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I recently wrote a resume for a candidate who worked for an investment company founded and run by one of the worlds most renowned and successful contrarian investors. We discussed his boss’s investment philosophy, especially in a distressed economy, and then I explained how I approach resume writing in a distressed job market. Not to my surprise, my client noticed how similar his boss’s investment philosophy and my resume writing philosophy and modus operandi are and, I am proud to say, the similarity in our results.
For those who do not know, in finance a contrarian investor is one who attempts to profit by investing in a manner that differs from the conventional wisdom, when the consensus opinion appears to be wrong. A contrarian believes that certain crowd behavior among investors can lead to exploitable mispricing in securities markets. For example, widespread pessimism about a stock can drive a price so low that it overstates the company's risks, and understates its prospects for returning to profitability. Identifying and purchasing such distressed stocks, and selling them after the company recovers, can lead to above-average gains.
Conversely, widespread optimism can result in unjustifiably high valuations that will eventually lead to drops, when those high expectations don't pan out. Avoiding (short-selling) investments in over-hyped investments reduces the risk of such drops.
These general investment principles can apply whether the investment in question is an individual stock, an industry sector, or an entire market, or any other asset class; and over the past few years contrarian investors are being viewed in a new light by the mainstream based on their success in managing portfolios that out produce the conventional wisdom in today’s bear markets.
I believe this approach applies to resume writing as well when it comes to finding a job in an oversaturated market.
In critiquing my work many resume writers refer to me as a contrarian, and I agree 100% with their assessment. Moreover, I am proud to say that by using a contrarian approach in my practice more of my clients experience success in securing interviews and job offers at a rate well beyond the norm, and in less time than their peers who submit a conventional resume.
So what is my contrarian philosophy and approach?
I believe that in today’s job market 80% of the conventional wisdom in how to write a resume and conduct a job search is outdated, and slowly but surely astute job seekers are coming to accept this truth and adapt. This is especially true in how they prepare their resume and in their use of social media, and in how they now seek out professionals who are cognizant of the new reality in order to get the competitive edge.
As a contrarian my core belief is this; if your resume looks similar to your competitor’s resume the odds are you’re going to have a long job search with lots of heartbreak, and the odds increase exponentially depending not so much on the quality of your competition, but on the quantity of people vying for the same positions.
So, as a contrarian before I write a resume I first look at 6-12 resumes of candidates who share key similarities with my client to see how they present themselves. I also research how resume mills and other resume writers present people who resemble my client’s job title, skills and experience, i.e. a CXO, a VP Business Development, a Project Manager, a Senior Relationship Manager, an HR Generalist, or a recent MBA.
Then I collaborate with my client to produce a resume whose look, feel, format, style, presentation and content will least resemble their competition’s resumes. The less it resembles the accepted norm, the better my client’s chance at success.
My thought process here, which has been validated by numerous decision makers I have polled on this matter, is that if a resume stands out visually in the crowd it will not get passed over and will often be given a valuable extra 10-60 seconds of read time than the rest of the resumes in the pile.
A contrarian resume also alerts the screeners and decision makers that this candidate considers himself or herself someone special who is beyond standard classification, and the reader will focus on identifying these difference and how pronounced they are.
So when you set about to write your own resume or choose a resume writer to help you in the process, I suggest you consider whether you want to follow the crowd, be another beautiful face in the crowd, or if you want to stand out head and shoulder above the crowd. If it’s the latter I wholeheartedly suggest you follow my modus operandi and write a contrarian resume for yourself.
Perry Newman, CPC CSMS is a nationally recognized executive resume writer, career coach, former AIPC certified recruiter, and an SMMU certified social media strategist known for his ability to help his clients get results. You can view his sample resumes at http://www.perrynewman.com, and email him your resume at perry@perrynewman.com for a FREE resume critique.
