Resumes: an exercise in creative writing

Well, here I am, rested and relaxed from a South Pacific vacation and ready to dive into a highly un-relaxing activity: the job hunt. Yes, I'm nearing the end of a contract and need to find another job to support my writing habit. And that means updating my resume. It feels a bit scandalous to say I'm calling on my skills in fiction writing for the resume. It's not that I'm planning to lie about my experience, but that I'm trying to tell a story.

Sure, the resume starts with a lot of facts: job titles, employers, dates of employment.

Then there's the list of skills. Some skills have multiple names, and I have to pick the one or ones that will score with the people and programs that scan resumes to match them to jobs.

Next are the responsibilities. You'd think the responsibilities would be obvious from the job title, but it's amazing how many interpretations there are for "Business Analyst," not to mention how many other roles I've taken on under that title.

And then we get to the truly creative part -- describing my accomplishments. In a couple of sentences I need to convey how I accomplished world peace on time and under budget. I have to make it sound like my teams and projects couldn't have survived without me... even though we know they didn't implode when I left, because I'm not the type to leave a team unable to cope without me.

But it's hard, especially for someone raised to be self-effacing and meek and humble. Bragging was frowned upon, no matter how proud I was of my grades or of the stories I wrote.

So now I need to call upon the traits of my characters. I need the confidence of Henry to make my resume glow with pride in my work, and the calm of Noelle to make it through interviews. I need the persistence of Zach (from my in-progress novel) to keep following up on job leads when I'm worried I might come across as too pushy, and the cheerfulness of Zach's duckling Amethyst to press forward when a company decides I'm not the right fit.

I wonder... if I could write my resume as a short story describing my journey from college into the professional world, would it be a better representation of who I am and what I've done? If I could show how that journey included losses and beloved hobbies like my writing, would employers appreciate my resilience and creativity?

I'm fortunate to have writing as a respite. Currently I'm in the midst of the annual Chocolate Box challenge at AO3, and then I'll return to my novel. The Chocolate Box authors will be revealed on February 21, and after that I'll write a post about the experience with links to the stories I wrote.

Wish me luck on the job hunt! And to you I return best wishes as you take on those necessary tasks that you find particularly challenging.