Careers

We’re Stuck With The Resume

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I rarely meet people who like doing resumes.  I’m one of them, which probably means there’s something desperately wrong with me.

I’ve been hearing for, about a decade, how some piece of technology will replace the resume.  Admittedly having seen some utterly terrible ones, I kind of wish there was a better substitute, if only to see things screwed up in new ways.

However, I don’t see it coming.  Sure we’ve got video resumes and LinkedIn profiles, and the rest, but the resume is with us for a long time.

Because it’s a standard.

Think of the resume as part of the language of the job search.  It’s something so common, so useful, that even if it seems archaic, it’s something we’re used to, and something we rely on.  It may be inconvenient, most of us may hate making them, but it does the job, and to change over even if there was a better idea would be a big cultural shift.

So, we’re stuck with it for now.  The best thing is to get good at making a resume – and to work on those “supplemental” elements like LinkedIn profiles and portfolios so they enhance the value of your resume.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

Employment Search Book Update: Delayed Due To Irony

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OK, my book compiling all my tips from my job search in 2012?  It’s going to be delayed a bit.  It’s nothing with health, or content, or anything else.

I just got laid off.

So, yes, admittedly I could publish it, but I’m going to feel like a bit of a burke publishing a book about a job search when I don’t have a job.  It just wouldn’t be right.

I also view this as a chance to try out the strategies I compiled and expand them.  Admittedly even with two days I’ve found new things to add and validated some others.  But it’ll be delayed for awhile.

I will probably start some of my other projects in the interim, as the book is literally ready to go except for the conversion.  My estimate is it’ll be out 2-3 weeks after I find a new job – so I can do the update, the check, and the conversion.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

Status On My Next Book

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Well my next book – which is really more of a booklet  – is out of editing.

My plan is to take some of my past Fan To Pro columns on job searching and improve and enhance them to form a tight guide to oddities on the job search.  It’s gone pretty well, and I expect to be publishing sometime in November.

I’ve had great feedback from my pre-readers and I think it’ll be very useful for folks on the job search, especially those who want to try and get out of a rut or take their job search skills a bit farther.  I’ll probably be pricing it pretty cheaply as an e-book.  Not sure I want to do a physical book, but more on that later.

It’s a bit under 40 pages, and doing it’s been interesting:

First, I really feel the idea of using blog content as the seed for a book actually works.  I wasn’t initially sure about the idea (I mean, why not just do a reprint?), but instead it’s like the original posts are the basis for another useful form.  What works as a blog post in my ranty-coach didactic style doesn’t work as a book, and what you can do in a book and a blog differs.

Secondly, after you get feedback on a series of blog posts and/or look over your work, you can incorporate that into the based-on work, and this ads a lot of value.

Third, it’s a way to make your content accessible in a  different manner.  People don’t want to have to go back to your blog all the time, or have to find printouts, or whatever.  You can give things to people in a different useful format.

Fourth, and something I hope to explore later, if you’re producing a physical object (a book or magazine), there’s something new to leave for posterity.  Something that can be passed on, put on a shelf, gifted easily.  There’s something satisfying about that.  This may not happen with this book – but we’ll see.

So hang in there, it’ coming . . . and starting to wonder how I present these books on my sites, so suggestions welcome . . .

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.