Gary North explains that he ". . . really liked [Seth Godin's] chapter on résumés. He says that résumés are
dead ends. They are scanned by software today. Nobody gets a decent job because
of a good résumé. Résumés are pro forma. Hiring is not based on finding the
best résumé. He says your career performance must be your résumé. Your website
must be your résumé. You have to have something that you can put in a personal
letter that is so powerful that nobody looks at your résumé. If you rely on a
résumé, you might as well pack it in now."
North writes, "Now white-collar
workers are going to face this kind of competition. So, Godin is correct: you
have to be able to perform at such a level that a piece of software cannot
compete against you. You should master software, not be replaced by it. You
should use the software to become a top-flight performer. But you had better be
beyond the next programmer's ability to write a program that will do whatever
it is that you do.
If there is a job manual, the programmer has a target. He knows
what is required. All he has to do is produce software that will enable some
low-level employee to do the work that a more expensive employee has been
doing. If there is a manual, there is an opportunity for a programmer to make a
lot of money. There is also a way for the employer to cut expenses by buying a
piece of software and training a low-salary employee to use it."
Gary North ends by explaining that "Above all, you must make certain that whatever it is you do cannot be summarized in a manual."
