By Robert P. Poindexter
When automobiles began to be commonplace, over 100 years ago now, They said the horse was finished. Visions of wild horses roaming the city streets were conjured up. They said the horse would eventually become extinct. According to Them, we would have to slaughter them by the thousands in order to avoid the mayhem that would surely ensue from the newly released creatures.
Today, there are well over 100 organizations and clubs dedicated to the care and interest in these magnificent animals. From the American Quarter Horse Association, to ranchers all over the world, the horse continues to thrive and perform many useful functions.
Oh, and what would a horse race be without … horses? Ruidosa Downs and the Kentucky Derby still draw record crowds.
They were wrong!!
When movie theaters began popping up all over the world, They announced the end of the live play. Playhouses would have no choice but to shutter the doors and windows and bid farewell to this medium of entertainment. Because, according to Them, people will prefer the action and adventure that can only be found in the movie theaters. The lowly stage with its limited ability to create backgrounds and represent differences effectively between day and night would simply cease to draw crowds.
Ask the millions of people who visit live theaters every year, how they feel about this assertion.
Ever heard of a little place on the East Coast, called Broadway?
They were wrong !!
Electronic readers replacing physical books?
Nope!
Sailboats are still a hugely popular mode of sea travel even though boats being propelled by internal combustion engines have been around for over 150 years. But at the beginning, They were there and decried the end of sail power.
They were wrong … again.
Who are They? And why do They always seem to be there to assert their absurdly naive opinion that the advent of a new way of doing things, automatically means certain death to the thing that is being put forth as being replaced.
I mean, think about it, They weren’t even right about indoor plumbing. Ask anyone who has ever been on a long road trip with a five-year-old who couldn’t hold it until the next rest area, 50 miles away.
This writer is not naive enough to go to the other end of the spectrum and claim that nothing has ever been completely replaced. Thankfully, the invention of the computer I am using now means I know longer have to chisel these words into stone in order to express my thoughts in a physical way.
Okay, They were right on that one.
I’m not saying these naysayers don’t have a right to an opinion. I am only suggesting that the opinion being broadcast is based solely on their own particular view of the world. They don’t seem to consider that people with a different view enjoy horseback riding, going to plays and reading a real book with real pages that you can really turn and dog-ear and highlight and throw in a suitcase without worrying if the battery will die.
Perhaps, They have never drifted below a billowing white sail on a sun-drenched stretch of clear blue water with nothing but the sound of the wind in the rigging and the ‘whoosh’ of the water filling your ears.
In the careers industry, They have now begun to herald the end of the resume.
As in the examples above, these opinions have little to do with reality.
Someone I’ve become quite fond of in the careers industry, Dawn Bugni, recently told of the client who after one year on the job hunt, finally decided to have a resume professionally written and received a job offer three weeks later.
Doesn’t sound like a useless tool to me, based on that.
Have resumes changed? Yes.
Like anything, they must evolve in order to remain relevant.
Are they dying? Try going to your next interview without one. Or better still, try getting an interview without one.
Hunter S. Thompson once said, “Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.”
The same is true for those entering the job market. So you had better go in armed and ready, or you risk being eaten alive.
And no matter what They say, a well written resume had better be a big part of your arsenal.
Great post, Rob! I agree with you – the resume will always be around in some shape or form. I envision a future when a job candidate will submit his resume QR code to hiring authorities instead of having to copy and paste his resume into an online application box.
Resumes are necessary for getting job interviews. One of my clients offered me a LinkedIn testimonial in August saying he got an interview the day after he submitted the resume we’d prepard for him. Needless to say, he was thrilled!
What’s sad is when job candidates wait so long to get there resumes professional crafted. While you have to weigh the investment of professional resume writing, you also have to consider the money it saves you in the long run.
So, so very true, Meg. An executive with an earning potential of 150k or can literally cost themselves in excess of 20k by simply being unwilling to invest a fraction of that in their own career.
Thank you, Meg for the kind words and the excellent points you made to further reinforce the subject of this message.
Cheers
Rob
Rob,
Very well said indeed.
And, of course, let’s not forget the farewells for radio when TV came along, and even in terms of chiseling words into stone to “…express thoughts” I can’t help but think of things like the Vietnam war memorial and the 9/11 memorial to underscore that sometimes low tech is called for. A stretch to be sure, but just another way to build on the point you have made.
As you say, resumes have and will continue to evolve, but for sure they are going to be around for a long, long time to come, and given that most of us (thankfully) are not faced with the need to have one too many times over the course of our careers, it makes both common sense and businiess sense to get professional help when and if I need one.
Great points, Dave. I hadn’t even considered the the monument comparison.
Thanks so much for adding your thoughts to this important conversation.
It’s always great to hear from you,
Cheers
Rob
Point well made. The job resume will never go away and a well crafted resume is such in integral part of a successful job search that its importance should never be minimized. The more money that you expect to make, the greater the reason to invest in your goal.
Think of it this way. Your prospective employer sees a poorly constructed resume. He then knows several key things about you, including the fact that he is not going to call you for the job interview. First, he knows that you don’t really care about the impression you make. He knows that you cut corners when performing important things. He knows that you’re cheap and finally, he knows that you don’t understand the business world and the importance of doing things the right way.
So I suggest you re-think your strategy. Getting your dream job is too important not to cross every “t”.
You are so right, Lee. Thanks for adding your great points to the conversation.
Cheers
Rob
Great post! My friends – knowing that I’m a professional resume writer – out of concern, let me know that, in a couple of years, I’ll be out of a job. I will certainly send along this article; it really does address the issue beautifully…
Thank you so much, JM. I’m always glad to know when my ramblings strike a chord. Check in any time you need encouragement to continue your noble cause.
Cheers
Rob