Not once in my career did my resume get me a job.
Not once. And I’ve landed some pretty good jobs.
That’s not to say I didn’t have a resume.
I did and I still do. They’re necessary and it’s always a good idea to keep it updated and ready to go for the recruiter who reaches out to you and needs it for their paperwork or the VP of Marketing at your competitor who heard great things about you from a client and wants you to come in and talk about jumping ship. She’ll need it for her HR department.
But it does not, will not and has never been what gets you the job.
Ever.
There are those who will tell you otherwise.
They believe that an eye catching, well-written resume printed on a high quality stock, (as if anyone prints these things out anymore), will make a difference. They might even convince you to spend anywhere from $250 on upwards to $1000 to have one professionally written. But no matter how beautiful the font and eloquent the sentence structure – that resume is not going to get you a job.
Ever.
It didn’t work in the pre-digital age and it’s even less likely to get you a job today.
Like every business out there – from publishing to retail to the taxi business in New York – the business of getting a job is in disruption.
What gets you the job is not the resume. What gets you the job is you.
It’s the brand you have created for yourself, the reputation you’ve built in your industry and the connections you have made. It’s your experience and your education and ability to demonstrate the qualities that make you the perfect candidate.
It’s how you show up – online and offline.
Which is not good news for those resumes. But is good news for you. It puts more control in your hands.
Instead of relying on a resume you uploaded into a giant online portal, you get to rely on yourself.
You get to create a digital footprint using networking sites like LinkedIn and Twitter. You can update your profile picture in seconds, change a headline and freshen up your bio (which is where your time and money are better spent) to include your most recent win. You can create your own blog and develop a voice as an influencer in your field. You can make new connections at 11PM on a Sunday night while in your pajamas if you understand how to use digital tools.
What gets you the job is your ability to connect and engage with the people who matter – online and offline.
No one is googling your resume to find out more about you.
But they are googling your name. What they find out is the best hope that nicely laid out chronology of your work history and education ever gets read.
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