Editor’s Note:  John is taking the month of August off from writing his blog and hosting the weekly podcast. In his absence, we are reposting select blogs from our archive of his writings.  This post was originally featured on Dec. 20, 2016.

“When there is a change in the pace for change in so many realms at once, as we are now experiencing, it is very easy to be overwhelmed by it all.”  

~ Thomas L. Friedman, Pulitzer prize columnist, author ~


The pace of change is accelerating across the global economy.  Virtually every industry, from technology, communications, publishing, transportation, healthcare and even education, are all dealing with this acceleration and fundamental structural change.

customize resumeExecutives, directors and managers all are being forced to learn how to navigate a new career management paradigm.  The rules are changing; how we manage our careers, how we relate with our current employer or how we look for the job are all changing.  Since late 2013, gathering steam in 2014, we have seen notable changes in the recruitment process.

These changes are driving employer expectations in new and more selective ways.  The launching point for these changes is a candidate’s resume.

The value-based resume is about emphasizing your quantifiable relevant accomplishments, tailoring your those successes as well as your professional summary at the top of the document to address the client’s stated needs.

Candidates often resist the developing trend to customize their resumes for each job they elect to pursue because they feel “it is just too much trouble, and I don’t think it is worth the effort”.  That from a 20-year veteran CEO who lost his last position following a merger.  He was right about one thing — revising the resume to address a potential employer’s needs requires additional effort and it may be a waste of time, unless you want to be like every other candidate who is applying for the position.

In a hyper-competitive job market, why would you want to be like everyone else?

This sounds a lot more complicated than it really is.  You can make your candidacy stand out with a resume that is value-based.  When there are 20 or 30 candidates with similar experience, settling to be as good as everyone else is foolish.