Question: I am sick and tired of working on my resume. It is full of gaps, and I am feeling very frustrated with it. Do you have any ideas about how I can get a handle on this process?
Answer: The more I do this work, the more I realize that your resume is truly a photograph of what you believe about yourself. If you see yourself as a successful, enterprising professional, your resume will reflect just that. If, on the other hand, you are a frustrated visionary, a development professional without a cause to market or someone who has not quite identified a good career “fit,” the resume will be an ongoing source of frustration and angst.
Just last week, I told a client that the core function of our resume consulting practice is to “reverse the energy of constriction in the resume.” That is a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. I can read frustration in resumes a mile off – dates that don’t line up, typos because you are tired of reading it through, limp descriptions and dull adjectives. These issues are not really about the positions you’ve held nor about the bosses who have looked over you and promoted others. These factors are reflections of how you are feeling about yourself.
Once you identify the purpose of the resume, and once you are excited about where you are sending it, many of these problems vanish. You suddenly find new ways to characterize the contributions you have made to the organizations where you have worked. You recall ways in which you have benefited the “bottom-line.” With an exciting opportunity on the horizon, you become energized by how you can transfer relevant skills into a new context. New attitude: New resume.
Take a break. Do something non-job-related, then return to your resume with fresh eyes. Make a list of the ways your presence makes things work better, makes clients happier and generates profits and/or good will. Start with this list, and build the resume based on affirming memories, helpful colleagues and positive contributions.
Contact Karen Alphonse at Karena@execSearches.com or visit ExecSearches.com for more information about our career coaching services.
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