Your Rsum is Not Your Tombstone

1
Your Résumé is Not Your Tombstone

• Brian McCaleb
• JVNIVS XX, MMOCSTC

2
Is your résumé an obituaryfor a dead career?

• Most résumés look and sound likethe long-form of
  a tombstone
• Names, dates, references (survived by)
• All thats needed is Here Lies at the top

3
Youre alive!Your résumé should show it!

• A résumé is a living document
• It should be kept alive with constantcare and
  feeding
• It must be customized each time it is used

4
Ineffective Résumés

• Autobiographies
• Toolkit inventories
• Corporate name-dropping
• Unclear on the concept
• One size fits all

5
Effective Résumés

• Forward-looking
• Include features and benefits
• Describe skills, qualified by experience
• Clearly state what you can do to benefit the
  employer
• Are well-organized and concise

6
If you cant say how you make your workplace a
better place, youre out!

• Tom Peters (1997)

7
Fix it now . . .

• Make a personal marketing brochure
• Indicate the benefits of hiring or promoting you
• Emphasize skills and results, not tools
• Show how experience has built competence

8
Refine it now. . .

• Your objective statement must indicate what you
  can do for them, not what they can do for you
• Connect relevant experience to useful skills
• Skills come from all kinds of experience
• Customize it each time you use it

9
Use it now. . .

• Show it to your references.Ask, What did I
  leave out?
• Show it to your boss.Ask, Does this warrant a
  promotion?
• Post it on the OCSTC website
• Update it every 6 months