Please enjoy this transcript of this week’s conversation with Amanda Augustine. You can read and listen to the show here.

[00:00:00] Mark Anthony Dyson: Thank you very much for letting me interrupt your afternoon. This is “The Voice of Job Seekers Live,” and this is just a live channel that I’ve built on some of the platforms to discuss other things other than job search. But today we’re going to create a little job search Information portal for resumes in this particular episode.

[00:00:19] So I just want to let you know, as well, Saturday morning I’ll be back. And if some of you might be familiar with Terri , she has a very popular TEDx talk that she’s done, but she’s also done this book about and follow your passion, which is based on what she’s been saying for the past few years.

[00:00:39] So if you want to join me for that conversation on a lot of, you know, her feel free, this will be 10 o’clock, central standard 11 o’clock. Eastern. So I want to be sure that you check that out. In the meantime, I bought Amanda Augustine around to join me for a little trends of a resume trends of 2022.

[00:01:01] Yesterday. You heard me along with Hannah, Robin, Jack, we talked about the job search trends. This is the resume trends, and I do this show on the podcast. Every single year, at least for the last five years, when we talked about the latest trends for resume writing, of course the pandemic has changed some of everything.

[00:01:20] So I want to say a big hello to Amanda, Augustine. How are you?

[00:01:26] Amanda Augustine: Hello. It’s great to be here. Thanks so much for having me.

[00:01:30] Mark Anthony Dyson: Thank you. You were the perfect person for this. And I might have another resume trends show somewhere along the line because things just keep evolving.

[00:01:42] There’s some things that have stayed the same. I think the way that people market themselves are going to need to take heed of some of the things might have evolved since the pandemic. Was there anything specific since the pandemic has started, that may have changed your thoughts and your advice and the way that you’ve given.

[00:02:03] And you can go ahead and get that in as far as trends is concerned. So really it’s not just trends for 2022 but this is the stuff that, that people will need to apply to help them stand out to be noticeable and to show themselves to be a better fit for an employer?

[00:02:21] Amanda Augustine: I think it’s a great question. And it’s true.

[00:02:24] There are definitely some things that we’re seeing changing, evolving based on what’s going on in the job market and what employers and recruiters are looking for today. But I also think it’s important to note that there are some really solid things that have remained the same and I think are important to remember and keep in mind.

[00:02:41] But starting with the stuff that’s changed, I think the biggest one for me, and I’ve seen a lot of debate on it is the fact that employers are expecting to see your COVID vaccination status on your resumes. And I feel that that’s really kind of a hot topic because a lot of people are saying it’s [00:03:00] medical information, it’s personal information.

[00:03:02] But you know, I know there was one study done by Resumebuilder that found approximately 30% of employers are saying that they are rejecting candidates just based on if that information is not on their resume or LinkedIn profile. I’ve been running actually a similar study just to see, hey, alright, am I seeing the same thing? Exact same split down. We’re seeing about one in three are automatically dismissing the resumes. Not everyone who requires you to be vaccinated, expects it to be on your resume, but it’s obviously a trend. And so if you’re comfortable sharing that information, It’s best to put it on and where I’ve been recommending placing that information is just at the very tail end of your professional summary or executive summary, that kind of main blurb in the

[00:03:48] top third of your resume. After you’ve gone into more of your elevator pitch on why you’re a great candidate for the type of role that you’re targeting, put in those little details, for instance, you know, where we put, if you’re willing to travel X percent or your bilingual or multilingual. Or willing to relocate at your own costs or you have a work visa for the U. S all those little details we kind of shove at the end of that professional summary. And I think that that’s a good place to put it. I don’t think it needs to be bolded up in your content contact information, but you do want to present so that it’s being recorded. So that’s one thing we’re seeing.

[00:04:25] Mark Anthony Dyson: And then if I can insert a little bit, I think it’s important for healthcare professionals: If your state funded or federal refunded, it is required to have the shot in most places to where you work. So if you find it somewhere where they required that shot and you’d have this automatic rejection. And I think Sunday, Is the deadline to where if you don’t have that shot, you may see a mass exodus in the market, as far as people leaving, and having to leave, because they refuse to get the shot.

[00:05:00] I think the other part to it too, is that there had been some argument that that might have been, that might get extended though. It doesn’t look like that. There was a national law review paper I saw recently where the possibilities that there might be, and I worked for you on which section of healthcare might be, but they might extend it to January 8th.

[00:05:23] And for those in some of you watching, if you might be in the chat and if you know about feel free to elaborate, and we’ll be glad to highlight your comment on the screen. But I think that’s very important to know, and I think is very timely is for those who are in that particular sector, as well as there are some people in other sectors where there are still turbulance.

[00:05:48] Yeah, those who those who get it and those who don’t there has been some discussion about whether or not the there still be testing done. If you [00:06:00] don’t get it in, if it’s not, if you’re not part of the organization, I think there are some states that have started to clamp down and have given some dates.

[00:06:09] So I think people need to be aware of the whole spectrum, as you began to say. A question for you: One of our shows back in September, and it became a thing as far as not just a resume, but putting it on your LinkedIn profile.

[00:06:31] And it really became a thing. I say, I don’t think that that’s necessarily for LinkedIn profile because it well put it this way. It’s a double edged sword. You may agree or not agree, but as a double-edged sword because people kind of anti all of this may see it as bias and they do hiring as well as those who are all for it and require it.

[00:06:59] So did you have a particular perspective on that?

[00:07:05] Amanda Augustine: My point of view stems from the fact that even as a resume writer, a resume alone is not enough these days when you’re looking for a job, right? When you’re looking for a job, you are now a marketer and you are marketing the most valuable asset out there, yourself, your qualities, your candidacy, all the qualifications that you bring to the table.

[00:07:27] We know that they’re going to look online. They’re going to look at your resume. Speak to you. And in all those instances, they want to see a consistent story playing out. Right? I see the LinkedIn profile as an extension of the resume in a more robust version, because you can get a little bit more personal.

[00:07:44] You can use pronouns, you can show a bit more of your personality and really play up some more multimedia elements that the resume can include a link, but it’s not going to be exactly the same. It’s a more cut and dry document by design. And so from that perspective, Some employers are looking straight at LinkedIn profiles.

[00:08:03] Some are looking at those resumes. I think you need to cover your basis. And the reality is that if you are applying for jobs where the vaccination status is required, where they’re putting it in the job description. And I did find that those that said it’s required 97% of them said, and we’re putting it in our job descriptions.

[00:08:25] So if you’re seeing it in the job description in the types of target, why not cover your bases? Because if a third of them are going to automatically ignore your application or your candidacy, regardless of where they’re finding you, you don’t want to be called out for that if it’s something you have. Now, if you don’t have it, that’s a whole different situation.

[00:08:45] I would target employers where it doesn’t seem to be in the job description, because that probably means it’s not. It’s not a requirement. The majority are placing it there. If not, they will tell you on that first call. It seems to be very immediate because they don’t want to waste their time [00:09:00] and they don’t want to waste your time, frankly.

[00:09:02] So I more lean towards, Hey, I want to make sure that I’m representing myself accurately and consistently across mediums different platforms, but also different recruiters are using different platforms to source candidates. And I wouldn’t want a candidate of mine or a client of mine to be overlooked because they didn’t include it there.

[00:09:22] And that’s where the recruiter was sourcing for what maybe we call as passive job seekers. Somebody who may be employed.

[00:09:33] Mark Anthony Dyson: I think people should be able to make a decision. We’ll have to discern from the south to dig deep into an industry, or if they’re in the industry or away, they should know what the talk actually is.

[00:09:46] Not everybody knows that and not everybody goes that extra step. But that is a reason why you should research a company and to even try to talk to employees who’ve been in that company and former employees to find out as much as you can to see what the actual culture is because I’ve heard of some companies are totally like either or vaccines, and they’re talked about every day. So the sensitivity in the the high alert is up. You want to appeal to that and not just be passive about it. Elaine Piper says that “in Canada, I’m recommending admitting the job seekers include their COVID status and their cover letter.”

[00:10:26] And okay. That’s, I think that’s, I think that’s appropriate. And you know, Canada has definitely their own and, and this is say, bring up a bigger point. Every country has a certain heightened alert or they may feel indifferently about it. And I think if you’re in that country as something else you’ll need to take in consideration. Hi Bernadette who watches my stream seems like often, but says, “I advise clients this the more you can organize your resumes shows.”

[00:11:01] That you can have the responsibilities listed in the job description about qualify. European would be the prospective employers and she goes on about her experience. And thank you. S he’s on both sides as a recruiter and a career strategist. I think those kinds of perspectives should inform you as a job seeker and what you need to do and how you need to go about it.

[00:11:26] You just need to. More aware for those steps. Okay. Amanda, what other trend are you seeing out there? And that was a great one. That’s an important one. You hit the spot,

[00:11:39] Amanda Augustine: Over the last, what, 18 plus months now I believe we’re going to continue seeing it, especially since we now have that crop up of, of the Omnicom Omnicom.

[00:11:48] Am I saying it right?

[00:11:51] Mark Anthony Dyson: The Greek letter Delta. I’m a con I’m sorry. I missed alpha and beta, but nevertheless,

[00:11:59] we [00:12:00] went all the way to overcome. Okay. So you would say.

[00:12:03] Amanda Augustine: You know, we’re because we’re seeing this you know, there were so many people who are so many employers who said, we’re bringing back our employees to the offices in January. I think we’re going to see a shift in that again, because of this newest variant that’s come out, it’s still important.

[00:12:18] To demonstrate that you’re willing, if you are obviously, and capable of working remotely, and that’s important to keep in mind, and there are various different ways you can kind of demonstrate that, yeah, I’m comfortable with this. And not only that I can be efficient gets worked in the resume. Some of it can get worked into the cover letter of the skills that are most important, those softer skills that are important when you’re working remotely organization, digital communication being proactive, managing your time.

[00:12:50] Self-discipline all those things. And I do, I recommend listing those out in a core competency? Not really. It’s not going to be very impactful, but I think you should think about how can you demonstrate that you possess the skills that are going to make you a good candidate to be working remotely, whether that’s the tech skills you’ve gathered the different project management or other platforms you’ve used in order to take your work and, collaborate remotely with others.

[00:13:19] What communication tools have you been using? Slack zoom, Google meet Skype, whatever it is, try and demonstrate that stuff, as well. As in your cover letter, you know, I typically include a line that says, I am willing and comfortable, and willing to work remotely. I have a dedicated workspace. I have high speed internet and I’m comfortable leveraging various different platforms in order to communicate and collaborate with my team members, something along those lines. And in any of your positions where you’ve worked remotely, I would include that as part of the location, or it could be included in parenthesis next to the job title.

[00:13:58] If you, in the bullet section, which I always call bullet points, equal bragging points, you draw the eye to the most important information. That’s going to be bam! I’m proving I’m qualified and good at what I do. Successfully launched blah blah project with a five-person remote team over blah time.

[00:14:16] And I would even make sure that I’m using variations of that in case you are applying for a job online, and there might be an applicant tracking system involved that’s scanning. So remember. Virtual work from home see where it’s appropriate to maybe incorporate at least one instance of each of those, just to demonstrate that whether your company is going to be operating in a hybrid office model, whether you’re going to keep everyone remote or you have to, for the short term, I’m someone who can jump in and acclimate and onboard your organization.

[00:14:51] Even if I’m not going to meet anybody face-to-face for quite some time.

[00:14:56] Mark Anthony Dyson: And even more so on your LinkedIn profile, [00:15:00] like you’ve mentioned earlier, how you can expand on whatever you had? And I would even be tempted to say, in some cases, share what you done to prepare for remote working.

[00:15:11] And if you don’t work remote set up like you know how for remote. Talk about the security software that you have talked about how you have the right equipment that you have, everything that you need to have a seamless transition to remote work so that people could say, oh, this person’s already ready.

[00:15:32] And so that would be one less question that our employer, as they’ll concentrate on more, what you can contribute rather than learning about your logistics. Would you say that would be a good strategy?

[00:15:44] Amanda Augustine: I agree. Yes. 100%. You want to answer the questions that you think they’re going to have, so they’re not going to pass you over since they don’t see the answer to it.

[00:15:53] Right? Speed. They’re reviewing.

[00:15:56] Mark Anthony Dyson: Very quickly, right? And it doesn’t hurt to have a, have a video to show the office space where you’re working. And then, share a story of how you got from, not being prepared to preparing and your experience.

[00:16:15] But like I said, if you hadn’t worked remote before show that you can, and that you’re ready to scale back the questions about if you’re able and that you can. So I think anytime you can scale back questions and, and have them focus more on what you’re able to contribute, then I think is definitely a plus.

[00:16:38] Amanda Augustine: I love what you mentioned about, Hey, how you can share different things. That’s one of the great things about LinkedIn is that you don’t have to own a blog, or if you don’t want to, you, it’s a content machine. You can produce content. So you could write an article on, on what you’ve learned since working remotely or what you’ve learned.

[00:16:54] Since setting up for this and how it’s modified, how you, you do your work or how you prepare something like that. So that there’s content that they’re digesting. We know that the majority of recruiters are going to also glance at your LinkedIn profile. They’re going to Google your name and look around.

[00:17:07] They want to make sure that the story is that up, but there’s also this opportunity to provide this wealth of other content and information that can answer some of those questions that they may have. So that they’re more likely to contact you in the first place.

[00:17:20] Mark Anthony Dyson: And you can also keep off the language that may discourage a recruiter or an employer looking at your profile.

[00:17:27] If you always talk about being old school. That kind of, that causes me. But having said that though, the post can reach anywhere for the most part, not just your network, but once somebody shares your posts, I see somebody who’s a second or third connection, but somebody had commented. I have exposure to that post and I’m out of your network as a third connection, and I can still share it to mine in one form or another.

[00:17:56] You would take a screenshot, which is kind of [00:18:00] worse because then you really can’t delete it. Or somebody will share it if it’s great information, but same time stay away from the language that disparages not only employer, or the employee in process, but also your ability to be in the 21st century, because that’s just, it becomes a critical part of them thinking of you, this person can transition or not.

[00:18:28] Amanda Augustine: I think that’s a great point because that actually leads me to the, to the next trend that I was going to talk about. SoTop Resume ran a survey with recruiters, hiring managers, employers, anybody that I would consider as part of the hiring community. And we asked them what skills have taken on greater importance since the pandemic has begun.

[00:18:51] And of course, wouldn’t, you know, all the top five were soft skills and a lot of them had to do with being able to work remotely. Being thrown curve balls and being able to handle that. I’m going to actually read the list just to make sure I get them in the proper order. Cause this is order adaptability and flexibility.

[00:19:10] No surprise there, communication. And I guarantee that has a lot to do with also digital communication, critical thinking and problem solving collaboration and teamwork and time management. And I mean, there’s nothing on there that I think anyone goes, oh, I would’ve never expected that. It, it makes sense.

[00:19:29] Given what’s going on, how many people have to suddenly move remote, how they have to suddenly rejigger their businesses to still be functioning w when they were forced to lock down. So it makes sense that these skills would be important, but I think it also brings up the point that you want to try and demonstrate the the skills and they’re all soft skills, which is definitely a more challenging ask on a resume. How do you demonstrate a soft skill? That’s not as easily measurable. It’s harder to quantify. And so I would recommend taking a step back and saying, okay, well, when did I have to get flexible or adapt quickly?

[00:20:04] When did I need to pivot? Because of what was going on? I had to shift a project and suddenly make it work in a new environment, or I had to learn. Platform and then train others on it. How have you learned new skills or new platforms in order to communicate more effectively? How did you figure out the right cadence?

[00:20:22] So you didn’t have zoom fatigue, all these things. Do you have to list every single one? Absolutely not, but if any of these really resonates, like, yeah, that describes me and I I’ve done a lot of that and I’m really proud of what I’ve done. I would at least identify one or two instances where you can bring those to light by kind of telling a story.

[00:20:41] We talk a lot about the star method, which is usually applied to the interview process where you describe a situation or. The actions you took to address the issue, solve the problem, accomplish the task, and then the results, the output, both good or bad. And what did you learn and what might you do [00:21:00] differently next time?

[00:21:01] That’s your typical interview format? You can take that same format though. And leverage that to write out a bullet point on your resume. Scribes how you leverage these softer skills to provide value, cut costs, improve communication, boost, employee morale, whatever it might be. There’s a way to still tell a very short, succinct story in one bullet point that shows that anyone can write I’m adaptable, I’m flexible on the resume. Every recruiter or employer is going to look at them and say, okay, great. You said you are, but prove it. And these are ways that you can demonstrate some of that information within your risk.

[00:21:42] Mark Anthony Dyson: I was going to say those are great points. And I think the first two are particularly I’ve seen where people don’t always apply that type of thinking.

[00:21:51] One was, we kind of hinted about, like you said, adaptability and think critical thinking you could tell by when people write out their posts or write out their comments whether it’s critical thinking.That might be arguable, but all that to say is that one of the elements that thinking critical is being able to put yourself in other people’s shoes and be able to look at it and say, this is how they would think about me or this situation and how I can apply strategy to move forward. And I think people mistaken that type of critical thing is an element that does resonate and you can look at whether in a resume, whether somebody has those elements or not, it’s not going to be rocket science for you to avoid it all is a red flag. But to show it is going to say that you’re willing to lean into those things.

[00:22:52] And that’s a nuanc e not often said, but that actually happens in the mind and only takes a second for someone who looks for that element all the time.

[00:23:03] Amanda Augustine: And you know what, for those that are strong writers that are somebody who’s working one-on-one with a writer, if that’s not your strong suit, What I do recommend for a cover letter, and this is something actually a guy named Danny Rubin. Danny Rubin used to do this years ago and do these workshops for college aged students, but I’ve always loved this approach where cover letters can be boring. Right. They can be very cut and dry.

[00:23:29] We know about 50% of them have employers pre pandemic. Would ignore a cover letter, but that’s because they normally are very templated, very generic and they’re not useful. They don’t add value. One thing that he likes to suggest and I’ve always thought was really cool, but again, you have to be confident in your skills is if you actually open with a story where you’re taking one of those star method, examples, and you’re elaborating on it, and actually telling that story about how you arrived at something, but it’s your [00:24:00] opportunity to explain how you’ve leveraged certain skills in a unique way to come out and basically summarizing stem saying, you’re asking for this and I have that you’re asking for this. And I have that. You’re actually illustrating it in a way that’s much more interesting.

[00:24:15] Mark Anthony Dyson:

[00:24:15] I like the idea of essential skills.Those are things that you can’t not have in your resume in indicate, showing that you have had that skill. Eric Kramer. Hey Eric. He’s says, “I like the method a situation, obstacles, actions, results format(SOAR) there’s a lot of different this, the car method.

[00:24:38] There’s a number of different methods. I think the thing is, is that there needs to be, you know, the order. Makes a difference in the way that you’re going to be perceived. And I’ve known people even use some of these acronym backwards that they’re willing to tell them this is a result and then go in and then go backward, which I think it all works.

[00:24:59] It’s all part of the storytelling aspect of an, I think, no matter what you use, even though star and soar are pretty popular in the car method. I think it’s very important that you show that you can communicate well communicate People need, well, not what you want them to know, but what they need to know to hire you.

[00:25:17] So those become important. And one more, let’s go. What? You have another one for us?

[00:25:24] Amanda Augustine: And I would say the only thing I’d say is that I think you were hinting at this and it’s something that’s always been important show don’t tell. Right at the end of the show, don’t just tell them you have something, explain, give proof.

[00:25:37] So I think that’s so, yeah,

[00:25:39] Mark Anthony Dyson: and LinkedIn is a great place to show you know, use this featured sections of it use. If you’ve done publications, there’s a publication section below where you can show your honors and the places where you might have been quoted, or even that paper white paper that you did five years ago. That’s okay too, because that’s, that’s published work, especially if it’s peer-reviewed and Lord knowswe don’t talk enough about how white papers can really elevate it. And, and I think just a real quick story, Amanda, my son is on a research team while he’s in nursing school.

[00:26:19] And he was a part of writing the paper and that’s, it’s huge. It says, if anything, if you’re trying to position yourself as an expert, that is a sure fire way of doing so.

[00:26:34] Amanda Augustine: I would say for anybody. There are lots of people are on LinkedIn on a regular basis, but if you haven’t really taken a spin around and looked at the different additional sections, they’ve added the capabilities they’ve added to the profile. It’s time to take another look through there go to the help section and look at what they have specifically for job seekers, because there’s so many additional things you can [00:27:00] now add that weren’t available even a year ago, and it’s definitely worth taking a look and seeing what else you could add.

[00:27:07] Oh, I have to jump in. I love the T letter format as well. That is my favorite cover letter format. So,

[00:27:13] Mark Anthony Dyson: yeah, and they’re fun. And probably we could go on, but cover letters as kind of shortened. Since the pandemic is before it was running or I’ve heard the two paragraph or the 150 word thing. But I think too, they’re now even becoming a little bit shorter than that because I’ve even heard employers even said, if I can’t scan it in a certain amount of time, then it’s too long.

[00:27:43] Well, your thoughts on that real quick.

[00:27:48] Amanda Augustine: I personally don’t think it has to be that short. I think you have to keep in mind that they’re spending on average 7.4 seconds. It’s no longer, you know, the old ladder study in 2012 was 6.2. It did go up to Ooh, 7.4 in 2018. So it’s still under 10. But they’re spending a short period of time scanning your resume.

[00:28:08] So assume they’re spending just a short, if not less,

[00:28:13] Mark Anthony Dyson: because a lot of companies has to stop sending me cover letters, cover

[00:28:19] Amanda Augustine: letters. Interesting. We did a study last September. So granted it’s a year. But last September we asked employers, are they more likely to read a cover letter now than before the pandemic?

[00:28:30] And my hypothesis was, they’re not reading them. They didn’t, half of them didn’t read them before. They’re definitely not reading them now because they’re inundated with applications. There’s so many people unemployed and I was wrong. In fact, there was a big middle part that was like a neutral, but there was a much larger percentage that said, yes, I’m more likely to read them now, than no, I’m not. And I thought that was. Interesting. And I think that has to do with the fact that they were really trying to seek more of a connection. They’re not interviewing people in person. They’re trying to get more detail on who is this person that could potentially work for us if I’m never going to see them.

[00:29:08] So my recommendation would be, if they don’t explicitly say don’t send me a cover letter, you should, but you want to make sure that if you’re sending it has the same visual balance that you’re aiming for in a resume, which is again, why I like the T format. It actually breaks it up and makes it very scannable.

[00:29:27] And the other part is leverage it. If you’re adding something other than regurgitating your resume, they’re going to look at the resume. It has to be something interesting, new some point that doesn’t really realistically incorporate into a resume easily, but as important for them to know, because it can help advance their candidacy.

[00:29:46] Mark Anthony Dyson: It’s just that a lot of people just don’t write cover letters. Well, that’s what I think a lot of people are kind of bullish on it is that they don’t write it. They don’t the presentation. Is is not well [00:30:00] presented because very often they they’re too long. And having said that 150 words though is not that long is long for a lot of recruiters.

[00:30:12] And I can understand that because a couple of letters, it’s another thing where it’s a double-edged sword. It’s great if you got one is well written, but it’s not well written, then it could be bias the rest of reading of your resume if they go that far, they go that far.

[00:30:31] Amanda Augustine: Yeah. I would say if you’re going to write it.

[00:30:33] Yeah. You want to write it. Well, you want to tailor to the role. You don’t want to just be, you know, commander control, replacing, Coke with Pepsi or whatever it might be. It has to be tailored to it. I do agree. It’s definitely, you know, in my mind, A short one or two sentence intro, paragraph, a middle section, a closing paragraph, but they are all short, but I don’t think I’m sitting there counting, going up.

[00:30:58] It’s over 150 words. This is too long. It really depends

[00:31:03] Mark Anthony Dyson: I guess, in a sense. This as many articles I written and even writing 800 words or 1300 words is that if you’re not eye catching and it is not aesthetically pleasing, then it’s going to be perceived as torture.

[00:31:19] Amanda Augustine: Dense blocks of text, but you also don’t want endless bullet points either. You don’t want, we call it death by bullets. It’s way too long. If you have so many bullet points, because eyes glaze over the, how you present the content is just as important as what information you decide to present. And I think that extends to the cover letter and people often don’t do that.

[00:31:40] They care about the resume and the cover letters and afterthought I think I have to put something out there I do it. Yeah. If it’s, if you’re not taking the time to, to format it properly, to your point, it’s a double-edged sword. It’s not going to help you. It could actually hurt you. So think twice.

[00:31:55] Yeah,

[00:31:56] Mark Anthony Dyson: absolutely. Do you have time to give us.

[00:31:58] Amanda Augustine: Sure. Okay. So you, you had asked me something about video resumes and I don’t know if it’s too much to get into,

[00:32:06] Mark Anthony Dyson: well, you know what? We don’t have to go there. I was trying to give samples of what, what kind of, what having said that video resumes. On and off of a thing for the past few years, because now that we’re in the video age, I think people are trying in particularly employers, they’re trying to get creative in trying to make their work less.

[00:32:30] Now, you know, I don’t know the difference between scanning six seconds or doing something, watching something for two minutes or less. But having said that being that a lot of. Casually goes through our timelines. Anyway, we see what catches our eye. So rarely, I would say any video contact that you might have could be a video resume.

[00:32:55] If you consider that now the web [00:33:00] is a determining factor or whether somebody should explore working with you or not.

[00:33:07] Amanda Augustine: Yeah. I, you know what, I don’t think it replaces the traditional resume, I think asking not yet. And I don’t think it’s going to be next year either. I think, I think

[00:33:15] Mark Anthony Dyson: that no, no, because I think we’re still stuck on the fact that you know, that people look at these things is entertainment and not a way as to inform.

[00:33:26] So yeah, the perception is not there yet.

[00:33:32] Amanda Augustine: There are so many, and I’m not going to say everyone, because I know there there’s plenty of people who will come up with that, but there are plenty of recruiters and employers out there that say, I know how to scan a resume. I know how to do it quickly. And I know how to look for exactly what I’m looking for and know if this is somebody who’s worth spending time on a phone call with I don’t think they’re there with a resume or with a video resume.

[00:33:51] Now do I something with video, creating content about yourself in a way that showcases your expertise is a bad idea. Absolutely not. That’s something you can upload a profile. It can be in a portfolio. We see things go viral all the time on tick-tock and Facebook and Instagram, all those places so it doesn’t hurt. But I wouldn’t get rid of, of the resume yet. It’s still the currency of recruiting. It changes it adapts. It’s format’s going to continue to evolve, but I wouldn’t say it’s gone. They’ve been saying the resumes dead for almost 20 years now and it’s still around. It just keeps evolving.

[00:34:27] So I think that’s something to keep in mind. Right.

[00:34:30] Mark Anthony Dyson: Yeah. Agree. Agree. Any other thing, anything else you want to share? Before we close it down, I think we had a lot of great comments and we had a lot of great discussion about what the future stills looked like. So you want to hold on to your paper as well.

[00:34:44] Your resume, not particularly paper anymore, although there are people who still are faxing in this world as we, even as we speak. But yes, it’s true.

[00:34:57] Amanda Augustine: The only thing I would, I would put out there is that you know, Top Resume just study last September. I’m running one right now and the preliminary results are coming in and trending very similarly. But we’ve actually extended it. We asked, you know, does an employment gap lasting 12 or more months?

[00:35:15] Hold the same stigma that it did before the pandemic and overwhelmingly I’m at 86%. I think right now we’re saying, Nope, not a big deal. Stop obsessing over it. Stop trying to fill everything out. Instead demonstrate your capabilities, show us what you can do. Show us your qualifications. We’re not as hung up on that as you think we are.

[00:35:35] So don’t let it distract you from your job search and from writing a really solid resume and presenting your information on LinkedIn. So I thought that was very interesting and worth putting out there. It’s not as big of a deal as you think it is. And then the other thing is we are seeing this openness to what we call non-traditional backgrounds.

[00:35:54] So two trends we’re seeing with job seekers is that given what’s gone on in the past 18 plus [00:36:00] months, all of the things from the pandemic, from the me too, from black lives matter, all that stuff, we’re seeing people. Have different priorities when it comes to what they want out of a position out of an employer.

[00:36:11] And they’re voicing that. And I think that’s important. But we’re also seeing that a lot of them are saying, if I’m going to work, I want to do something that’s fulfilling and interesting to me. And you know, if I’m ever going to make a change, now’s the time to do it. And while I’m not going to say overwhelmingly employers, like, yes, I’m going for anybody.

[00:36:27] It doesn’t matter if they don’t have the education that I expect. We are seeing more openness, I think. 56% were the last time I checked were saying, yes, I, I I’m open to people with non-traditional backgrounds who come from different industries, different educational backgrounds that don’t necessarily have that linear career path.

[00:36:46] And a big chunk was neutral in the middle. It was very small points that no, I’m not doing that. So if you are looking to make a change. It’s a good time to explore that. And the most important thing to do is to reevaluate your entire resume and reposition it, reframe it with that new goal in mind. And if you have any very specific jargon industry terms that are so specific to a field that you don’t want to do anymore, I would actually generalize and remove that so that they truly see your skills and not just you’re coming from a different industry.

[00:37:24] Mark Anthony Dyson: So really in, in this might be going a little bit beyond, or it may have hit what you just said. So somebody who’s changed jobs several times in the past five years. They’re not being viewed as negative.

[00:37:39] Amanda Augustine: No, there’s more of an open mind. There’s more of an open mind if you’re going for it. It’s not necessarily someone who’s done a lot of changing, but if you’re, if what you’ve done most recently doesn’t necessarily align with what you want to do next.

[00:37:51] It’s not necessarily an automatic rejection. They’re much more open-minded to what do you bring to the table. Demonstrate how you have the core skills we’re looking for, or show us how you’ve made strides to cover any skill gaps that are really essential for this new role you’re pursuing. They’re not automatically rejecting you.

[00:38:10] Mark Anthony Dyson: Essentially, it’s all in the narrative and that’s been something that we’ve been talking about for a long time. Now I’m concerned that a lot of people have about job hopping and, and as we call it, and I think there’s strategic job hopping, which is functional part of a career advancement strategy these days, especially if you’re controlling the narrative, not if, you know, if you always seem to be on the bad end of controls.

[00:38:41] Like, yeah, I got, I got by here. I had discrepant argue with, with my boss here, or I didn’t get along with the team or I just flat didn’t like the company anymore. Not talking about those things where. You know, there seems to be in a sense Ascension of skills and [00:39:00] experience and that they able to say, these are the things that will benefit you and contribute to your company.

[00:39:07] Amanda Augustine: This I’m taking you on a journey. And all these experience I had helped me gain these skills, gained this perspective and has led me to this type of role and why I know that this is what I want to do next. And this is how I can provide value. And. I can even provide a fresh perspective because I haven’t just done this my entire life.

[00:39:25] I’ve come from a lot of different areas, which means I have a lot of things I bring to the table. And if that’s the narrative you’re telling it’s a very positive narrative.

[00:39:35] Mark Anthony Dyson: Absolutely. And I think that, I think people are trying to overthink this is so why are they trying to change jobs? What are you running from is like, no, dude, I’ve been able to get big raises generally just for change. I went across the street to my competitor if I was working downtown these days anymore, I’m past those days. But having, you know, going, I’m going to get a 10% raise because they liked me enough to hire me. That’s that’s without trying to negotiate, but if I negotiate, I can probably get 20% or a little bit more even.

[00:40:13] And you do that times three in the last three years you have now essentially in some ways have doubled your salary, especially include all the other compensation toys and parts that go along with it. So therefore, yeah, I can see why I want to have a better life and I want a better quality of life. That includes, I want to do something I really like to do, and I like to be paid for.

[00:40:36] Amanda Augustine: Yeah. And I think you just have to be very careful about the narrative because of course, nobody wants to hire you to know you’re going to leave in a year. So you want to be careful about I’m looking for my home. I’m looking to place roots somewhere. I’d like it to be genuine if you’re saying that, don’t say it.

[00:40:52] If you, you know, you want quickly, but in an ideal world, they want to feel that you’re a good fit. But I also think, depending on the role, a lot of companies understand that someone’s not going to stay in this certain position for

[00:41:05] Mark Anthony Dyson: Very interesting you should say that. The COVID first happened there were several employees who had expressed how people had said right off the top of the bat. My company is going back into the office. I want to change jobs now. I don’t think it, I, I genuine. Yes. Authentic. Yes. But is it a need to know? Hmm. We can argue that part of it. And that doesn’t just apply to that particular strategies.

[00:41:35] A lot of people who are, who’ve gone on to say what they really feel, which isn’t really helpful to a job searching. You have to be judicious about the audience that you’re you’re looking for, because if you’re in the same industry, now these bosses. To each other and they’re in the same network. And I’ve seen where people have gone from interview with somebody else.

[00:41:59] But yet [00:42:00] that was somebody, a friend that was somebody that they attended the same seminar or conference or something online. And they began to have a discussion about you is not going to work in your favor. And I’ve seen that has happened. So people aren’t, we’re not that six degrees of separation anymore.

[00:42:16] Like we used to back way back in the day. We’re now.

[00:42:19] Yeah, I agree. I agree. It’s it’s whenever you’re sharing information, you want to be authentic, but you also want to consider what you’re putting out there. You don’t want,

[00:42:29] I don’t care how much you hated your former employer. You’re better off. You’re better off. You know, we didn’t see eye to eye on something, or they were moving in a different dry, you don’t have to get into the nitty gritty. Nobody needs the TMI because every employer is thinking well, if they’re saying that about their past employer, where are they going to say about us?

[00:42:45] And you want to keep that in mind? So it’s

[00:42:49] yes, we do. And that lends itself to another discussion and trend, but we won’t hit that on this particular show right now, since we’re concentrating resumes, but any lasting words before we shut it down for the.

[00:43:04] Amanda Augustine: I think those, those are the big ones or the, or the trends I’m seeing.

[00:43:08] We also know that more jobs are becoming location agnostic. So, you know, if you’re looking for a job that’s remote or, or in a completely different area of the country, I don’t think you have to feel compelled to put your location information at the top of your resume. It’s not as important anymore.

[00:43:26] And then. Regardless of what’s going on. I think three things always stand true as to, as to a strong and effective resume. And this was done in actually to your, a white paper that we did a few years ago, where we’ve been figured out, you know, what are some of the primary differences between say a professionally written resume versus a self written one.

[00:43:44] And there’s three, three, you know, goals you’re trying, or three criteria. You’re trying to meet a strong and clear now. Which we talked about how important that is to explain the journey you’ve gone on that. It makes sense as to why you’re targeting this role today. Visual balance. Again, something we touched upon making sure that in a quick glance, they understand your qualifications.

[00:44:05] They understand why it makes sense that you’re applying to this type of role and then demonstrating your value again, backing up any claims that you make at the beginning of your resume with facts, anecdotes, case studies. And if you accomplish. You’re in really good position.

[00:44:24] Mark Anthony Dyson: Amanda Augustine, how can people find more about you and what

[00:44:29] Amanda Augustine: Thank you. You can always find me on LinkedIn. And the tail end of my LinkedIn profile is job search. Amanda, almost all of my social media handles have that. And if you go to top resume.com and click on career advice, you’ll find my section there.

[00:44:42] Mark Anthony Dyson: Very good. Thank you very much for spending time with me and for the rest of you think for involve being involved in the chat.