Next Thursday we release the March edition of Project Management Tipoffs, the free newsletter from Arras People. This month’s issue focuses on Career Development. To sign up, go to our Tipoffs registration page on the Arras People website. For a preview of what you can expect in Project Management Tipoffs each month, we offer to you the following article, reprinted from the February edition of Project Management Tipoffs, the project management newsletter from Arras People.
Latin, as an everyday spoken language, is all but dead. Save for law, higher education mottos, and the sciences (particularly medicine), this ancient tongue exists in those idioms in a manner suggesting that Latin is something we are clinging to as a origin, rather than as a force in everyday life. And while it does live on in many ways thanks to its offspring (French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish, among others), the only way you are likely to see it in everyday life is in that document you’ve polished up with gusto – the “curriculum vitae”.
This is exactly why the title should be dropped altogether.
When done correctly, the CV is the lifeblood, the essence of who you are as a working professional. Everything is in there: Where you worked, what you accomplished, what your accreditations are…everything. But like a Constitution, the document should also be a living, breathing document, something capable of springing to life and evolving with every thing you do or want to achieve next. It’s not going to look the same in four years’ time: you’ll have to account for new accomplishments, perhaps a couple of different promotions/reassignments or even new employers, and certainly more recent dates. The CV will also look different depending on the role you apply for which means you could be changing it every day of your job searches. It is open for amendment, and therefore, alive.
So why would you refer to it in a dead language that chokes the life out of its meaning and description?
We mentioned The Working Resume™ last week and more than a few employers will undoubtedly be intrigued by the notion of a candidate enthusiastically addressing the matters and issues that the vacancy needs to address. If you make this switch, understand some crucial elements of this document (when done correctly) give your candidacy a progressive, direct and active outlook because you’ve:
- Directly addressed the problems they want answered.
- Talked about how you would handle the project, point by point, task by task
- Showed your past experiences as proof of how you are capable of handling the responsibilities the role requires.
- Tailored your document according to the job specification to help them familiarise what you are in your previous life (working history) and how that qualifies you in your upcoming life (hired by them).
- Stated your willingness to show up and prove it.
Do you think that a hiring manager will be impressed with someone who has already proven they have read the job description by answering how they will complete the tasks, pointing to their experience, and showing a willingness to do it on trial? That folks is a great example of active voice that presents action. You have nothing to lose, everything to gain, and a willingness to prove your worth for someone in need of capable hands like yours.
This is what your “dead language” document needs. It has to have action in that living, breathing, continuously-updated database that is your working document. By referring to it in a progressive mannered voice, then showing your commitment to applying your past to the employer’s future, a Working Resume adds value and gives your application to the role a vibrancy the other CVs wish they had the luxury of bragging about.
In layman’s terms, Latin derivatives in the everyday vernacular kill meaning, feel and/or level of familiarity altogether. And with a document that clearly wants to stand out in the pile, anything that suggests “dead on arrival” suggests its time that you took the matter into your own hands. The Working Resume concept may not be for you, as you’re still comfortable with the traditional “CV”. By all means, stay with it, but consider changing it to “resume” (French for “synopsis”). Whatever title you go with, either one gives your candidacy that “Yes, We Can” vibrancy; the idea of looking forward while addressing your credentials never seemed more eminently possible.
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Dan-
Great article. I completely agree, though I often fail to practice this. Sometimes rather than modify the resume I’ll create what amounts to a Requirements Traceability Matrix by listing the requirements in the project description in one column and details on how I meet those requirements in the adjacent column.
However, you do it, it’s still a good idea to directly address the requirements of the project or position somehow and a very good idea to not let your resume get stale.
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Brad Egeland
IT/Project Management Consultant
email: brad@bradegeland.com
website: http://www.bradegeland.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/begeland
Project Mgmt articles: http://www.pmtips.net/author/brad/