Take a look above. What do you see?

If you thought, “a pipe,” I’d challenge you and say that YOU’RE WRONG! It’s a painting of a pipe. Aaahhhh…

The painting above was done by Belgium surrealist painter René Magritte. It’s called: “The Treachery of Images”

Notice the inscription Magritte wrote: "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" which translated (from French) means: “This is not a pipe.”

Magritte himself commented: "The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you stuff my pipe? No, it’s just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture ‘This is a pipe,’ I’d have been lying!" (cited in Harry Torczyner, Magritte: Ideas and Images, p. 71.)

So there you have it, it’s a painting of a pipe. Or is it?

Hmmmm. Actually, it’s an image of a painting of a pipe.

Whew! …Well. But wait. In reality…it’s a thumbnail that links to the image of a painting of a pipe.

Holy smokes…it’s not even a thumbnail. Technically, it’s tens of thousands of pixels, electronically stimulated on your monitor/screen that gives us a thumbnail that links to the image of a painting of a pipe.

What am I talking about here? (Actually, I’m not really talking…am I?)

The message I’m trying to convey is this: YOUR RESUME IS NOT YOU! It doesn’t even represent you. I can talk to your resume and ask it questions, but it won’t respond or answer me. I can look at your resume, but it won’t give me even a remote clue as to what you really look like or act like. I can touch your resume but it won’t let me know what you feel like. Heck, I can sniff your resume (not that I’d really want to) and chances are it won’t smell anything like you.

Conclusion (worth repeating): YOUR RESUME IS NOT YOU! It’s not intended to be. YOUR RESUME, as impressive as it may be, does not get you the job. YOU GET YOU THE JOB. Think about that. Have you ever submitted a resume to an employer and then received a phone call from her saying something like, “Hello. Is this Ted Eleftheriou? It is? Well congratulations! We received your resume today and we’ve decided to hire you! Look forward to meeting you. See you Monday at 8am.” No? Neither have I.

So why have a killer written resume? Why is it so important then if you don’t get hired from it? Why? I'll tell you why. BECAUSE (the answer should be obvious) the purpose of having an outrageously, well-written resume, is to land you an interview! That’s it! It creates curiosity in the reader…so much so…that the reader HAS TO MEET THE REAL THING: YOU! (Also worth repeating): YOU GET YOU THE JOB!

By the way. Did you know that I write killer resumes AND I can help you with your interviewing skills? it's what I do. Just seeing if you're paying attention! :)