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Saturday morning basketball. First game of the season. New team. Tiny uniforms. Parents pretending to “just be here for fun”. Our year 2 boys have had three training sessions. The other team? Grade 3s and 4s. Taller, faster, coordinated. We’re basically sending in a pack of baby giraffes with enthusiasm and questionable spatial awareness. Half-time: zero points. The parents are politely clapping, one saying they can’t look. The coach shows complete optimism while also trying not to mouth “run the other way!” Then — overtime. A foul. And who gets the penalty shot? The smallest kid on the team. Like, legitimately pint-sized. The ball is bigger than his head. He takes the shot. Misses. He takes a second shot. Misses. Final shot. And swish. The crowd erupts. The kids lose their minds. I hug the tiny kid’s mum like we’ve just won Olympic gold. By the end of the game all the kids wanted was just one goal. One moment. And that was it. After the game, the coach said, “They came up against a much bigger, older team but showed great spirit and effort. They learned a lot and will only get better from here.” And I thought — that’s it, isn’t it? That’s the whole point. When you’re up against people with more experience, bigger titles, or slicker moves, you just keep showing up, running the drills, learning the plays. You might not win the job today, but if you can walk away knowing you showed courage, teamwork, and persistence, you’re already on the board. So here’s to every “tiny kid” in the job hunt. You might not be the tallest, flashiest, or most experienced, but your shot still counts. Take it. ~Lisa Your Q&AResumes for Dummies Hi Lisa, Should I still include a “Skills” section on my resume? I have just read the latest resume requirements in the 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 (9th Edition) book, and it says you should still have a skills section. I took mine out a while ago after getting feedback from recruiters that they rarely look at it unless it includes the specific hard skills they’re recruiting for, such as software required for a role. Thanks Daniel Hi Daniel, Résumés For Dummies — the book that refuses to die. It’s like the VHS player of career advice: once revolutionary, now mostly decorative. The truth? It depends on your level and your industry. If you’re in IT, engineering, or anything where you’re expected to know your way around acronyms that sound like Wi-Fi passwords — yes, a skills list helps. Recruiters and software scanners (aka the robots deciding your fate) don’t mind a neat list of hard skills. But if you’re a manager or executive, a long list of “leadership” and “communication” skills just screams, “I copied this from LinkedIn.” Soft skills in a list? Snooze. They’re only believable when backed up by stories, or what I like to call “skills in context.” Also, recruiters and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) don’t read resumes the same way. Recruiters skim, robots scan. The goal is to make both a bit happy. So sure, a tidy list of relevant hard skills can help. But a well-written resume that naturally weaves the right keywords into your actual accomplishments? That’s also a winner. In short:
Thanks for writing in. ~Lisa |
