The Resume

Given my current position as would-be, might-be jobseeker, I've been spending the last little while thinking about things from the perspective of the jobseeker, something I haven't done now in about four years. Time to get out the ol' resume and polish it up a bit, in preparation for the job-hunting that may be to come.

Except that I haven't really done it like that at all.

After four years, and my education in HR, my old resume looks rather pathetic. Now I look at it and wonder why anyone bothered to call me at all after looking at the pathetic little document that it is. I remember the struggle to make sure it was kept to one page, the obsessing over whether or not to include my references, or whether that would take up space more valuably used elsewhere, and the relentless checking for typos. To be sure, there are things that I did right on my resume; I was always good about typos, I always included up to date contact information, and I tailored each application to the job in question. There are also a number of things that I did wrong, or at least, that I could have done better, so now it's time to go back and rip the thing apart and start over. For starters, I need to take out my objective. Seriously, all that obsessing about fitting one page, and I thought it was critical that I tell people I was looking for full time employment in a relevant field? Really?

Basically, I am now going to be tearing my resume apart and rebuilding it. It will be the Six Million Dollar Resume, everything from specific listing of accomplishments instead of job duties, to a more impressive font. Frankly, I think worrying too much about the font of your resume is a bit dumb; it's the content that matters, no doubt about it. But Times New Roman? How boring! I can do better. So I shall. Just in case. And hopefully, sometime in the next couple of weeks, we hear from some schools and can finally start making some plans!!