As we began showing people how to create and then use a Can-Do
Portfolio that demonstrates P.E.A.K.S., we were often asked what kind
of resume would work best with this portfolio. We knew that a tradi-
tional resume would be perfectly adequate, and so for a while we sug-
gested that our portfolio clients simply use any of the traditional ap-
proaches for creating their resume.
But as we thought about it more, we realized that you could use
P.E.A.K.S. subheadings in your resume to prompt questions about ac-
tivities associated with items in your portfolio. And so we developed a
P.E.A.K.S. resume format that was designed to create openings to show
portfolio items. It worked. But it did something else as well. Our clients
told us they felt they got more job interviews when they used a proper-
ly targeted P.E.A.K.S. resume.
You can use the work you’ve already done for your portfolio. As we
will see in this chapter, the system for creating a P.E.A.K.S. resume
parallels the process used for creating a Can-Do Portfolio. This means
you can use whatever research you’ve already done in connection with
putting together a Can-Do Portfolio.
If you are in a big rush to get a resume together, you can take a
shortcut. You are most likely to create your best resume if you follow
the recommendations in this chapter. But if you are in a huge rush, you
can study the examples of targeted resumes in Part 2, and then do your
best to try to emulate what you see there for your own resume.RESUMES: WHAT THEY ARE AND WHY THEY ARE IMPORTANT
A resume is typically a one- to two-page summary of the highlights of
a person’s education, work experience, and career-relevant nonwork ex-
perience. As noted in the previous chapter, you can use a resume in an
informational interview to give the person from whom you are seeking
advice a quick overview of your background. But the key use for a re-
sume is in connection with going after a particular job.
When you are seeking a job, the fundamental purpose of a resume
is to help you get job interviews. Once you’ve made it to a job interview,
a resume can also serve as a starting point for reviewing your creden-
tials for a particular job. And after this interview is over, your inter-
viewer may very well use your resume as a quick way of describing you
to other people in the organization. So having a resume that’s just right
can make a big difference.Your resume can create opportunities to show your portfolio. In ad-
dition to the traditional reasons for putting together a well-thought-out
resume, here’s another thing to consider. If you have created a targeted
portfolio that you would like to use during a job interview, handing your
interviewer a resume that highlights key things about you that you can
support with items from your portfolio is likely to create opportunities
for you to show some of these items.
A good resume directs the reader’s attention to your key qualifica-
tions for a job.Clearly, what you put in a resume is very important. You
will want to include the things that are most likely to receive favorable
attention from a prospective employer. But it’s not just a matter of find-62 Part I: Building, Using, and Maintaining Your Career Portfolio