The Life of a Resume

Resume – the piece of paper that plays a pivotal role in your job search journey (of course, unless you’re a PhD student, in which case your curriculum vitae can be as thick as a book ????). 

In 1482, when Leonardo De Vinci first created his professional resume, he probably did not imagine the ubiquity his invention. Yet, now days, resume has become a necessity for all job seekers and the first line of defense for employers.

The concept a resume is by itself a contradiction. 

The physical space of an A4 paper limits the contents on the resume. Consider each letter, each punctuation real estate as expensive as 上海新天地. 

At the same time, there are ideally as much detail of your personal and professional achievement as possible – in the hope that one of these carefully curated details will land you that dream job.

It is amidst these two pulling forces that the creation of a resume become infinitely painful.

Birth

A resume is born out of necessity. You, its father (or mother), are in desperate need of this thing called a job. Many questions remain as you start the process: how to start, what is the right format and who is reading it? 

Despite these difficulties, the key here is to get things started ASAP and go from there.

Adolescence

Once you complete the first draft, your resume is as mercurial and malleable as an adolescent. Your life story is subject to many rounds of revisions as it forms its “identity.” 

Through these revisions, the goal is to show your personalities, experiences and successes as a package that will intrigue your dream employer.

Maturity

Finally, after multiple revisions, here is one piece of paper that you are proud of. The file is in the right format, convening the right message and looks professional.  (此处有掌声)

This finely tuned, mature one-pager will be your stepping stone to interviews and beyond.

Midlife Crisis

At this point, you might think that you are done with you resume, FOREVER. Lucky for you…as you completed your first “final draft,“ this piece of paper becomes a living, breathing companion that will grow with you as you make life and career choices. 

Chances are, as your role expand or change, your resume will enter “identity crises” whereby you need to refine and renew your personal brand.

There is no true end for a resume, for your experience updates by the second as time passes by. Each step that you take, whether big or small, can be reflected in the revisions of your resume. What ends are certain parts of your life and your career as new adventure begins.

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