Rule #2- Your Resume Should Have a Compelling Narrative

September 14th, 2008

This is where I lose more people, even those who thought they “got” me on the marketing tool point.

Let me explain. When someone is reading your resume, they are telling themselves a story about who you are. “This is a woman who gets bored easily and bounces around a lot,” they will think when they see a page with six different jobs on it that all last about 18 months. That might not be the truth, but unless something on the page (or at least in the attached cover letter) says otherwise, that’s the conclusion. Maybe three of those jobs were in the same company, just different divisions. Maybe one exit was a due to a non-profit shuttering it’s doors. You’d better make sure these parts of the story are conveyed in your resume.

What story does your resume tell about you?

Related posts:

1. Rule #1- A Resume is a Marketing Tool, not a Career History
2. Rule #3- Your Resume Should Be Easy to Digest
3. Putting it All Together and Writing the Resume
4. Free Resume Winner
5. Let Yourself Shine

Filed under: career change, career reactivators, college grads, mid-career professionals

Tags: career change, recent grads, resumes