As you know, the best ways to take your next great career step is to:<\/p>\n
Better yet, to do all of the above in combination!<\/p>\n
It’s logical to ask the question, then, why you’d need to create a boring old CV or r\u00e9sum\u00e9.\u00a0 It wouldn’t appear to help very much with doing those three things above.<\/p>\n
I’m out there making connections all the time, and the “currency” of the conversation is often to exchange business cards.\u00a0 Yes, there’s more high-tech ways to exchange information, and I end up with lots of cards that I end up tossing.<\/p>\n
But still, it’s about the way people expect to interact.\u00a0 If you think about it, saying “hello” at the beginning of a conversation is just a waste of time and energy.\u00a0 What’s all this artificial politeness about?<\/p>\n
It’s about recognizing each others’ humanity.\u00a0 I don’t say “hello” to my computer, because that’s a different relationship.\u00a0 It would be like saying “hello” to my frying pan.<\/p>\n
But when I ask if you have a business card, I’m indicating that I am interested in and value your professional identity, and would perhaps like to extend our conversation beyond the few moments we’ll be here talking.<\/p>\n
Your CV is rather like that.\u00a0 Think of a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 as the ultimate business card, used in situations where I’m so interested in you that I might actually think of hiring you.<\/p>\n
I met a gentleman a couple of years ago who said that he “doesn’t do that whole business card thing.”\u00a0 The implied message was that he thought everyone else was less important than himself, and writing down email addresses was efficient.<\/p>\n
But you, thinking about the course of your career, are very interested in letting people know all the great experience and expertise you have.\u00a0 So be polite and give them your documentation when it’s appropriate.<\/p>\n
This came to my mind recently because I’ve been out building my own business for five years now, so I’m not searching for any job.\u00a0 But an opportunity came by a few weeks ago where a third party wanted to hire me for a special engagement.\u00a0 They wanted to see my r\u00e9sum\u00e9 so they could judge whether the person who referred them was really representing me properly.<\/p>\n
I had to quickly dust off one of my old r\u00e9sum\u00e9s, the one most appropriate for this situation, and mail it off to them.\u00a0 And I landed the work.<\/p>\n
Even if you’re out there planning to start your own company, working on building key relationships – keep a reasonably accurate r\u00e9sum\u00e9 or CV just in case.\u00a0 You might need it quickly to take advantage of an opportunity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"