Basketball is one of my favorite past times. I grew up watching Clyde”The Glide” Drexler, Bernard King, Dominique Wilkins and Julius “The Doctor” Erving performing magic on the courts. Etched in my mind are Dr. J’s endless hang-time and foul-line dunk shots.
So when Miami Heat’s LeBron James scored a one-handed, alley-oop style dunk on Chicago Bulls, John Lucas III, I almost lost it. LeBron scored by jumping over the standing 5’11 Lucas. Sweet!
24 hours later….Los Angeles Clippers, Blake Griffin took it to another level by catching a perfect pass by Chris Paul and posterizing Oklahoma City Thunder, Kendrick Perkins with a monster dunk. You had to cover your mouth and holler “OHHH Man” after seeing the replay.
Griffin’s powerful dunk was graciously dubbed “Dunk of the Year” in a LeBron James tweet,” (Dunk of the Year!! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!! Wow!! I guess I’m #2 now. Move over #6.”
Adding Value to the Fundamentals
If we think about it for a minute, what I’m talking about is how basketball greats score 2 points. With the help of well-timed assists, the shots were easily made in transition. However, a layup garners the same result; both earned a basket just as if they caught an inbound pass. What’s the difference? One adds spontaneous creativity and the later follows the rules to the letter.
Each player has a brand of play which standouts above all the other athletes who can dunk. Job seekers need to start competing above the rim just like LeBron and Griffin.
Templates Don’t Work
Too many people are in the job search game making easy layups with cookie-cutter resumes. Once they find a job opportunity, they rush to fill in the Professional Experience section with boilerplate information snatched from a template. Sprinkled bullets and copied keywords from job descriptions dictate the resume direction. Some are still struggling on what to keep because their playing by the old “One Page” resume rule. So they are jamming 10 years of work history into a fact sheet type document, clicking the “Apply or Upload” button and begin praying for the best.
Change Your Mindset
It’s time to add finesse and most importantly a personal brand to your resume. LeBron and Griffin made a statement. If you dig up your resume, what will you see a monster dunk or a nightmare?
Instead of treating your resume like an application requirement, start seeing it as an invitation for employers to hire you. Illustrate how you perform above and beyond what you’re hired to do. Begin by looking at your previous accomplishments and listing why they were impactful. Would you get a “Wow this person’s got a lot of solid experience.”? Or “This one qualifies for the position… Layup
Take Your Brand to New Heights
It’s not enough to qualify for a job. You have to prove that you’re the best at what you do. A resume seems like a simple document. But it is not. The biggest challenge is highlighting your marketable skill sets. You want to invest in defining your personal brand so you can move from qualifying for a position to becoming the top candidate.
How Can You Elevate Your Resume?
Get rid of the contrived resume templates and start showing personality in your accomplishments and employment choices.
Add immediate value to your job search with Resume Branding. Your credentials will jump off the page in 10 seconds or less. Resume Branding is designed to prove you know the fundamentals while showcasing your unique quantitative and qualitative ability. Most importantly market research and years of hiring expertise drives the Resume Branding process which creates an “employer friendly” resume.
From the beginning companies want to make sure they draft the right team players. If you cannot hit the replay button on your resume and get excited every time, then how can you expect the employer to feel?
Get assistance before your dream job comes along. Don’t get caught flat-footed like Lucas and Perkins.
“Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity” ~ Henry Hartman
Persona Affairs
