Ok, so with the advent of LinkedIn and Skype and Bullhorn Reach and all sorts of other ways of connecting with employers, has the résumé gone the way of the detachable shirt collar and the cassette tape?
Nope.
Résumés are a very useful tool for job seekers, but not for the reason you might think. Yes, recruiters want them. And HR usually insists on a copy to keep in your file. But more importantly, pulling together a good résumé and cover letter (remember those?) forces you to think about your current skill set, your career goals, and what you bring to the table overall. It's easy in this world of online CVs to simply add skills without ever stepping back and seeing you career as it's seen by others. Even if you end up staying in your current position, going through the exercise of seeing what skills and experiences are valued in the marketplace and then seeing how you compare can be valuable. This insight can help you position yourself better come performance review time, or convince you to upgrade your skills to make yourself more marketable. If you do end up finding a role that looks interesting, all of that work preparing a new résumé will make the interview a snap. If you walk into an interview with only a cursory glance at the LinkedIn profile you created two years ago, you might not find it as easy to talk about your skills.
If you are writing a résumé for the first time in a while, here are some tips from someone who has read far too many bad ones.
1. Don't over-jargon things. I'm sure that when you and your buddies gather around the water cooler, it's cool to talk in acronyms. To an outsider such as a recruiter or someone in HR, buzzwords don't make sense. At best, you'll come across like one of those over-zealous Star Trek convention attendees who like to order their beer in Ferengi. At worst, we'll wonder if you actually know what you are talking about. Almost all jobs require good communication skills and a résumé is a great place to show how you can make your industry-specific knowledge more accessible to others.
2. It's not Match.com. It's awesome that you like walks on the beach, BASE jumping and long-haired ferrets. I don't need to know that, however. Résumés focus on employment-related skills and experience. Period. If you are the treasurer on the board of the local hospital, that would be relevant for a job with some finance responsibility. If you have an Olympic medal kicking around and you are interested in a job that needs fortitude and achieving goals, by all means share. Beyond that, we do not need to know a whole lot about your personal life. And please, no photos. One of my former colleagues used to collect terrible photos featuring job-seekers shirtless on vacation, falling off horses, and surrounded by empties. Life is hard enough without appearing on someone's wall of shame.
3. Proofread. There is nothing worse than reading about someone's attention to detal. Use spellcheck and grammar-check and then actually read your résumé. I'm pretty sure you'd want your tattoo artist to pay attention to spelling. This is no less important.
Happy hunting,
Nancy
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