20) Is Your Resume Lying

How I Found A Job (4/20) Is Your Resume Lying My resume was lying, kind of. No, it did not have lies on it. It was not fictitious. But it was not true to the job I was applying for. I knew that I could make some tweaks and make it more of a product manager resume, and Id probably get more replies and interviews.   But I didnt. My ego was in the way.   Seriously. And, a part of me was afraid to be successful in my job search. Double seriously. My resume was okay. Id give it a B+. For a targeted product manager resume Id give it a C. Not because it didnt have product manager stuff on it, but because I knew there were tweaks I could have made to make it much more appealing for product manager roles. I say this not to boast, but it was the reality of my search. I knew I could have tweaked that one thing and gotten better results. But did I really want better results? I was still conflicted about getting a job Anyway, heres the point of todays post: YES, your resume should be tweaked. Get it hyper-focused on the role/title you are applying to. The purpose of your resume is to make it past the screeners. That might be a recruiter, it might be a hiring manager, it might be technology (ATS). If you are one of 50 (or one of 500) and there are others that are clearly better positioned than you, according to the resumes, then you lose. Its as simple as that. My first job, as a hiring manager with a lot of applicants, is to figure out who I should focus on. If I have 5 or 10 that are perfect matches on paper then I focus on those, as opposed to those who are near matches but have weird stuff and distractions. Those distractions might make you feel good (look, it shows more about your breadth or depth) but they are LIES at this point. Stay super hyper focused. Dont let your ego dictate your resume content. Use the resume as a tool to get you into interviews. not as a brag sheet to be read at your funeral to show how cool and accomplished you were. Ignore this and you will be, like I was, passed over too many times. How I Found A Job (4/20) Is Your Resume Lying My resume was lying, kind of. No, it did not have lies on it. It was not fictitious. But it was not true to the job I was applying for. I knew that I could make some tweaks and make it more of a product manager resume, and Id probably get more replies and interviews.   But I didnt. My ego was in the way.   Seriously. And, a part of me was afraid to be successful in my job search. Double seriously. My resume was okay. Id give it a B+. For a targeted product manager resume Id give it a C. Not because it didnt have product manager stuff on it, but because I knew there were tweaks I could have made to make it much more appealing for product manager roles. I say this not to boast, but it was the reality of my search. I knew I could have tweaked that one thing and gotten better results. But did I really want better results? I was still conflicted about getting a job Anyway, heres the point of todays post: YES, your resume should be tweaked. Get it hyper-focused on the role/title you are applying to. The purpose of your resume is to make it past the screeners. That might be a recruiter, it might be a hiring manager, it might be technology (ATS). If you are one of 50 (or one of 500) and there are others that are clearly better positioned than you, according to the resumes, then you lose. Its as simple as that. My first job, as a hiring manager with a lot of applicants, is to figure out who I should focus on. If I have 5 or 10 that are perfect matches on paper then I focus on those, as opposed to those who are near matches but have weird stuff and distractions. Those distractions might make you feel good (look, it shows more about your breadth or depth) but they are LIES at this point. Stay super hyper focused. Dont let your ego dictate your resume content. Use the resume as a tool to get you into interviews. not as a brag sheet to be read at your funeral to show how cool and accomplished you were. Ignore this and you will be, like I was, passed over too many times.