Resumés are tough. Entire industries are built around making this "first impression" as perfect as possible. This makes me wonder about the real effectiveness of the resumé in todays professional world. Let me explain.
I last submitted a resumé 10 years ago. At the time I was a highly technical, "keyboard" monkey who was landing the ideal job for the future I could see. Fast forward 10 years and I am now a manager of a highly technical group I am still a "tech head" but I have lost the propeller (this from my former boss). The down side is that I am no longer certain the "future I can see" makes my current job ideal.
An opportunity presented itself to apply for another "ideal" position. After spending time reconstructing my resumé I began to fear that I was putting to much lipstick on this pig. The resumé I wound up with is accurate. My peers who reviewed it feel that it properly portrays my strengths. They agree that it is an HONEST representation of me and good by resumé standards.
The problem is that when I look at this resumé I don't really see me. What I see is a highly polished, idealized view a someone who might be me. Keep in mind this is my resumé. I wrote it. Which leads me to the conclusion that resumés do not provide real information about a person.
Yes, the interview is where we dig into the person, but how do we know who to interview?
This is why entire industries have be built around interpreting resumés.
