While we’re big proponents of staying focused and on-message in a job search, we also feel that one generic resume may not be enough for some people.  The reasoning behind this is because many of us have built strong skill sets and histories of success in more than just one area of practice, creating multiple “professional personalities”.   This gives people the ability to seriously consider more than one type of job opportunity.

 

Even though we might suggest more than one resume is needed, each should stay very close to the same theme.  Doing otherwise will dilute your ability to deliver a clear and concise message about yourself and the value you can add to potential employers.    Also, while suggesting three as the magic number, only two of the three are going to have slightly different messages of their own to target the top two job types you may be best suited for.

 

The first resume, and the most common, is the generic resume:

 

It compiles the majority of your job titles, functions, and successes into one place.  It’s where someone, an employer, can get the “big picture” of what you are about and what you have to offer.

 

What might be missing in the generic version are the necessary details and messaging elements needed to hone in on a specific type of role.   It could be having items listed in the wrong order or putting something at the bottom of a list of bullet points instead of at the top.  Being at the bottom of a list could send the message that a particular function was a lesser part of your job.  For the right type of opportunity, arranging the bullet points appropriately is a necessary step.   It could also be as major as leaving something out completely that should have been inserted for a slightly different job opening.

 

The other two resumes should be like brother and sister; different, yet in the same family:

 

As an example, we recently received a candidate’s resume for a VP of Marketing role we were conducting a search on.  He sent us his generic resume.   However, the resume spoke more towards a VP of Product Management than it did the marketing role.  At first glance, we were about to pass on considering him.  Looking closer, we could see there were some compelling statements indicating potential outbound marketing leadership capabilities.  We asked him to expand on it and even re-tool his resume to be more on-point as it related to his experience and the needs of the job.  Once he did, we were able to get a clearer picture of how he would fit and where we could direct our interview questions.

 

In his case, we were exposed to one version of his “professional personality”, and then we discovered another.  After further discussion, we helped him conclude that his skills as a manager could allow him to successfully run a product management team, a marketing team, or both at the same time.  Given there are jobs with similar specific and/or general requirements that he may be able to apply for, we suggested he should create resumes for each.  One general resume for the roles that cover both marketing and product management, one to cover just product management related positions, and one for the more pure marketing roles.

 

Other examples of professions that might come with multiple “professional personalities”:

• Sales, Business Development, Channel Management, and Marketing people often share many similar backgrounds.  Some start in marketing, go into sales, and land in business development. (Or other combinations.)  They can tap into all of these skills for future opportunities.  However, the tendency is usually for just two major skills to stand out significantly.  So the sales/marketing/biz-dev hybrid candidate may only be great at marketing and biz-dev and not sales…or great at sales and BD and not so great at marketing..etc.  So, in one case, they might create a generic, a business development, and a marketing resume.

 

• Similar to the VP mentioned above, we see product managers and product marketers with good hybrid skill sets.  Often, product managers have strong technical or business development skills, and product marketers may have both inbound and outbound marketing accomplishments.

 

• Sale engineers.   The title says quite a bit.  These individuals, with the right personality, can jump 100% into sales.  Or with the right passion and technical chops, can go back into a pure development role.

 

What are your different “professional personalities”?  Think about them very carefully.  Make sure the slightly different messages are compatible with each other.  Also, prepare talking points and introductions that will successfully present your case to your next employer.  These steps will allow you to explore a wider variety of positions and be more successful at getting results.

 

Feedback:   What are some other career types that may have multiple “professional personalities”?