In his eponymous blog, Seth Godin frequently questions the usefulness of the traditional resume. He argues they provide an easy way for employers to reject you because it makes it so easy to point out what’s missing as opposed to directing attention on what you’ve accomplished.

He’s on to something.

When we should be putting together a marketing portfolio worthy of a Super Bowl spot on prime time television, we instead send out stock, run-of-the-mill word documents that look and sound like everyone else. It doesn’t market and it doesn’t sell.

In reality, we should have a living, breathing portfolio that includes tangible items, like stellar projects you’ve delivered or flattering recommendations.

Yet, attacking the traditional resume only tackles half the issue. The underlying question is really what have you done, your portfolio/resume/blog is only an extension of that. If you don’t have any spectacular projects you can talk about or stellar recommendations to share – how are you going to convince someone they should hire you for a dream position?

The key is to focus on learning – If you’re not learning, you’re not growing. It’s easy to get comfortable in any role and simply fill the days with the same repetitive tasks, but what else could you be doing? Perhaps there’s another team at your company you could help out with or volunteer with an organization in your spare time? Maybe you could start writing for a local blog or newspaper, or support friends who are looking to start a business by sharing some of your professional know-how?

When you’re learning and not simply doing, it means you’re pushing yourself to try new things and tackle bigger, more challenging problems. It’s exactly the kind of projects that will do wonders in your portfolio and have your colleagues only too happy to recommend you.

This coupled with a portfolio worthy of a Super Bowl spot will open doors like no resume ever could or will.

Photo: Above photograph used under CC license