Resumes are about Strategy

Last week I was contacted by a CFO who sent me two resumes to review along with a request to talk by phone. I would normally just do an email review on one of his resumes, but since he was referred to me I deviated from my typical response.

Turns out I was about the 10th in a long line of resume reviewers that he contacted. I guess he didn’t like any of the other feedback and was more interested in finding someone who would agree with what he did, or he just wanted free advice.

What he did, he told me, is pull an “award-winning resume” from another resume writer’s site and insert his name and employer names. Whoaaaaaaaaa! Resumes are about strategy, not taking a template you like and plugging in words.

Every candidate has his own unique personal brand, value proposition, strengths, values, and goals. Someone else’s resume will not foster powerful positioning from “his” (or her) uniqueness but rather, will more likely result in positioning as a commodity.

It’s what is different, unique, and valuable about you – what you distinctly bring that a company is willing to pay to get – that creates powerful positioning … not those things that are  “like”  or “very similar to” every other candidate. 

Hunted!

David Perry, Super Executive Recruiting Sleuth and author of Guerilla Marketing for Job Hunters, may be hiding in a café near you … with the opportunity of a lifetime! Wouldn’t it be great to carry a reputation that was distinctive enough to bring top-notch recruiters out of the woodwork in hot pursuit of you with great, new opportunities?

While not every C-level candidate may be able to cause this type of frenetic activity, and yes it’s true not every recruiter would go to the extremes of the Super Recruiting Sleuth; with a visible, branded marketable value proposition you CAN get on the radar screen of those recruiters who need to know about you and who have the opportunities you want.

That means moving beyond the commodity positioning of responsibilities and repackaging and positioning yourself as the most desirable candidate among all of your competition. How have you delivered compelling value over the years that would incite companies to fight for you to join them? Easy? No. Worthwhile? I’m sure many of David's prospective candidates would offer a resounding yes!

I’m still waiting to see the picture of David in a hairnet and apron!