In February 2012, the Career Thought Leaders Consortium published their Findings of the 2011 Global Career Brainstorming Day: Trends for the Now, the New & the Next in Careers.
My particular interest lies in resume trends, and you as my readers expect me to be up to date on these matters! Here are the Top 12 findings in the resume category from the best of the best in the career industry:
1. Resumes are not dead!
Every job seeker still needs one to present to employers, recruiters and network contacts. That said, the LinkedIn profile is becoming as important if not more important as an entry point and must be crafted to complement, NOT duplicate, the information in the resume.
2. Brevity Reigns
The 3-page resume, however, is going extinct. Keep your resume succinct and preferably to one or two pages, even if you are a high-level executive. This means concise writing, short paragraphs, brief lists of bullet points, and good organization and branding to assist the reader in quickly assessing your strengths. The top third of the first page is prime real estate.
3. Extra Extra! Leverage Addenda
Addenda are welcome attachments to short resumes when you have additional accomplishments to convey that did not make it onto the two-pager.
4. Keep it Chronological
Stay away from functional resumes. Hybrids are okay but reverse-chronological resumes are still the preferred format for recruiters and hiring managers.
5. Smart-phone Savvy
Keep in mind that some people will be reading your resume on their phones. This means you need good headlines and a compelling top third to half of the resume to encourage scrolling down.
6. RoboResumes
Keep ATS systems in mind. Make sure your resume is formatted properly to make it through the system. For more on ATS formatting, check out my article, How to Write a Resume that Beats the Computers.
7. Retro Resumes
Resume paper is still in style for when you present your resume in person! And it’s “retro” – you can send your resume in an actual envelope and perhaps get some positive attention for taking the time to do so in this email-centric world.
8. Hyperlink it!
Put links on your resume. QR codes are becoming popular, as well as other URLs that link to additional material about the job seeker.
9. Be human
Don’t skip the community service, continuing education, civic background, etc. Your character is being evaluated more than ever! And you are encouraged to put a testimonial on your resume. Why say it yourself when you can have someone else say it for you?
10. There’s no one-size fits all.
You need a different resume for each position you apply for, and then you need separate versions for the recruiter, the hiring manager, and the ATS software. How overwhelming can that be? That’s what career professionals and resume writers are here for. Hopefully we can make the process just a bit less overwhelming.
11. Vital Stats
You don’t need to include your street address in your resume header anymore! DO include your LinkedIn URL, web address if you have one, your city and state, ONE phone number and ONE email address.
12. Ever heard of Twitrez?
If you are media-savvy, you may have used the Twitrez tool to communicate your value proposition in a series of 10 tweets, 140 characters each. The idea is that each message can stand on its own and the combined 1400 characters “create a cohesive overview of a candidate’s core qualifications and value.” Or maybe you’ve tweeted your twesume?
I can see what’s next for The Essay Expert – it’s writing Twitter resumes! Stay tuned…
