Seth Godin, I have and use a resume

For a span of two or three years, I didn’t update my resume once. All the employment opportunities that came my way were filtered through word-of-mouth and potential employers were able to review my work and credentials through my blog and web presence.

So when Seth Godin recently wrote his post entitled Why bother having a resume? and claimed that remarkable people don’t need resumes, I was ready to wholeheartedly agree. After all, as Seth says:

A resume is an excuse to reject you. Once you send me your resume, I can say, “oh, they’re missing this or they’re missing that,” and boom, you’re out.

Recently, however, I’ve learned that a resume is not only a good thing to have, but still almost necessary when searching for a job.

There are still several companies and organizations that require a resume in order to apply for certain positions. To people like Seth, those “average jobs” in the “corporate behemoth” might be worthy of derision, but to many of us still starting out in our respective industries they are learning opportunities and chances to build experience that makes us all the more remarkable.

I won’t argue that having a resume is the best way to be recruited: truly spectacular people will have projects, blogs, and portfolios that accentuate their talents. Having a resume, however, is a good way to get those projects, blogs, and portfolios noticed by people who aren’t usually in the habit of looking at those things.

Because of that, I have and use a resume. It’s not the only tool in my employability arsenal, but it’s a good first move when necessary.