Do university students need a resume to get a job? Or is LinkedIn or something else more important?

25 Jan

Written by Andrew Ford; Edited by Grace Pehar and Shinyi Chin

Once upon a time, the resume was the king of job search. Resume or Curriculum Viète (CV), those few pages of text were the difference between landing your dream job or returning to the queue of job wannabees.

But times have changed. Digital has overtaken paper. So the question is, do you even need a resume these days or can we just rely on LinkedIn and other digital media?

Like 90s fashion, ‘old school’ still has its appeal

The answer actually depends very much on the industry you work in. Having coached hundreds of people through the job search process over the years, I have seen a massive change in the way people apply for jobs in certain industries. Others, not so much.

For instance, if you are in the medical profession or academia. It’s likely your resume is still a key part of your job search process. These very detailed and specific documents capture your key work experience, professional development, training and accomplishments such as published papers. They are quite long and elaborate.

In those industries, LinkedIn and having a digital brand isn’t quite the thing. So resumes are still key.

The Bold and the Creative

However, on the other side of the fence sits marketing, advertising, entrepreneurship, and tech roles. These industries are fast adaptors of new systems and have rapidly moved away from traditional hiring methods. They still expect you to have some type of resume, but it’s not a big part of the process. What matters more is how you position yourself through your online presence and in the interview. Here, personality and character matter as much as previous experience and education.

As an example, a kooky friend of mine was going for a creative role at an advertising agency. The ad agency asked not for a resume, or even LinkedIn; but asked to be tagged in four of his most recent Instagram posts. One of the posts my creative friend chose was a picture of him riding a blow-up unicorn, drinking a cocktail in a fancy pool - as his resume. He got the job.

These examples are two extremes in the industry and for most of us, we will be in the middle. My advice to clients is to still have a resume with enough detail to satisfy the old school hiring managers. You can’t predict who will be conducting your job interview so the best strategy is to have both resume and digital covered as well.

Ideally, you’d have your own personal website to send hiring managers to which you can reference in your resume and on LinkedIn. This would be a simple website where you can store all of your greatest achievements and showcase your personality. (We will cover personal websites in another blog)

Size does matter but content is still key

Make it 3-4 pages and include the details that you can’t publish online. Some people say keep it under 2 pages but I disagree. The HR person will scan the resume for key points, so take the time to list all of your achievements. But make it clear and easy to find content, not long paragraphs of irrelevant material.

Include particular grades for courses, specific company achievements that might be slightly commercially in confidence. If you work in sales, you can include specific deals won or revenue targets achieved that you wouldn’t like to publish online. If you are in marketing, you can list your key clients and the campaigns you worked on.

Don’t neglect the often underrated cover letter

Ensure you have a robust cover letter as they read this first. The cover letter isn’t just about you, it should demonstrate how well you understand the company and the role you’re applying for. So take the time to research the company and the role. Your cover letter is where you showcase the effort you’ve put into research and demonstrate your keenness for the position.

The money is in the detail (and spellcheck)

Pay particular attention to detail. Any spelling mistakes or typos can get you disqualified, regardless of how awesome you really are. Remember, the average number of applicants for a job is 250+; and the HR person sorting the applications spends an average of 7 seconds on each applicant when sorting into piles of yes, no and maybe.

Any little thing that makes your cover letter and resume stand out (in a good or bad way) is important, so watch the details. Grammarly is your friend here. If you don’t know what that is, Google it and send me a thank you note. You're welcome.

(This post is not sponsored by Grammarly)

Keep it simple, but significant

Simple formatting is best. I have many friends in the recruitment space - they just want the information and not fancy hard-to-read fonts. Don’t be tempted to show your Canva skills and have a black document with white text because that’s what your iPhone looks like. Simple sans serif fonts on white paper with clear headings and short paragraphs is recommended.

And there you have it! Some simple tips to rock your resume. But this is not the end of the story. Next, you’ll need to ensure your LinkedIn and digital presence is up-to-date, looks professional and not giving off too much amateur-student vibes. But more on that in the next blog…

If this was helpful please hit the ‘like’ button and drop me a comment if you want me to cover any specific items of job search. Happy to help!

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Andrew Ford

Marketing expert Andrew Ford, the founder of Social Star, has discovered the secret of ‘Powerful Branding’. With a fire for unleashing people’s inner brand and developing business models to generate profit from an individual’s passions, Andrew leverages ground-breaking digital and social media marketing techniques to create digital strategies for clients to attract maximum opportunities. Having established a strong name for himself in the field, Andrew blends traditional business techniques with now-necessary tools for entrepreneurs to achieve scale, quality, and influence in their niche. Andrew’s comprehensive business background and qualifications consist of a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) (RMIT 2003), a Graduate Certificate in Management (MBA Executive Program, University of Sydney 2005), and a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Swinburne University 2011). Continually on the cutting edge of his own education, Andrew has tested his marketing theories in forums such as the BCG Business Strategy Competition, which he won in 2005 against all Victorian MBA schools, and the Venture Cup Business Plan Competition (Swinburne University 2003), which he won in the Masters category. With experience working at Hewlett-Packard, Sensis (Telstra) and IBM, Andrew also has mentored dozens of junior staffs to help them achieve their professional goals. Meeting and influencing high-profile public figures helped Andrew to realise just how many professionals require more understanding and control of their public brands or appearance, and need help with the skills to use the many amazing free tools at their disposal to generate success. At Social Star, Andrew consults with clients to uncover their personal brand – both where it is today and where it can be tomorrow – and refine and define how that should be displayed in social media in order to attract their perfect target audience. Andrew mentors his clients to rapidly grow their business’ audiences, resulting in larger potential client bases and higher revenue. Applying formulas that integrate over twenty years of Andrew’s business experience and fifteen years of formal business education, Social Star specialises in building clarity and velocity for clients’ brands using the ‘Understand, Build and Leverage’ methodology. ‘Having a Personal Business enables people to have an authentic, congruent connection with their valued clients and partners, using their brand as the bridge,’ says Andrew. ‘I’m highly driven to work with the new breed of entrepreneurs and small business owners – people who have a passion for making the world a better place. Traditional business models are stepping aside as people follow their innermost dreams and my role is to see them operate within their values while creating wealth. Some people think you have to sacrifice what you love to be successful in your business, yet it is actually the opposite. Follow your passion and success will come.’ Lecturing at Swinburne University from 2009 to 2011 on brand dynamics and digital marketing, presenting at numerous conferences, and consulting to hundreds of clients, Andrew has seen his philosophy work that if you follow your unique path, based on your skills, experience, values and goals, you will automatically attract the opportunities you desire and achieve the success you deserve. Living his mantra, Andrew has created a successful business and attracts high-profile clients including musicians, athletes, authors, models, entrepreneurs, professionals and small business owners, helping them find their ‘why’ in their business and fulfilment in their lives. Business for Andrew is more than work, it’s personal. Running a personal business means that he is able to fulfil all of his values rather than separating his life from work. It supports his two boys while providing social opportunities, educational development, fitness opportunities, spiritual fulfilment and many valuable friendships. Social Star has now become the vehicle for Andrew to crystallise his mission in the world, to help people love what they do, supporting his ‘why’, that if more people loved what they did, the world would be a better place.

http://www.andrewford.com.au/