Resume X: In the world of gadgets and gizmos, we all want the latest version. But what about your resume? Is it still version 1.0?

You’ve got to hand it to Apple. Besides making a remarkable product 10 years ago – the iPhone - that absolutely changed the world, they have become master marketers that truly know human nature. The Apple brain trust knows that we practically can’t wait until each September when they roll out the latest and greatest version of the iconic iPhone. With this being the 10 year anniversary, they have decided to launch something special beyond their typical offering. It’s named the iPhone X and we’ve got to wait until November before we see it in stores. Again, more waiting, more anticipating, more building…building…building until the event arrives.

The “Apple Way” of introducing their product to the world got me thinking…do our resumes do anything remotely in the same manner? After all, the resume is a way of introducing us to the work world, right? And if it is, does it make those that read it want us? Does it leave them anticipating - even salivating - until they get the chance to meet us in person? If it does, then good for you. You can stop reading now and go on to read Neil Sperry’s tips about getting your lawn ready for the winter (BTW, Sperry is a fountain of knowledge on all things green. If you have any interest in keeping your turf and plants healthy throughout the year in North Texas, you should definitely read his column). But if you’re concerned that maybe, just maybe, your resume isn’t set up to make the reader want to reach out to you before he or she even sets the thing down on their desk for fear that in that extra few seconds you may get snatched up by a competitor, then please read on.

Resume X – the do’s and don’ts

First, let’s call this resume renovation, this completely updated version of your resume “Resume X.” Now that we gave it a name, let’s review the current version of your resume by taking it apart a bit. In a recent Forbes article, Contributor Liz Ryan suggests taking these ten things out of your resume:

1. Street address

2. Inappropriate email address

3. Generic summary (or none)

4. Months you started and ended each past job

5. Company’s own branding

6. Tasks and duties

7. Praising adjectives

8. Endless bullets

9. Old, irrelevant jobs

10. Formatting

One of the items that Ryan tackles in her article is the “Corporate Zombie Speak” that litters many resumes. “You are not a “results-oriented professional with a bottom-line orientation,”” Ryan wrote. So if your current resume contains any of that business, delete it. Also, take out everything that’s irrelevant, like your home mailing address, tasks and duties, and old jobs where the experience doesn’t apply to your current position. Once you’ve stripped down your resume to its bare bones, it’s time to play mad scientist and build it back up so that it seems like it has bionic power! (play the “da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da” sound from the old “Six Million Dollar Man” TV show here) Ryan suggests that we insert the following 10 items post haste into our resumes:

1. LinkedIn profile URL

2. Relevant “Brand”

3. Powerful summary

4. The word “I”

5. Full sentences

6. Explanation for every job change

7. Framing statement for every employer

8. Framing statement for every role

9. Dragon-slaying stories

10. Your human voice

Let’s start with the top. Instead of the old “Objective” at the top of your resume, Ryan suggests inserting a “Summary” with a special twist. “The biggest branding statement in your resume is the job title you use at the top of your summary,” Ryan wrote. “Choose a job title for a position you want, or customize your resume to use the job title you’re pursuing at each company.

“Here’s how that will look:

“HRIS Analyst - “I’m an HR person with a love for IT; that’s why I work with employee data as an HRIS Analyst. I design and create report packages that provide insights into payroll, benefits and other HR-related data. I’m looking to help a terrific firm upgrade its HR reporting to help its leaders make better decisions.”

Boom. Job title? Check. Powerful words? Check. Makes us sound more human than zombie-ish? Check. Another big part of this summary is that it doesn’t show what the person did in the past. It shows what they do now, which is creating, designing and loving IT! The past is the past. They’ve let it go. We should do the same. Also do away with all the bullet points listing your tasks and responsibilities. Instead, show the reader what you accomplished and why the organization was better for you being there. Ryan calls these “Dragon-slayer stories” and has a great example of one in her article:

“Inventory Analyst - 2012 – 2016 - Acme Explosives is a $10M family-owned stick dynamite maker. I was brought in to build an inventory control program, Acme’s first. I got the job when Acme opened a facility in Phoenix and my previous employer was shutting down. I created Acme’s Inventory Control program and designed a suite of reports to monitor inventory levels and outstanding issues. With my colleague the Purchasing Manager, I implemented the company’s Supplier Quality Assurance program, decreasing returns by 32% in a year.”

Look at all the things this person did at Acme Explosives! They not only told us that they decreased returns by a whopping 32 percent, but that they did so working with a colleague (so go ahead and check off the ‘works well with others’ box) and they even managed to tell us why they left their previous employer. Plus, they did all this using what I like to call an, “Economy of Words.” In just a few lines, they gave the hiring manager a ton of useful information, information that person will use to make their hiring decision.

So the question is, what version is your resume? If it’s a 1.0 or even a 2.0, it probably needs some tweaking. Using the do’s and don’ts listed above might get you some of the adulation, exposure and response that the Apple folks have received every time a new version of the iPhone hits the stores. Who knows, you may even get some HR pros camping out to get their hands on your Resume X.

This story was originally published October 8, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Resume X: In the world of gadgets and gizmos, we all want the latest version. But what about your resume? Is it still version 1.0?."