Over the past few weeks, I've met up with a couple different friends looking to switch it up in the work department. And in each of these conversations, there's been a recurring theme: the ever-important but overrated resume.
Sure, having an updated resume is important. And if you're a hopeful job-seeker, you should definitely take at least some time to give your resume a facelift. But that job history one-pager definitely isn't the "make it or break it" factor that you should be investing all this time and energy into.
So today, I want to break down why this overemphasis – this hyperfixation, if you will – on the resume is a mistake. I also want to share with you what you should be investing time and energy on instead if you're seriously considering finding a new job.
Here's why hyper-fixating on your resume is a massive mistake.
Planning without action gets you nowhere.
I find that a lot of job seekers get caught in this endless cycle of editing and updating their resume. But it doesn't matter how perfect your resume is if you don't actually submit it anywhere.
Most resumes are the exact same.
Look at your resume. I'm so willing to bet that you've listed your general job titles with general job experience. Everyone collaborates, everyone time manages, everyone engages stakeholders. We get it.
Unless you have some sort of massive differentiator(s) to share, your resume is pretty much going to be a carbon copy of every other resume – especially if you're job-seeking within the same industry.
Chances are high that no one will even read it.
People will glance through it – sure. But chances are slim that someone is going to carefully read over your resume, soaking in each perfectly-selected word and detail.
According to an article on Yahoo Finance, as many as 75% of resumes never even get read by a human being. That is a massive percentage! With the further development of AI and other screening tools, I can't imagine this number is going up any time soon.
Here's a better use of your time
Rather than investing all this effort into crafting the perfect resume, your time and energy would be much better off leveraging your connections and building your professional network. Relationships get job offers – not randomly-submitted PDFs.
There's power in your professional network. Because even if you don't personally know someone with hiring power, you likely know someone who knows someone.
There's your entry point.
related post: Some Food For Thought: Who You Know May Not Matter