Let me tell you about a sad job search myth. You spend a lot of time on your resume. You worked and reworked to get the chronology right. You’re able to hold it up and say you’re proud of what it represents. You expect it to work for you. You plan to have your resume find you a job.

But it’s a job search myth!

There are several compelling reasons why counting on your resume to get you a job is a job search myth.

1. There are millions of resumes in circulation at any given moment — in print and online. The chances of your masterpiece getting directly into the hands of the person who is going to hire you are very, very slim.

2. Assuming your resume does match some of an organization’s needs, it’s going to go through an institutional screening process. A lower level HR associate or assistant to the assistant manager is going to be deciding whether or not you’re a worthy candidate.

3. You’ve got competition. When you submit a resume, you’re putting yourself right in the middle of your competitors with nothing but the cleverness of your document to distinguish you from the rest of the crowd. What are your chances that’s going to happen?

4. My resume will be carefully reviewed by a qualified decision-maker. NOT! We know from studies that an employer spends a maximum 20-50 seconds reading a resume. If something doesn’t pop off the page at him/her in that first cursory reading it lands on the reject pile,

5. Employers aren’t interested in what you used to do for someone else. Your resume details how you’ve helped someone else be successful. Someone who’s interested in hiring you wants to know how you’re going to fit into their organization. And how you can contribute to their bottom line.

So, if I can’t count on a resume to get me a job, what good is it? How do I avoid this job search myth?

An excellent question! You see, no one is going to hire you unless they have a chance to meet you face-to-face. It’s in the course of that engagement that the initial (not final) screening decision is made. If that’s the case, then your resume can serve as a summary of your accomplishments to hand an employer AFTER you’ve met.

In a sense, it serves as a business card. It’s a reminder to an employer of some of the highlights you brought to his/her attention in the course of your meeting. And it becomes the basis for a follow-up letter, phone call, second meeting, etc.

Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t have a quality resume. But you should be spending a lot more time researching organizations and decision-makers you’d like to go to work for. And then designing ways to get in front of them so you can make your case in person where it really counts.

That’s how you turn a job search myth into a job search success story!

Image taken on 2008-11-14 03:24:49. Image Source. (Used with permission)