — Get help. There are so many ways to get help. Use headhunters or professional recruitment firms to find good positions. Hire a designer to create a great looking resume. Or find the right career coach to help on the contents of your resume.

The financial value of a great resume is huge. It can be worth tens of thousands every year. Paying experts a fraction of this makes for a good investment.

And I’m happy to be that person! I offer many services to help in resumes and all aspects of the job application process. And it uses all the principles listed in this article. Among the offerings (click the link for details):

• Resume review
• Career coaching
• Resume guide (includes more recommendations on creating a great resume)
• Other job guides/courses: professional portfolios, interviewing, cover letters, and business proposals

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