You Gave Me Resume Advice, Now What?

A few weeks ago I did a guest post for Marci Alboher's Shfting Careers Blog in the New York Times. There were many great comments on the blog but I also got a number of questions around "great advice, now what?" I'm not one to let a good question to go unanswered, so here goes...

Now that you have some great pointers for your resume, what can you do next? Get in a marketing mindset. See, whenever someone is looking for job search advice, they always start with the resume. It's the most common tool we know and the most comfortable one. And while many job search futurists argue about the value of tools like video resumes or whether resumes will even exist in the future, it is important to remember you will still need a way to sell yourself. Getting in a marketing mindset helps to ensure you're looking at your job search with the right lens—you are in charge of making the convincing argument that you are right for the job when you aren't there to say so. Your resume is your commercial. It has to encourage the reader to take the next step and "sample" the product (that's you!) in an interview.

As with any resume advice, in the comments on the original post there were some conflicting opinions about what is right and wrong on a resume. And while I shared my best recommendations for helping job seekers to make their resumes strong, at the end of the day, there is no one right way. As there shouldn't be. The best products in the world are sold using different types of promotions, different types of commercials (think about some of your favorite brands: Apple, Starbucks, Home Depot). But these commercials and products have a few things in common that make them strong. And regardless of the resume advice you follow, you can't ignore these powerful marketing messages:

1) Keep it Simple: If I am buying a new product I need to know what it is before I jump to the testimonials, the links and the product's website. So don't clutter up your resume with too many links to your business networking sites or MySpace pages. Make sure there are enough basics about how you succeeded in a past job.

2) Understand Your Audience: General Mills doesn't create the same commercial for every cereal. They customize the commercial based on the audience and what they know the audience wants. Why wouldn't you do the same with your resume? Do your market research and then customize your profile and your content every time a resume goes out the door. In my book (link to my site please) I recommend creating a library of content so every time you go to customize your resume, you aren't creating bullets from scratch.

3) Offer Samples: Whole Foods often puts samples of its tasty treats around the store. Why not include a writing sample or project sample along with your resume or as an additional attachment to a networking contact?

4) Get My Attention: Starbucks is currently attracting customers by giving away free iTunes downloads in its stores. That gets a customer's attention and gets them to go in the store and take the next step to make a purchase. Put some sort of customized profile at the top of your resume. Get the reader's attention to encourage them to take the next step and give you a call.

Regardless of the specific advice you decide to take or not take when it comes to your resume, don't forget it has to stand on its own. It has to sell you for the position, the organization and the industry, without you there to make the case yourself. Stay professional, cater to your audience, and have the confidence that you can make the sale.