Lee Silber is one of my favorite authors. [Yes writers have favorite authors as too.] I've always enjoyed Lee's books because he makes sense. He's just downright practical.
Lee has nothing to do with the "employment market". He's not a resume writer or job search coach. I want you to read a piece he wrote talking about ordinary people like you and me who did something creative to get noticed.
Lee's piece features among others the story of the Johnson brothers (Johnson & Johnson), Dave Matthews Band, The Grateful Dead, Kathy Najimy, Sara McLachlan, and Helmut Lang. All of whom were desperate and responded by doing something different. {I'll give you a link to the article soon enough but I have something to say first.}
Why do I want you to read about something that's not job hunting related?
Because desperate times call for - CREATIVITY. And the job search industry needs to stop writing in their client's resumes that they're "creative, entrepreneurial, different" and show them how to actually demonstrate that with their resume and their approach to job hunting. Because desperate times call for - CREATIVITY.
Why do so many authors preach from on high that there's only one way to do things and that's their way?
Resume writing is a good example. There are hundreds of books on resume writing and thousands of online resume writers who've had at least one of their resumes published in one of those books. The accepted format of black text on white paper hasn't changed for years. Okay, some suggest "cream" colored paper. Yippee!
Boring!
Just like your old B&W television.
I ditched my black & white television years ago. Why? Come on... color brings action to life. You know that. And sports in High Definition is so much more real. Rock concerts in stereo or surround-sound makes you feel like your there. No what I mean!
Why then, do you persist in writing resumes like your grandfather did?
Oh yeah, sorry, granddad only worked at one company. He lived in a century where you worked for one company all your life.
That's so 2000 and late!
The old social contract between employee and employer - do a good job for the company and we'll take care of you - got shredded decades ago. You're now referred to as "human capital", as if you can be moved around the shop-room floor in order to maximize your employers revenues.
You can't take your employment for granted anymore. You know you have to actively manage your brand to stay "top of mind" and fully employed. You have to become a master marketer, able stick out and being found.
So if You need to become a master marketer to keep an edge, I have to ask...
Why hasn't the resume writing industry kept up?
They don't type your perfect resume on manual typewriters anymore. So what's up? Who says you must have a 2-3 page resume consisting of black text on white paper? Your mother? Neighbor? Best friend? HR? The resume consultant you found on the Internet?
Who???
Authors and wannabee anything-but-a-resume-writer-but-couldn't-get-another-job-but-this-one-rewriting-resumes... that's who.
Come on! Seriously now, they have to tow the company line. They sell books based on their methods or the methods of some other guru. They have to sell books and encourage their resume and job search coaching clients to parrot the guru's methods to make a living. That's how they make a living and it is a very big business indeed.
How's your black & white industry accepted perfect resume working for you?
Got a lot of calls this week? Go on a lot of interviews? Have to turn down any offers because they just weren't quite perfect?
Sorry, I didn't think so.
But it's not you. It's not your fault. It's your resume.
You're brilliant! Spectacular! An achievement based mover and shaker! But your resume makes you look like all the rest. So I have to ask...
When are you going to break away from the pack and try something new and innovative?
Are you going to wait until your car gets repossessed? You lose your house? Your spouse? Or worse your TV? When your "social assistance" gets cut off? When!
What's it going to take to jolt you out of your doing-the-same-thing comfort level?
Before they take away your color TV and you have to bring the B&W one up out of the basement I want you to read Lee's Q&A section on his web site. I'll give you the link in a moment.
Aren't you a write too Dave?
Yes. And by-the-way "Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0" is my 3rd book. But NO, I don't tour around the country selling books for a living. I don;t write resumes for aliviing and I certainly don;t coach job hunters for a living.
I'm a Head-hunter. One of America's best - the Wall Street Journal said so nicknaming me the Rogue Recruiter last year - you can read about it on my web site www.perrymartel.com. I have made my living as a professional recruiter for more than 20 years.
I may be a simple head-hunter but I know exactly what it takes to get noticed and get hired. AND it isn't a dull boring resume. People get hiored when they get in front of an employer and make a case for themselves. So, it's You telling them what you're going to do for them...
And you can't get in front of an employer anymore with conventional thinking. Need more? Get your copy of this free audio CD i did with Mark Haluska and Kevin Donlin here: www.gm4jh.com
Now, as promised here is the link to Lee's site and this article: http://www.leesilber.com/HTML/Free_Readers_Write.htm
Please read it. Be inspired. Go be creative! Get a job you love and then help others breakaway from the ordinary.. because desperate times call for - CREATIVITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
David Perry
Managing Partner Perry-Martel international Inc. and co-author, Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0
