…only in a science fiction story or in a job seeker’s dream.

A resume can be a powerful thing in your career and job search. It can make a big difference in whether you get a job in the short term, and in the type of contacts you make over the long term (and therefore, where your career goes).

But a resume is not the end-all of your job search and your personal career marketing. It is really more like the beginning. In fact, as I see it, a resume’s purpose is not so much to “get you a job” as it is to “get you a conversation with someone about getting a job”.

                  [adsensetop]

The topic of resume styles and length can be very subjective. So subjective in fact that many experts will tell you that those things are evaluated more by objective standards than by subjective ones.

Should you ever print your resume on colored paper? If so, what colors are acceptable? (In today’s age, there is even the question of whether a resume should be printed at all). And other questions come to mind (what are your thoughts about them?).

• Should your resume ever have a photo or artwork on it?
• How long should a resume be?
• Should you list all jobs you’ve ever had on your resume?
• Should you put dates on your resume?
• Should you list reference names?
• Should you put your highschool or college graduation dates on it?
• What font? Font size? Spacing? Headings? Dates?
• Use narrative form, or bullet points?

These are all very important considerations. Doing everything “perfectly” does not even guarantee you a job or an interview or even a phone call, but doing things “wrongly” on your resume can nix you out before your resume even makes it to the recruiter’s “possible candidates queue”.

Seemingly little bitty things can be determining factors. For one candidate’s resume I reviewed, she had an email address of something like sexykitten98732@hotmail.com. Her resume did not even get read (but it might work when applying for certain waitressing positions). Another candidate applying for a sales position had a resume that was terribly formatted and full of spelling and grammatical errors. Since communication skills are very important to me, having someone who communicates poorly in writing is something I want to avoid. No [reputable] professional organization is going to spend much time at all investigating candidates that indicate questionable conduct or affiliations, or who fail to show attention to the basics.

Within the recruiting process there is a greater two-step process for initial candidate identification:

1. Cull out all the candidates you know you don’t want or that are not qualified, and then
2. Select and evaluate the candidates who are or might be qualified, then Rinse and repeat.

…A basic gauntlet. Steps 1 and 2 go together and are often done simultaneously.

You do it yourself automatically when you walk into a car dealership or clothing store; instantly you see the stuff you don’t like (“ugly” for this analogy) and begin ignoring it immediately. Then you pay attention to the stuff you find attractive. Typically you will not go back to the ugly stuff unless you find the attractive stuff deficient for some reason. You get one chance to make a good first impression, as the saying goes.

In review: First, don’t get eliminated from consideration. Secondly, do get included in consideration.

I expect there to be much more writing here on resumes and personal professional marketing in the days to come, but for now I want to stay focused on what a resume is and is not [in terms of most Internet professionals]. It is a conversation-getter. But it is not a full career profile, a portfolio, a case history, nor a reference list. It is intended to raise interest in you for your desired position. It should also to some degree rule you out for some positions you are not interested in or qualified for – but not too much. It should answer some questions in the mind of the recruiter, but should be careful to not answer too many. In fact, I like for mine to even raise a few questions (to get phone calls and inquiries).

                  [adsense]

My resume in conjunction with my online resume profile on Dice or Monster or wherever, brings me about a dozen recruiter contacts a day. With that volume of contacts, there is a fair amount of spam – meaning developer or designer positions that a good recruiter should know that I am not matched for. But I also get the chance to talk to a lot of people about a lot of opportunities. Regardless of how good you are and how well known you are for what you do, there is always the numbers game factor. You don’t know what will take or what will fall through.

What do you expect from a resume?