The resume is dead.
Long live the resume.
I realised this as I was helping my kid sister update her resume. As soon as I opened the file, my eyes glazed over.
“Personal Details”
“Work Experience”
“Education”
I tried and tried but I couldn't bring myself to bring any kind of a critical eye to it to give her genuine feedback. And this was my sister. She just didn’t stand out.
So I challenged myself to help her to rewrite her resume, and to set a new standard for how we sell ourselves to potential employers, and more crucially, ourselves.
your-alt.resume is what I came up with.
To paraphrase Simon Sinek, there is no work/life balance. There is only life, and your career and contributions in this world shouldn't end up sandwiched into some boxes in a Word document. If you don’t believe me, trust world-renowned author and thought leader Seth Godin. He says “I think if you’re remarkable, amazing or just plain spectacular, you probably shouldn’t have a resume at all.”
With that in mind, here is the challenge I present to you.
Below are links to 2 forms. These forms are important. The first form is where you will describe yourself in a way that you possibly have never described yourself before. Don’t be afraid. It's a necessary part of truly showing what you are capable of and getting that job you most deserve.
The second form is a set of short stories about yourself. It gives a whole deeper level of understanding about you to the reader. Who doesn't love a story? Stories make you more personable and fun.
Ready to proceed?
The First Form
My advice is to turn off your phone and set a timer for at least 30 minutes. Here, I made a 30-minute timer just for you.
So, lets start that timer by clicking on that link and lets go on form one!
Form 1
The Second Form
All done?
Ok, now lets move onto the next one. Storytime.
Don't overthink this one. Something as simple as
"I grew up in X town. Didn't have much but worked my way up through persistence. Got lucky in Y but it didn't work out. Here's what I learned from that experience and why I want to work at Z."
Got it?
Here is that timer again.
Form 2
Aaaand...you're done!
That wasn't so bad was it? The results have been emailed to you already so keep an eye on your inbox.
Feel free to drop me a line using the form below.
Happy Job Hunting!