At TalentEgg, we have a lot of experience with resumés. We’ve all written them ourselves and used a resumé to find our own first jobs. But in our current experience, working at a company that lives and breathes entry-level careers, we’ve gained even more insight on resumés from three different perspectives:

1. From our daily interactions with entry-level employers
2. As employers ourselves
3. As a result of a lot of reading, analysis, thinking and speaking on the topic

And I have to say that, overall, we’re disappointed.

 

 Given that resumes are the most popular screening tool used by employers, and given all the tools that are in place to really help your stand out, it is totally unacceptable to have a boring resume that will ultimately get thrown into a pile, never to see the light of day again.

 

Like I said in my previous article, you’ve got to sell yourself. Think of your resume like a proposal where the goal is to convince someone that you are someone they want to take time out of their day to meet.

 

But first: What’s a ‘Career Launching Resumé?’

 

Let’s face it, traditional resumés aren’t meant for people without work experience, or even for people with work experience who aren’t on a defined career path.

 

The traditional resume is fantastic at showing how a sales manager can become an excellent sales director, but not so great at showing why your history major makes you the best candidate for an entry-level job at a magazine.

So how do you show an HR rep that you truly posses the qualities they’re looking for? How do you get past the ‘no work/no experience’ problem?

 

The answer: You ‘Resumé Outside the Lines.’ And when you Resumé Outside the Lines, you get a ‘Career Launching Resumé,’ or CLR.

 

Key elements of a CLR:

1. It focuses on your greatest assets (achievements, not experience)
2. It demonstrates your interest in the role you’re applying for
3. It stands out among the hundreds or thousands of other resumés sent in
4. It’s written like a sales proposal and the product is you

Some cool ideas for a CLR:

A list of achievements…with testimonials (aka References!) in the margins.

 

Why is this cool? It shows the person who’s reading (screening) your resume that you aren’t the only one who thought you did a fantastic job taking care of kids at summer camp. Your boss did too! And in fact your boss thinks you’re so great that she wrote in her testimonials that you were the best councillor in the whole camp!

 

Writing about your life experiences rather than just work experiences

 

Last week, I mentioned that there’d be a story about me dressing up like a boy in a production of Macbeth. Well, this is it. When I was 15 I decided that my life’s calling was to be an actress, and my first job was playing a little boy in Macbeth. This remains on my resume to date, and was a major topic of conversation in almost every interview I attended after graduation!

If you’ve been in a band, participated in the drama club, won a French speech competition, sailed around the world, think about what those activities say about you. For example, if you’ve been in a band, you’ve not only shown initiative but you essentially started your own business!

 

What is a key item you’ve included in your resume in the past that has helped draw attention and get your foot in the door?