Midlife at the Mailbox

Episode 9: Resumes in Midlife


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It’s back-to-school time across the country.  For a lot of people that also means thinking about career transitions.  There’s a multitude of reasons why that is:

  • Summer vacation is coming to end (people start to think about ending the year with a new job/career)
  • Parents with young children can focus again on working full-time or part-time now that kids are back in school 
  • COVID-19 pandemic seems to be normalizing in schools or some people want to fulfill their new year’s resolutions about career/jobs.  
  • For employers, it also tends to be a busy hiring season as their own teams are back from vacationing (especially in multinational/global teams) and focused on finishing the year strongly.
  •  It never hurts to look at your resume.  In fact, many career coaches recommend updating your resume on a monthly basis to keep it fresh and avoid the stomach-turning feeling of updating your resume before your next job hunt.  However, we realize that most people are not that methodical about it).

     

    If it’s been a while since you updated your resume, here are the top trends in the resume world:

    1. Branding Statements

    • Gone are the days of “Objective” statements at the top of your resume!  
  • Branding statements have been around for a while and continue to dominate most modern resume formats.
  • Your branding statement should reflect the role/job and superpower you have in the professional world. 
  • 2. Employers are looking for candidates that share their “Whole Self” 

    • It’s now ok to list skills other than your professional industry on your resume. 
    • Ex. Tea Sommelier for a recent candidate as part of our branding statement

    3. Your experience section should reflect an accomplishment-driven resume versus task driven resume.

    • Write your resume to appeal for online applications, also known as Application Tracking Systems (ATS).  
    • Utilize free online resources like JobScan

    If you’re a listener in midlife, here are a few other things to consider for your next resume update:

    • Please limit your work experience on your resume to the last 10-15 years
    • It’s as far back as most employers would like to know, as it’s the most relevant to the job.
    • List any relevant experience more than 15 years old in a separate section called “Additional Experience” if you think it’s important for your current job search.  
  • Remove your home or mailing address - only your city is needed!  
    • There are a lot of reasons for this - privacy, data mining and so much more.

     

    Resources

    Since the Mailbox community is so special and personal to us, I’m also going to share a resume template in Microsoft Word that you can use if you’re needing a resume overhaul and don’t know where to start.  

    • Schedule a complimentary 15-minute Zoom session with a career transition coach, Denyse Rabbat
  • Complimentary Resume Guide & Template from Denyse Rabbat Career Coaching
  • JobScan
  • ...more
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    Midlife at the MailboxBy Amy Alexander & Denyse Rabbat