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“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” Elinor Smith

In the age of social media, where selfless promotion is an art form and science, especially with the younger demographic, it is quite intriguing that the marketing skills used on these ubiquitous platforms are not transferred when it comes to the job-hunting arena.

Why the disconnect? I will assume that it is because job seekers have not quite looked at the job-hunting process the same way.

According to the American Marketing Association, “marketing” is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

What does marketing have to do with landing a job, you might ask? Well, everything!

Think of it this way: why do you go to the store and buy a certain brand of ice cream, when there are hundreds of brands and different flavours of ice cream? It is simply because you were attracted to that particular brand when a trusted friend recommended it. Or, you came across an advertisement which highlighted the non-fat but great-tasting qualities that led you to give it a try. Bottom line, you were sold on the value that was provided to you.

Marketing of some sort took place and you decided it was worth exchanging your hard-earned cash for the tasty treat.

From an employer’s point of view, there are always more candidates than roles to be filled, and as a result, there needs to be a way to filter out candidates—at least subjectively—prior to the interview stage. Since the 1930s, the de facto way that hiring managers, human resources professionals, recruiters, and companies have achieved this, is by way of the resume. The word resume, like many words we use today, is derived from French and means “summary.”

The resume is intended to be a summarization of your career to date. In other parts of the world, a CV (curriculum vitae) is a similar document, the major difference being that CVs tend to be more extensive and extremely detailed.

For the purposes of this book, we will use the resume, as it is more relevant to our context. Simply stated, your resume is a marketing tool and it needs to be thought of as such. It is amazing how many savvy, talented, and dedicated people have never looked at the resume through that lens.

Your resume is all about putting your best foot forward in order to ideally receive numerous phone calls or emails regarding your availability for interviews. An effective resume is a holistic document that enables you to sell yourself to a potential employer by blending your personal and professional experiences to date.

A key tip I give to all my students, friends, and acquaintances, is that if you’re actively applying for jobs and not receiving any invitations for interviews, the problem most certainly lies with your resume. It is not acting as an effective marketing tool for you.

The resume could either be a hindrance or a boost to your job search endeavours; always aim to have your resume be the latter and not the former!

After reviewing and editing several hundreds of resumes and cover letters over the years, I have seen the same mistakes consistently and repeatedly being made, especially by newcomers or younger entrants seeking to enter the workforce.

Let’s take a deeper look at what I’m referring to:

Sample Ineffective Resume

Sample Effective Resume