A long-form resume is a brain dump of your experience, a library of content about your career. If you feel stuck trying to work on your resume it can be helpful to ‘brain dump’ before you try to create or update your resume. You can edit your content later from a more objective place. Think of it as a word vomit of your career history, or like having all of your clothes hanging in your closet in full view so you can choose which is the most appropriate for an event. Does anyone ever remember what’s in a box under the bed or high up on a shelf? Nope. If you can’t see it, you can’t choose it. This will be the content library of your career experience and it is a fundamental practice of your career strategy.

In the same way we back-up our data we should back-up our career content. Career changes or making career transitions should be anticipated and strategized. In today’s job market, it is expected for people to change companies and career tracks. The details of your career history can be the leverage that helps you stand out as a candidate for your next opportunity!

When you’re working on a long resume, don’t worry about grammar or repeating things because overthinking can lead to writer’s block. Get what you can remember out of your head. Google docs work well for this because they’re free, shareable, accessible from anywhere and you can use the document outline to indicate keywords or areas of expertise. To update it on the go, use the Google docs app or keep an open note in your app of choice on your phone, text or email yourself or continually add to a notebook. Use what works for you! Set a repeating event on your calendar as a reminder to update the long resume with your ongoing notes on a monthly or quarterly basis. 

When the time comes to send out your resume, make a copy of the long one (only edit from the copy, keep the original long version to keep adding to it!) and then look at it next to your target (a job post or company/product description) then edit this long-form copy by deleting everything that doesn’t connect or support your candidacy for your target. Instead of trying to create the best match, delete the distractions! Control the focus of your audience. There is your fit. While some resume writers or recruiters advise that everyone must keep their resume to one page or style, that is not always the case. You should consider all potentially valuable details that may connect your experience to your target.

Remember, the purpose of the resume you send out is to qualify your experience for the next step, an interview. It is a highlight list of your experience that will make your audience want to learn more about you and a reference of the career stories you can elaborate on. 

If you need help organizing and editing your experience so it is presented in a thoughtful, strategic, and developmentally appropriate way we’ve got the guide for you!