Saturday, September 05, 2009
Five Signs Your Resume Is Passe
DivineCaroline: "The workplace is not what it was five years ago. Neither is the job hunt. The most successful candidates are those who are ready and willing to adapt to a changing landscape. But it doesn’t matter how ready you are for the modern workplace if your resume ’s straight out of 1994."
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16 comments:
Some of these seem like good advice, but this is the first time I've ever heard anyone suggest that more than one page is OK. Maybe our industry is especially strict because hiring is rushed more? Most people still seem to encourage one-page resumes. I've also had some folks suggest putting at least a couple of actual contacts on the resume itself, rather than offering them or having them ready. The article does bring up a valid point though that you don't want everyone you send your resume to calling them even if they have little interest in you. It seems to me though, that on average hiring managers aren't that much less lazy than the rest of us, and they'd only make the calls if they thought they'd make a difference.
This article has a lot of good advice, like Ethan has says there were some points that I don't really understand. A lot of the time I think it depends on the employer on what they want to see. Some want to see a list of references while others would never think about calling any one of your references. Making a resume balanced is probably the hardest of making a resume. It is especially hard to people just emerging into a business; like people in college. They do not have a great deal of experience or jobs that we can list.
Agreed with Ethan & Kelli about the questioning of the proper length of a resume. In our industry, experience is sometimes measured by the sheer volume of work you have done (and where). Listing all the shows you have worked on, where, and when shows how long you have been in the industry, what your qualifications are, and that you've been getting steady work. One important semantic difference not talked about in this brief article was a "resume" versus a "CV". Though they tend to be more traditionally academic in nature, CV's are usually at least two pages and list every accomplishment and show that you have worked on in detail. When applying for a job, I think it is essential to think about what they hiring group will be looking for. Are they really interested in shows you did 5 years ago, or are they more after what you've been up to recently? In the former, a CV would be more appropriate and in the later a resume with a summary of the highlights of your experience may be all they need.
All good things to know. I just pulled out my resume and looked at it (it hasn't been updated in a few months, that's on the to do list). A few things came to mind after reading this article. My resume is one page, and i plan on keeping it like that. It follows from one of the other pointers that you don't want to list every job you've ever done, so it helps to keep only the most important impressive jobs on the resume. Following the one page rule helps in this aspect. I understand the references idea, but am almost hesitant to adopt it because i don't want to seem ill prepared. Also, Brian makes a good point about the CV, especially for this business. The resume gets you in the door- the cv will get you the job by sheer amount of experience.
Like everyone else who has commented on this article, I believe that the 1 page rule is an important one to follow. I think that this maybe has roots in actor land where they attach their resume to the back of the headshot, but nonetheless, it is a good rule to follow because it forces you to keep your resume current. I am a big proponent of keeping the references off the resume. First of all, it frees up space and makes the information in both places easier to read. Secondly, they are two different pieces of information, why shouldn't they be on separate pages? This summer, I sent out resumes, cover letters and reference sheets all in the same envelope so that it didn't feel like I forgot the references, I just chose to separate them from my resume. I don't have much experience with an objective. But the PDF rule is just plain common sense.
I feel like a large portion of these tips are common sense, or perhaps that is just common sense to me after being through Joe's Meta Skills Class. Like most people who have commented on this page, my jury is still out on the 1 page rule. While I understand the merits of keeping it short, it can also appear cluttered. If I were a recruiter, I would much rather have a two page resume that was clean, clear and a larger font than one that was crammed into a single page.
When I clicked on this article I expected it to be things that were rather obvious but, I guess I didn't really think of these things. I agree with the not stating the objective, I always found that a bit ridiculous and I also agree that there should already be references. If you have some, why not put it; if you put"upon request" then it makes it seem as if though you would still need to go find some which may indicate that not many people would want to reference you a.k.a. you have something to hide.
I have never heard anyone say that the one page rule shouldn't necessarily be applied. I think, though, that it greatly depends on your work. If you're working in theatre, especially design, while your resume is important, a lot of your employment is based on your portfolio and what people say about you. Whereas, some kind of business related job, a resume needs to show, in great detail, what your job included, where it was, how long you worked there...etc.
Good advice, nonetheless, about formatting. Keep the font legible and not all smashed together.
I've never heard that it's ok if your resume goes onto a second page. It seems like a good guideline to insure that your resume is concise and fluff-free. Ironically, most of the other rules in the article seemed geared toward keeping your resume as short as possible.
I enjoyed this article and found it helpful. I do agree with everyone else that has made comments about the one page rule. The person applying for the job shouldn't annoy the employer with every single job they have ever done. Other than that one thing I want to go back and look at my resume to see what things on it are relevant to this article.
I was incredibly interested to see resumes in the costume shop that extended over multiple pages. I wasn't aware one could do that. I've been updating my resume recently for the work I've done this summer and the more things I do, the more I want to include.
Like almost everyone above me rule one, extending your resume past one page, makes no sense. I find that keeping it on one page makes the employer more likely to read over it. If you have two pages, they may miss parts of it. Rules 2 & 3 make more sense, as I have never had an objective on my page, but now I know I don't need to list, "references upon request." The last two I follow, as I know that every computer can not read a .docx file and employers don't need to know every single detail ever!
Overall, the article was interesting and it was good to know I follow the rules...ish!
Recruiters are scanning resumes for key people or venues that they worked with in the past. One recruiter told me to have a different resume based on the job you are applying for. Each resume should be tailored to the job you are applying for. If you are applying for an Cirque job, recruiters want a descriptive blurb about what you did as a board op, for example, because Cirque people don't all come from theatre backgrounds and don't know what a TD is.
I agree with Ethan. Hiring Managers have a job to do. They aren't trying to rush through it. I think that taking your time with your resume and not cramming it all onto one page for efficiency's sake is a good thing. It allows you to show more of yourself to the hiring manager, who, if he or she is doing their job well, should appreciate.
The Theatrical Resume is always different from that of the standard workplace but they always seem to go through the same changes as that of the workspace. My personal favorite is to never EVER send a resume as a word .doc. I am already extremely annoyed by teachers who send us .doc files or post them to blackboard instead of as a .PDF. The first thing I always do is save them as a .PDF. Another item o the list that would apply to theatre is the job list. Listing your acting experience may be confusing to the hiring manager if you are applying for a job as a lighting designer. I know that I listed all my theatrical experience on my resume to get into CMU but now I purged it of all my acting jobs and focus instead on only scenic and projection related positions. The only one I disagree with is the two page resume. If you have a lot of stuff to share then pick your best and most closely related stuff. If they want a more detailed one then have a multi-page one available. The whole idea of one page is for the manager to be able to quickly see everything. If they have to turn the page or look at the back they might miss something. Anyway that's just my 2 cents.
Not to beat a dead horse, but I believe that a resume is meant to be one page while a CV can be multiple. While I can see why it might be even more important in a theatrical setting, I do not believe that any employer will spend enough time to read a multi-page resume if all they are looking for is a resume.
I also completely agree with the banning of .doc documents (or even worse .docx). In todays world of competition among word processors and the vast variety of computer systems, sending anything other than a PDF is a mistake.
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