These were the words from my client’s mouth to my ears just a couple of weeks ago as we determined our fit for a client-career resume writer relationship.
From my bird’s-eye view the past 14 years, having strategized, sweated over and introspected with career seekers to give birth to career stories, I know that telling your career story is much more than keywords, buzz language and phrasing that fulfills an ATS requirement or a LinkedIn profile formula.
As my Value Into Words tagline and Twitter handle express, I am passionate about fertilizing the written landscape with value-focused language; and my niche is transitioning real people’s value into words. Here is where the rub begins: too many people get swept up into the tidal wave frenzy of technological formulas that simply, mechanically and impersonally push their career message into a robotic scenario whereby the job search is thwarted.
A recent Forbe’s article, once again, espoused the dissolution of traditional resumes and their replacement by LinkedIn profiles. The foundation of a resume is continually evolving, in fact, becoming more nuance rich than ever before, but what is not changing is the value of the words breathing life into those stories.
Bear in mind that a LinkedIn profile, with its limitations in formatting, word count and design, is just another vessel — and a very robust one at that! (I love LinkedIn profiles; in fact, I regularly write them for my clients.) However, a foundational, story-rich career positioning message must be created first, and the LinkedIn profile should be an offshoot of that foundation.
With the most effective means of job search and career management still being fruitful relationship building, pull marketing and networking (these three methods really are intertwined and overlapping), getting swept into the idea of another mass-attracting tool to formulate a non-formulaic message can be career derailing, or at the least, career slowing.
Your career positioning documents may be housed in many forms: Word document, SlideShare, LinkedIn Profile, Visual CV, Social Resume … and more!
It’s not the vessel that should be the central focus of our discussions; it should be the intimate and uniquely articulated message as well as the means to showcase that message. And beyond that, it’s the attitude and zeal of the real live person behind those words and the energy employed to lift and carry those words.
The bottom line is, do you want a custom-built career story or a resume that links you into a plethora of other automated career bots like cattle in a herd?
Jacqui,
This is such important resume crafting advice: “… a foundational, story-rich career positioning message must be created first, and the LinkedIn profile should be an offshoot of that foundation.”
So many job seekers struggle identifying the essence, progression, and meaningfulness of their career steps. What you describe so beautifully here is the need to see a career not as a string of jobs but a sequence of interlocked and powerful experiences that deliver valueable business capabilities.
The kind of resume building support you describe here lays the foundation. Your perspective on how to give one’s story legs gives it reach.
You’ve again struck an important and resounding chord. Thanks, ~Dawn
Hi there, Dawn,
Yes! So many job seekers DO struggle – I ‘hear’ it in their voice (spoken/unspoken).
Your clarifying and value-add language resonates: “… the need to see a career not as a string of jobs but a sequence of interlocked and powerful experiences that deliver valuable business capabilities.”
So true – and worthy of introspection and foundation-building!
Merci Beaucoup, as always, for stopping by and supporting my musings!
Jacqui
Jacqui,
Your post, as always, contains pearls of wisdom for every person in or out of the job market.
The twitter handle/tag line you use is so apropos – you have such a gift and skill with language that you are able to take simple words and sentences and transform them into the equivalent of beautiful poetry.
I can only imagine what you do when you are working on conveying a person’s value in a way that highlights that person’s unique competitive advantage…
Hi Dorlee,
You are so kind, and the power of words is evident when I read genuine expressions such as yours.
Thank you for making me feel like a ‘poet’ – you made my day!
I so appreciate your consistent support and value-add!
Jacqui
Jacqui, great post!
Your passion for your work and your clients really jumps off the screen here. I can only imagine that you’ve crafted some pretty incredible career stories as well!
Thanks Wes! I appreciate your kind words!
Jacqui