Why your resume is the foundation of your job search

Did you notice that people wonder if they need a resume anymore?

As an advocate of strategic job search, I certainly suggest you use multiple strategies in your job search.

I advocate the use of more effective options than just blasting out resumes, but you still need the resume as the foundation of your job search.

What makes the resume the foundation of your job search

The process of resume writing is capturing “you” in one place: your work history, your education, your specialized certifications, and your background. I can’t tell you how many job seekers struggle just to get this far.

Even the best resume often gets abandoned after you land your next job, think about what happens in the future. If you stay for more than five years, I guarantee your memory will get fuzzy. For my clients, they think backward and fight to remember the years they worked for a company.

But while we capture those important specifics of where, what, and when in the resume, the more critical issues in today’s job search is beyond those specifics. The next employer is looking for your accomplishments laced with keywords for the industry you target. I probe my clients to uncover contributions not only in their last position but throughout their career.

Strategic use of career data

Next, we strategically use that data to position the client as the expert who brings the solution the company seeks. Now we have laid the foundation for everything that comes after in the job search.

You take this same information written in your value-infused resume and start your job search.

• You can use this foundation to build online profiles on LinkedIn and other social networks.
• Start thinking about the connections you need to make. Who do you want in your network to further your job search by sharing your background which you now can discuss with total clarity.
• Transform your new resume to meet online application requirements with a simple cut and paste instead of struggling to fill in the blanks with new data.
• Reference both the resume and the extensive research created your resume in your interviews, pulling out specific details to fit the job target and position you as the one the hiring manager needs to meet the financial, sales, or engineering goals of the company.

You need the foundation of the resume

Without it, your job search will be confusing, frustrating, and most of all, LONG.

• As a salesperson, you wouldn’t go into a sales meeting with a client without a presentation and sales materials.
• If you are an engineer, you use blueprints and renderings to explain your ideas.
• As a financial expert, you compile compelling data to illustrate your point.
• When you are in a job search, you need the same foundation of supporting information and the foundation is your resume.

How Design Resumes and Julie Walraven impact your job search