Brand-Yourself.com has a phenomenal set of regular visitors (if you are reading this, then I am talking about you!).  Some of you comment occasionally, many of you read and share your favorite posts – but I know that all of you have something to add to the conversation.  Starting today, I’d love to see every single one of you begin to share your unique viewpoints via the comments section below.

To accomplish this goal, my next few posts will each pose a question to you, the readers.  Today’s question is:

Will resumes be extinct by the year 2020?

What do you think – will a resume forever be the ultimate proof of your worth to potential employers?  Or will other media prove to be more effective ways to showcase your skills, possibly by 2020 or sooner?  I share my viewpoint below, but since I am neither a psychic or a time traveler, my opinion is merely a guess – please share yours as well.

I believe that by the year 2020, resumes will have joined dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, and dial-up internet in the “fully extinct” category. Personally, I already find an 8.5 x 11 white sheet of paper to be a woefully inadequate representation of a person’s life, career, and skill set.  How can thousands of hours of experience be boiled down to a Microsoft Word document?

Already, 80% of jobs today are not advertised or posted on job boards.  I suspect a large majority of these jobs are filled by candidates with strong existing connections and/or a reputation built and sustained by efforts other than a resume.

The advancement of social and business networks, web profiles, and personal blogs have essentially replaced and upgraded the common resume, in my view.  During the past year, I’ve updated my Linkedin profile dozens of times, I’ve sent over 2,000 tweets, and I’ve updated my resume a grand total of… zero times.  In fact, I don’t even know where my resume file is – maybe somewhere in the My Documents folder between pictures of my dog and an old grocery list?

To be fair, there are still many job openings today that absolutely require a resume.  For these jobs, bloggers like Jorgen Sundberg and Miriam Salpeter are an invaluable resource.  For executive level jobs, there is no question that a perfectly-tailored resume is a near requirement, a specific subject in which Meg Guiseppi carries much expertise. Yet, I can’t help but wonder whether today’s new wave of recruiters and hiring managers will soon start to fill even these roles in a different manner.

I’ve stated my case – but now I want to hear yours.  Fast forward to the year 2020, and envision the job market.  Are jobs still filled via resumes, or has the poor resume seen its time in the sun disappear forever?

Ryan Rancatore can also be found at Personal Branding 101, discussing the tools and tactics that will help you build a killer personal brand in 2010 and beyond.

Ryan would love to connect with you on Twitter at @RyanRancatore, or on Linkedin, Facebook, or Brazen Careerist.

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Do you know what you are passionate about? Even if you do, maybe there are some things to add to the list, or maybe you need to find out what you are most passionate about. Last week, I wrote about why passion is important, and now it is time to talk about how you can reach your potential by identifying and working with your passion portfolio.

1. Identify passion areas
   There are a number of great posts on how to find your passions and I would like to share two that I find very useful: The Short but Powerful Guide to Finding Your Passion by Leo Babauta and How to Find Your Passion for Anything by Scott Young. Find a place where you are at ease, light some candles, make sure you will not be interrupted and read the printout of the two posts. Take an hour or two to read and reflect, it’s important not to rush.
2. Ask “Why?”

“Why” is an extremely powerful word. When working with your personal development, always ask yourself the question “why?” at least three times. Let me give you an example: I am passionate about personal branding.
Why personal branding? I love to help people to reach their potential.
Why do I want people to reach their potential? Because I have seen so much waste of great talent and hard work, where the problem really is in the person’s self beliefs and inability to communicate their value clearly.
Why is this my responsibility? Because one of my most powerful core values is to “Be a support and help my fellow humans.”
Answering levels of “why” questions will hopefully give you a purpose for what you are doing.  If not, maybe you have not accurately identified your true passions.  In this case, I found the trigger value for my passion for Personal Branding. I am a strong believer in the power of choice, and I think that you can choose to be passionate about an area. But even if you can choose to be passionate about something, for that choice to be empowered, it has to be aligned with your core values.

3.  Build and work on your Passion Portfolio
Write down the passion areas you have identified and the purpose for why you are passionate about those specific areas. Put it where you will see it every day, and add to each passion what your next action is for that passion area. It could look something like this:
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Passion: Business networking
Purpose: I am a strong believer in helping others, and that my generosity will be reciprocated
Next action: Form a small business network with a clear structure for business value
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Do this for every passion area, or at least your top 10. Work with your action items every week. Personally, I like to add “Next Desired Outcome” before defining the next action point and writing it down as well. It is important to link actions to outcomes, both for future planning and retrospective evaluation.

What to do after identifying the areas which excite you the most?  Follow these steps to turn thoughts into actions, and eventually tangible results.

1. Connect you work description to your passions
   In your current job, take a look at the work description and identify what areas are aligned with your passion portfolio. If you do not have a job, look for alignment with job ads. Take a moment to brainstorm around projects, tasks and outcomes that you can initiate or suggest to the management within your passion areas. When you work with these areas, you will most likely do a great job and over time you can steer your work to be more and more within your passion areas.
2. Help your team
   Include your team in your projects, show that you are passionate about it and spread the increased energy to them as well. You will be more appreciated and you will build a brand where your team will know you for delivering excellence in the area of your passion. Teach them how to tap into their passion and they will look at you as a natural leader.
3. Promote the results
   When doing evaluations, talking about what you do, writing reports, your resume, etc., promote the job you have been doing in your passion areas. Over time you will see that your manager, co-worker, family and friends will change the way they perceive you. They will see a more passionate person with a clearer purpose and direction.
4. Find ways to develop your passions (and yourself)
   Review your passions, find new areas of passion and work with your purpose, desired outcomes and tasks. Do this every week or every two weeks to keep this way of thinking fresh in mind at all times. When reviewing, spend equal amounts of time focusing on the future as well as on the past. I usually take half an hour for each task after breakfast on Sundays since that is a time I can have for myself without interruptions.

How do you work with your passions?

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A couple weeks ago I met my friend Martha for lunch at our local Red Robin. Martha is quite particular in her food choices which is why we always meet for lunch there. In the last four years I have known her, she has never ordered something other than a cheeseburger without the cheese. And apparently Red Robin happens to have the best cheese-less cheeseburger in Oklahoma. (I wouldn’t know, I’m more of a California Burger or Pita Wrap kind of gal). While we were sitting enjoying our burgers, fries, and discussing our careers and family lives, I realized the connection.

• Resumes are subjective. So are cheeseburgers, hamburgers, boca burgers, etc. Some hiring managers prefer an objective, others are particular about a cover letter, and some have no opinion whatsoever. I once had a hiring manager who would not interview any candidate who misspelled a state abbreviation. If you were a candidate with the right credentials but accidentally wrote Missouri’s state abbreviation as MI instead of MO, you were out of luck. So proofread, pay attention to details, and make sure to cover all your bases.
• Preferences matter. Because recruiters, hiring managers, and human resource professionals spend approximately 10-15 seconds skimming your resume, you need to make a great first impression. What is extremely important is to read the job description and understand the specific instruction outlined as to how to apply. Some applications request that you list your salary expectations while others do not. These guidelines are extremely important.
• Go bold or go home. Some hiring managers like burgers that sizzle. It is important to consider what style, format, and type of resume that is acceptable for your industry, position, or company you are applying for. For example, Jeff Nelson is a marketing director with a very creative and unusual resume. I located his resume after doing a keyword search on Google using the words, “hamburger resume.” Some companies want a little spice with colorful graphics, fonts, and formats while more conservative companies and industries prefer a more standardized format like Guy Macon’s, an electrical engineer which I found using the keyword search “my engineering resume.” Both these examples were found on the first page of the Google keyword search and illustrate how powerful resumes and keywords are when posting your resume online.
• Stay positive & focused. Not every cheeseburger is someone’s favorite, and not every resume appeals to every hiring manager. What is important is to be yourself and articulate your uniqueness and experiences through your resume. Stay inward focused, but look for ways to improve your plating & presentation skills by refining your resume, cover letter, or even your interview. As a candidate, you are focused on yourself and can fail to see the ingredients or characteristics that attract others. Ask people you trust, heed expert advice and get outside opinions to help you refine your recipe.

Photo Credit FindaLink

Jessica Miller-Merrell, SPHR is an author, new mother, and human resources professional with a passion for recruiting and all things social media.  She has over 10 years of experience in human resources & recruiting.

Her company, Xceptional HR provides businesses with social media, recruitment, and human resources strategy and consulting.   Jessica’s book, Tweet This! Twitter for Business will be released in February 2010.  Follow Jessica on Twitter, LinkedIn, & FaceBook.

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How many times do you use the boring, passive verbs “led” and “managed”, and the tired phrase “responsible for” in your executive resume, career biography, other career documents, and online profiles?

These words are used to death and may not precisely and vibrantly describe the unique promise of value you offer potential employers. They’re not very likely to ignite interest in the people you’re trying to impress.

If you’ve done your personal branding work, you’ve identified your key personal attributes and pivotal strengths with precise words and keyword phrases.

Take the time to match the right action verbs with your top attributes and strengths in your personal marketing materials.

Need some help defining your personal brand? Read my post 10 Steps to Uncovering and Building Your Authentic Personal Brand.

Recruiters and hiring decision makers say they’re looking for executives who are energetic and passionate. These vital traits need to come across in your career marketing communications.

Your excitement about what you do best should shine through in your paper documents (executive resume, career bio, cover letters, achievement summary, etc.) and the online profiles you develop based on those documents.

Of course, you’ll need to use “led” and “managed” sometimes, but don’t settle for those words alone. Make your documents and online profiles a more interesting, compelling read.

Use an online thesaurus to pinpoint precise verbs — Thesaurus.com or Merriam-Webster online.

Here are some of my favorite action verbs:

accelerate ~ advance ~ amplify ~ architect ~ benchmark

brainstorm ~ brand ~ capitalize ~ capture ~ catapult

champion ~ collaborate ~ compel ~ conceptualize

cultivate ~ decipher ~ deliver ~ devise ~ differentiate ~ direct

embrace ~ empower ~ engage ~ engineer ~ envision

exploit ~ fortify ~ generate ~ harness ~ incentivize

innovate ~ inspire ~ intensify ~ launch ~ leverage

maximize ~ mentor ~ monetize ~ optimize ~ orchestrate

pinpoint ~ pioneer ~ propel ~ reinvent ~ renew ~ revitalize

revolutionize ~ safeguard ~ seize ~ spearhead ~ stimulate

strategize ~ streamline ~ synergize ~ synthesize

systematize ~ target ~ transform ~ transition

troubleshoot ~ unify ~ unleash ~ visualize ~ win

What are your favorite vibrant verbs? Did I miss any good ones?

An Executive Personal Branding, Online Identity and Job Search Strategist, Meg is a 20-year careers industry professional and one of only a handful of people worldwide to hold both the Reach Certified Personal Branding Strategist and Master Resume Writer credentials.

“I love my work collaborating with savvy corporate leaders and entrepreneurs who know where they’re going, but need help differentiating their unique promise of value in the new world of work and executive job search, and positioning themselves to work their passion. My clients are typically C-suite, Senior-level executives and rising stars.”

Find out more about Meg at Executive Career Brand, and by viewing her LinkedIn profile and following her on Twitter.

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