Do you Need A Resume?

In Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, Seth Godin makes a controversial point:

If you are remarkable, amazing, or just plain spectacular, you probably shouldn’t have a resume at all.

If you’ve got the experience in doing the things that make a linchpin, a resume hides that fact. A resume gives the employer everything she needs to reject you. Once you send me your resume, I can say “Oh, they’re missing this or they’re missing that, ” and boom, you’re out. Having a resume begs for you to go into that big machine that looks for relevant keywords, and begs for you to get a job as a cog in a giant machine. More fodder for the corporate behemoth. That might be fine for average folks looking for an average job, but is that what you deserve?

So if we (linchpins) shouldn’t go out there with a CV, what should we present to potential employers, business partners or people looking to fund out business ideas?

How about three extraordinary letters of recommendation from people the employer knows or respects?

Or a sophisticated project an employer can see or touch?

Or a reputation that precedes you?

Or a blog that is so compelling and insightful that they have no choice but to follow up?

What if you do not have any of these things? Seth Godin has some harsh but truthful words:

If you don’t have those things, what leads you to believe that you are remarkable, amazing or just plain spectacular? It sounds to me like  if you don’t have more than a resume, you’ve been brainwashed into compliance. Great jobs, world-class jobs, jobs people kill for-those jobs don’t get filled by people emailing in resumes.

On building a reputation, Seth suggests you start by “Googling” yourself. If your Google search isn’t what you want (need) it to be, then change it by giving and sharing your ideas with the world. This is something even a student can start doing while in school.

Is this stuff possible in Kenya? I mean, our employers are all so traditional and require CVs, isn’t this advice irrelevant to us? If you thought so, watch the short video below. I am not a creative, but I recognize a linchpin when I see one.

If you haven’t read Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin, I don ‘t know what you’re waiting for. We will be discussing it for the next couple of Fridays on this blog.

Finally, you signed up for my Newsletter? The edition going out this evening is all about getting hired and CVs. What if you HAVE to have a CV, what should a Linchpin’s CV look like? Sign up below to receive the newsletter.