{"id":2060,"date":"2014-04-02T11:09:16","date_gmt":"2014-04-02T16:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kbicblog.com\/blog\/health-information-management\/?p=2060"},"modified":"2014-04-02T11:09:16","modified_gmt":"2014-04-02T16:09:16","slug":"things-standard-resumes-wont-tell-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kbicblog.com\/health-information-management\/blog\/things-standard-resumes-wont-tell-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Things Standard Resumes Won’t Tell You"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eight Things A Resume Won’t Tell\u00a0You<\/a><\/h1>\n

Liz Ryan, Contributor for Forbes.com
\nApril 1, 2014<\/p>\n

Career Logic\"resume-tips\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The standard resume format doesn\u2019t say Jack about how the job-seeker got into the field s\/he\u2019s in. We see that he or she went from Company A to Company B, but we don\u2019t get the answer to the question \u201cwhy\u201d at each juncture. That\u2019s the most important element! \u00a0We want to see the logical through-line in the resume, and that\u2019s exactly what\u2019s left out.<\/p>\n

Turning Corners<\/strong><\/p>\n

The traditional resume doesn\u2019t tell a hiring manager why the job-seeker left each job to go to the next one. Did you see the CEO speak at a conference, and get excited about his mission? The resume has nothing to say about job transitions.<\/p>\n

Mission Accomplished?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The typical resume doesn\u2019t say a word about what the mission you took on at each new job. We don\u2019t know the mission, so how would we know whether it was accomplished?<\/p>\n

What Would You Be Like to Work With?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The by-the-book resume format doesn\u2019t give us any clues to what you\u2019re like to work with, or what your working (or even writing) style might be. Are you sprightly, sober, analytical, chirpy or theatrical? The standard resume format all but wipes out any traces of a job-seeker\u2019s personality and style.<\/p>\n

How Will You Approach the Role?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hiring managers would love to know how you approach problems and take ownership over your job and career. They want to know how you\u2019ve grown as a businessperson over the years. The standard format, laden with tedious, factual bullets, tells us \u201cHere\u2019s what the job required \u2013 which is to say, the tasks that anyone in the job would have performed\u201d versus \u201cHere\u2019s what I brought to the job, because of who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Were the Stakes for Your Past Projects?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hiring managers want to know the conditions on the ground when you took each past job. When we see an employer name like Acme Explosives on a resume, we don\u2019t know whether that company is large, small, struggling, booming, or even still in existence. The standard resume format throws context (the most important element!) out the window.<\/p>\n

You Say You\u2019ve Got Skills \u2013 But Do You Know When (and How) to Use Them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

With its emphasis on Skills, the standard resume format doesn\u2019t tell a hiring manager how well you can pull those abstract Skills (negotiation, communication, or administration, e.g.) off the shelf and use them when the situation requires it. When a job-seeker trumpets \u201cexcellent negotiation skills,\u201d for instance, we can\u2019t tell whether the guy negotiated peace accords between warring nations, or talked the coffee vendor into throwing a couple of extra creamers in with the order.<\/p>\n

How Are Your Instincts?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019d love to know what instincts you\u2019ve got and how your judgment and business radar have served you and your employers in the past. When we see lists of tasks and duties \u2013 even projects \u2013 on your resume, \u00a0we can\u2019t tell whether the projects were your own ideas, or whether you were commanded to fulfill someone else\u2019s agenda. That\u2019s a pity, because good instincts are at least as important for Knowledge Worker success as Skills, certifications and diplomas.<\/p>\n

Traditional Resumes Don\u2019t Cut It Anymore<\/strong><\/p>\n

If we want to understand just how outdated and unhelpful the traditional resume format has become in a Knowledge Worker ecosystem, consider this. Think of a person you know, a present or former colleague who is an ace and a superstar. Get the picture of this person in your mind \u2014 someone who\u2019s brilliant, insightful, helpful, resourceful and fun \u2013 the greatest person you\u2019ve had the privilege to work alongside, so far.<\/p>\n

Now, think of the biggest slacker, idiot or bully you\u2019ve encountered in your travels. I\u2019m referring to the kind of person who inspires his or her colleagues to wonder, \u201cDoes s\/he have incriminating photos of the boss tucked away somewhere? There\u2019s no other way to explain the fact that this turkey is still employed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Think of the standard resume format, and the typical Applicant Tracking System. No hiring manager could tell the difference between the superstar employee and the bottom-of-the-barrel one as long as they both held the same title in the same company at the same time. That\u2019s ridiculous.<\/p>\n

We should ask job applicants for information that will make those distinctions clear as day, not who-cares?-type information like \u201cwhat were your tasks and duties?\u201d<\/p>\n

The system is broken. We can surmount its built-in challenges by writing a resume with a human voice in it. Let\u2019s take a look at a few of our resume-won\u2019t-tell-you issues again, and this time include a sample of resume language to vault over the obstacle each format-driven resume failing creates.<\/p>\n

Career Logic<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>I started out in Accounting but discovered that I love marketing and sales. Now I\u2019m an Account Specialist who thrives on managing $1 million-plus relationships with Fortune 500 businesses, growing relationships and helping my client managers spot issues on the horizon and steer around them.\u00a0 At Acme Electronics, I pushed for 18 months to install a Sales-Service-Consulting team structure for our largest accounts; when we got that done our sales grew 25% in six months.<\/em><\/p>\n

In this Summary we see the job-seeker\u2019s brain working. We know why s\/he got from Accounting into Account Management, and we see that s\/he\u2019s internally driven and eager to win. We learn that s\/he pushed for an organizational change and sold the idea internally, with good results.<\/p>\n

Do we want to interview this person? That\u2019s an individual hiring manager\u2019s call. We can see at a glance that there\u2019s a real person behind the resume, someone we\u2019ll find to our liking or not \u2013 no guesswork needed.<\/p>\n

Turning Corners<\/strong><\/p>\n

We can answer the question \u201cWhy\u2019d this person leave this job?\u201d in the bullets that describe the assignment. The final bullet can tell that \u2018goodbye\u2019 story. We only need three or four bullets, once we\u2019re using our resume bullets to tell \u2018dragon-slaying stories\u2019 rather than listing boring tasks and duties:<\/p>\n