Winston Churchill and My Resume – A Lesson in Differentiation

I have run a job transition group since April 2007, in that time I’ve probably read 200 resumes or marketing plans. More often than not the point of differences between these documents is very little. Even across professions, they tend to read the same.

I wondered about my own resume. So I read it. Damn, not much different. It was easy to see the cause of the problem – I read the same blogs, websites, and books as everyone else.

Plan B: I decided to find a new source of inspiration that could help me think differently in how I described myself and my experience. To use language that would interest the reader. So after browsing in the book store, I bought a book of speeches by Winston Churchill. (So I guess it was Plan C).

Besides being a fascinating read, Mr. Churchill’s speeches took my resume in a new direction. I kept all of the required points of interest for a potential employer, but how I put it together was completely different from before. It was fun re-writing my resume, which I know is a bit like saying it’s fun getting dental work, but it’s true.

For my own blog, I found loads of inspiration from the writing style of author Jeffrey Fox and Guy Kawasaki’s, which write to the point and tongue in cheek, respectively. So look around and find what inspires you – and then set yourself apart.

Good luck today!

Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com

Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking
Candidates Chair LinkedIn Group: http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=2328268

http://TwitJobs.co.uk - Jobs Fed Into Your Life