by: Joanne Meehl

A former client called me to work on a new job search, so I went to her file to review her resume, which we need to update. I was caught by surprise when I saw the resume I'd done for her in 2004: it looked very different than the resumes I do now.

Yet in no way did I consciously say "I'm going to change resumes now", any time in the three years since then.

There were no moments at which I said "OK, here's something different".

Instead, I just continually try things in response to what I hear from hiring managers, recruiters, interviewers, and HR. After all, they're the ones with the jobs. And their work keeps changing, their companies or organizations keep changing, their customers or clients keep changing, the jobs they create keep changing. And it's usually in the same way: a very little at a time. So subtle, at times, that you don't notice it.

Like the earth shifting on its axis ever so slightly each day, we don't notice the daily change until we've experienced it for a while: until it's still light at 6pm when just a few weeks ago, it was dark. It's a good model for the job market: there are constant shifts and tweaks and slight changes, until we look up and say, "Wow, this is different!" and "Whoa, who changed things?"

We all did. And we all do: a little at a time. Until it adds up, and it rocks us.