Resume Trends for 2016

Your Resume Should be Written as a Story

What does this mean, really, to write a story? Does it mean something like: ‘Once upon a time I was a receptionist at a telecom company before finding my breakthrough sales role that led to my rise to senior management?’

Well, yes, sort of.

But what really makes a story sing are the obstacles, winding roads, storms and even battles that you encounter along the way to success. So, while your career is comprised of many successes in the form of promotions and achievements, and the metrics (percentages, dollars and numbers) tied to those achievements must be a focal point of the story, that’s often not enough.

A seemingly good enough resume may make you feel complete, for now, but what about the opportunities you may be totally misaligned with, simply because the resume hasn’t reflected solutions to that target reader’s burning needs? Maybe there is a whole plethora of employers who are not able to see your value because you simply have not articulated a story – or series of little stories — that mimic the types of scenarios they have been experiencing?

Or, while your resume may be good enough to get attention, in the instances where someone has told a better story, yours may just not hold water. You could got overlooked simply because there was a more attractive, enticing candidate who slid their resume in behind or ahead of yours.

After all, a good story is one that we not only can be impressed by, but also is one that either inspires or makes us relate on some level to the characters’ challenges, pain and pleasure. Show undulating stories replete with situations that are difficult, actions you took to overcome the difficulties and then the results. Weave within those stories your traits and strengths in influence, risk taking, resolve, integrity and more.

 Your Resume Must Speak to Today’s Economic and Industry Trends

While we often don blinders just to get through each day, trying to keep pace with the latest email, text message and to-do, the world is changing all around us, and quicker than we may be aware. Industries are rising and falling based on technology and other breakthrough inventions and tools that change how we do our daily jobs and communicate with the outside world and customers.

If recent-years’ disruptions have impacted your current industry or transformed an industry you have your sights set on, you must weave phrasing and achievements into your resume fabric that relate your savvy in these areas. For example, if you have successfully performed in a rapid-change wireless industry environment, you can now aim your resume arrow at a steeped-in-tradition brick and mortar organization that is hungering for your type of mobile networking savvy to propel them from languishing to ahead-of-the curve.

Helping companies connect the dots between their industry struggles and your experience at resolving such struggles can take you from cold candidate to warm interviewee in short order!