In our last episode, we talked about how important it is to keep your job search documents up to date if you want to be able to seize on this hot job market.

In this episode of the Stop Hating Mondays podcast, we’re answering another common question about resumes and LinkedIn profiles: “What does a winning resume look like in 2021 and with LinkedIn, do I still even need to have a resume?”

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TRANSCRIPT

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Kent

In this season of the stop hitting Monday Podcast, we're taking some direct listener questions about the employee market we're experiencing.

So let's jump right in.

Kent

OK! So, I talked about the need for top notch job search documents in last week's episode, so let's discuss this week the following question from Abdul. He asks, “What does a winning resume look like in 2021 And with LinkedIn, do I still even need to have a resume?”

Caanan

Abdul, thank you so much for asking this question. It's one we get a lot and it's one I'm really glad we get an opportunity to answer here because…

Kent

I was going to say it's the top ten question, but then I realize like on every podcast I say everything's in top 10 questions – just probably because we get so many questions all the time we.

Caanan

Do, but you're not wrong. This is a top ten question.

So, it's a two part question. So, Abdul, let me take the first part. “What does a winning resume look like in 2021?” We got into this a little bit in our last episode, but we'll take it a little further.

First off, let's just touch on the basics of a winning resume.

Kent

Is one that is concise?

Caanan

Yes, one that speaks directly to your impact in your previous organizations. And I mean directly.

Achievements are as close to a silver bullet as you can get when it comes to resume writing, so your resume needs to have very clear, quantified achievements.

I'd say a winning resume in 2021, in addition to being concise, it just needs to be powerful and modern. You're probably thinking like, “well, of course,” but trust me, most of the resumes we see – and if you're in a hiring position, you probably know this – you are not getting a lot of modern, easy to read resumes.

So: concise, relentlessly focused on impact and achievements, and modern.

Kent

Yeah, you definitely need a resume and you need LinkedIn.

Caanan

Oh yeah, did I not say that? 100%. 100% yes to the second part of the question, “with LinkedIn, does one even need a resume anymore?” The answer is a resounding yes.

Kent

Yes, yeah.

So, listening to you speak is causing me to kind of change my approach here 'cause I had been looking through our questions and sort of collected the questions I wanted to throw out. But I’m going to sneak one more in, so you have to shorten… You're in a bad place, you're going to shorten what you say 'cause I want to sneak this one in.

Listening to you talk about, “do I still need a resume with LinkedIn?” made me think – as I said – about how many times we get that question.

Can you kind of briefly fill listeners in into the kind of broad view we've had over the last several years regarding that question that never seems to go away. 'Cause we, we've changed our stance a little bit.

Caanan

We have. We have. Our entire sort of ethos around LinkedIn and resumes has shifted. It's evolved. But that's because LinkedIn has evolved. When LinkedIn came on the scene. it was a bit of a game changer, but it wasn't as integrated – and I mean literally integrated into the hiring and recruiting process as it is now. A lot of people don't know that LinkedIn is literally built into many companies hiring systems, and that's happened over the many years.

So, when we started, we were very much focused on resumes because that's where the hiring community was at – they were still focused on resumes – and LinkedIn was sort of a nice to have. You know, people might check out your LinkedIn when they were considering you.

That has shifted. So, they are of equal importance now and, in some ways, LinkedIn has become even more important than the resume, but they're still very much… They're both very necessary. So our current recommendation, and we say this a lot, is, you need a very strong LinkedIn because a lot of recruiters and hiring managers etc. – if they're not finding you there, they're going to expect you to be there – and you need a resume because, unlike LinkedIn, a resume is targetable and adjustable. And so you can use your resume to target specific positions and position yourself in a very specific way for a position, something you can't do with LinkedIn, which is kind of static, if you will.

So, we always recommend: Have a very strong LinkedIn. It's a nice way to provide a more comprehensive view of your experience in a very high level view of your experience. And then you need a resume that you can apply to specific positions with and that resume needs to be targeted toward each specific position.

Kent

Yeah, and since you kind of I think you knew where I was heading, you kind of started to answer one of my questions. I'm just going to make it an extension of what you're already talking about, which is that resume and the need that it be concise and something else that we've been changing over the last several years.

Well, we used to recommend one page resumes in select situations.

Not rarely but, you know, maybe more infrequently. Now, we pretty much always recommend a one page resume because those attention spans are getting shorter just because of the way LinkedIn is being used more deeply.

You're the expert on this, so speak a little bit more to that LinkedIn with a one page powerhouse resume being the best combo.

Caanan

Yes, well, you essentially just said it. Because you can provide a lot of information on LinkedIn, it sort of enables you and compels you to have a very concise, targeted resume. Honestly, I can't even think of a time in the last two years we have recommended a two-page resume. They just don't make a lot of sense anymore.

Kent

Yeah, sometimes they do, yeah.

Caanan

There are some outlier cases. Yes, for sure. But you know what? Even in cases where an industry has a, uh, a greater appetite for long resumes and old school CVs, a one-page resume is still a good idea because it's modern and it's disruptive in those industries.

Kent

Yeah, yeah, even when even when they weren't always the smartest thing for people, there's something about – you know, and we've helped with a lot of hiring panels on the other side of the table – there's something about – even if the person shouldn't have a one page resume – there's something about the power of a one page, sharp, punchy modern one page resume that, well, can't be beat.

Caanan

This is a proxy for you in the hiring process and a one page resume says very loudly that I can communicate concisely. It says modernity. And it says, “I'm not going to waste your time.” And who is going to not fall for that?

Kent

Yeah, so now for the longest time… I know listeners, you've all heard this too – we've all heard that the average time somebody will look at a resume, you know, was like 40 seconds six years ago, and then four years ago was 30 seconds. In last few years, it's been 8 seconds.

Well, I mean that – all that stuff is ridiculous, but there's a lot of truth to it. There needs to be that initial attachment, so that's definitely the best advice we can give on resume length.

Kent

OK so, you, being our resident expert on this very topic, the question I'm gonna ask you now might just break you. This is a mad making question and I'm going to further challenge you.

Caanan

OK, I'm prepared.

Kent

Well, first, to keep your composure and number two to give a sort of snap response to this.

Caanan

OK.

Kent

So lots of questions in our mailbag as there always are about chronological versus functional resumes.

Caanan

Oh, good lord. OK.

Yeah, yeah.

Let me say this.

Functional resumes are generally used – and have historically been used – by people who are trying to cover something up.

Kent

Yeah, it's funny. Everybody knows that. Every candidate knows that. Every hiring manager knows it. Yet we've all kind of bought into this.

Caanan

Well, OK, yeah, yeah. I have something I want to hide on my resume, so I'm going to go with a functional format. Yes, and you're right, everybody knows it. So a functional resume looks like you're trying to hide something, yeah? And you probably are. Yeah, so don't do it.

Everybody should have a chronological resume. Even if you have gaps in your experience, it doesn't matter. You need to have a chronological resume.

I'll just add here that many automated screening systems won't even accept a resume that isn't chronological.

Kent

Yeah, this is something a lot of people don't know. I wanted to throw this in here since we're answering about screening software is no joke.

You know people not wanting to put complete dates on their resume or eliminating personal information. All of these show up in what's commonly referred to as, you know, in some of the systems we work with, Red Flags. And if you don't have a last name or an address or a phone number or a date – every time you don't have an ending date or you're with the job, these show up is what's called red flags and then, you know, your resume could have 22 red flags. So, all of these things that Caanan is speaking to – like these standards of a chronological resume – just help to keep things buttoned up in such a way that appeals not only to human readers – as we said in that concise, snappy way – but also computers.

Caanan

What good is a is a functional resume if it's never even going to be seen by somebody, and that's what will happen in many cases.

So, here's the best part. It is always go with the chronological format, but fold in some of the elements that make a functional resume interesting. The branding elements, the overview statement – and I don't mean an objective nobody is talking about objectives these days – just a quick statement that's talking about the impact you could make and why you're a good fit.

Maybe you can highlight some specific achievements at the top of your resume, but whatever you do, it has to be – your experience has to be outlined chronologically.

There's just no other way around it.

Kent

Well put. We'll leave it there.