Sunday, April 22, 2007

Why can't jobs find us?

My life on paper has never looked good. I majored in theatre lighting, had my first work experience in event planning, moved halfway across the country and then had my second work experience in entertainment law. Even I wouldn't hire me. My resume has always lacked cohesion, and I've never gotten a job using it.

Recently a friend from work who is an MBA student and I went to work on our resumes. I had never had anyone with zero theatre knowledge look at it, so the fresh perspective was exactly what I needed. The changes she suggested were genius. Magically she was able to highlight the skills I have and make me look marketable. Hopefully this confidence boost will motivate me to start a more serious hunt.

One of the suggestions my friend made was to remove my list of lighting designs and put my lighting knowledge elsewhere. It was an excellent idea, but hitting delete on that section was hard. I haven't been a designer in over 5 years, but there was a time I defined myself by it. Besides one photograph that hangs in the hallway of my apartment, that section on my resume is all that's left that time in my life and it was a little sad to erase it. My resume was stuck in the past though, and it's time to move on. There are things I want to do with my life still and unfortunately reducing my life to 1 page of text is the only way to get there.

1 comment:

Wendy aka Cheeky said...

I am a recruiter - your friend gave you good advice