It is the time to build your Resume 2.0

RIP! FINITO! KAPUT! Those are the few words that describe how archaic the concept of a traditional resume is. The resume was a fact sheet of a person – a date by date progress of a persons education and work experience. This was what a job seeker sent to a Company as a job application. The recruiter in the company looked for some pre-set parameters in each resume, and did the shortlisting. The interviewer was positively biased towards the executive who met the highest number of the pre-set parameters, as he/she had found such people to be the best fit.

Today resume is about a brand, a symbol, a preamble to the big picture. Why would someone want to meet you if you already sound so boring on paper? A resume should spark interest in the mind of the reader, so that they should want to meet and get to know you. Interesting is the key word here. 

Giving a theoretic rundown of KRAs is passé. The need of the hour is striking a balance between what you do, what you have achieved and what you aspire to do. If one can reflect these factors with eloquence, it will give one a perfect front to present them, be it for a job or any other forum.

Today, when people scan a resume, they look for the gist of a person, and not just a synopsis of a person’s job responsibilities. How one presents themselves and the kind of effort put in building the resume goes a long way in conveying a lot of softer factors about the person other than their job. So it is a path one should choose to tread carefully.

Lately, with the advent and prevalence of social media in our lives, there has been so much more to do and showcase,  that the old-fashioned resumes are getting extinct.  People now, replicate  the websites of the organisations they want to work for.

Each and every person is unique, hence every person has to have a distinct resume. A resume is made and presented for a specific opportunity. Hence the resume has to be customised to apply for the same, be it a job, a speaker in a conference, a consultant, a mentor, etc.

In order to generate interest or excitement in the first company executive who screens your resume and the person who interviews you, there resume has to be customised. The first interview feedback  is critical to your getting the time to sell yourself for the opportunity. It has to present your work experience and achievements which will highlight the strengths that best fit the opportunity.

The resume cannot talk about “me, me and me”. It has to elaborate on how you can help the companys’ business and the team you are aspiring to work with. It must specify deliverables using your current and earlier experience with specific goals which you can discuss with the interviewer. You should think from the point of view of the hiring manager to whom you are applying for the opportunity, what would you look for in the resume, what would you check when you interview the shortlisted executive and what would make you take a positive decision. Now sit back think and make an honest work related resume which will help you cover all the evaluation parameters. The fact sheet should now be 30% of your resume.

The resume should create a platform for you to veer the discussion to experiences relevant to the opportunity. You should highlight the work you have executed and the impact it has had on the work deliverables, your boss’s deliverables and the Companys’ business objectives. Do not list the tasks only. Highlight your best characteristics, team skills and interpersonal skills. The interviewer will discuss your specific achievements in details and how you executed them over the years.

Social and professional platforms will be checked to evaluate your personality profile. This might happen during the interview. You should go through your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn  platforms to check your discussions and analyse the same. You could be interviewed directly or indirectly on some analytics done by the recruiting company on your profile.

Please make sure your LinkedIn profile and other platforms are not overloaded with mass references. The days of mass being a strong factor is now history. Time is of essence. The references, if any, should be from respected executives and should be their feedback on you.

The standard traditional resume is dead. Your resume should create a pull and an excitement in the hiring team to want to meet you tomorrow.