A large majority of my career includes training adults on discovering their brand, developing successful job search skills and building a resume that will wow the socks off of employers. Assisting them in building that resume is sometimes challenging as they struggle to remember responsibilities of past employment as well as being able to highlight their strengths as a professional. It can be difficult to put all of that information on paper in a way that entices a potential employer.
I wonder if we were to highlight our skills as a spouse and put it on paper, who would it entice? Would we be impressed by what we see in our own actions? Would it reflect the spouse we thought we would be before we actually got married?
Since the majority of us consider marriage work, it shouldn’t be surprising to look at the skills we bring to a marriage. Not that you should be shopping around for a new spouse or anything, but if you were to examine the course of your role as spouse what would you discover?
Comparing our roles in marriage to the ones we have in our careers could be helpful for most couples. Creating a resume which only focuses on the one position we hold as spouse can also equip us to become a stronger partner.
A solid resume will display your summary of qualifications as well as your daily responsibilities for each position held.
The summary of qualifications includes your soft skills, hard skills as well as your years of experience and any special accomplishments. We often say the resume is the best you on paper. As spouses we also have responsibilities. Some of them are harder than others. However, the goal in each of our marriages should be to become the best spouse possible. In order for that to occur we first have to realize how we’ve shown up thus far in our relationships. Creating a marriage resume, which helps to pinpoint your strengths as a spouse, could be helpful and provide the insight needed. It’s important we recognize our areas needing improvement.
Even when our partner isn’t at his/her best, it still isn’t an excuse for us not to give our best.
Just the thought of writing down how I’ve been as a spouse makes me want to do better. Knowing we have to answer to the type of partner we’ve been in our marriage is the accountability we need.
In marriage there isn’t typically anyone there to help to police our behavior. As grownups, in a mature partnership, we must be aware of the impact our attitude and actions have on our spouse. In order to have a marriage resume we can be proud of, we’ll have to make some sacrifices, communicate effectively and be loving and gentle with our spouse’s heart.
BMWK, What’s on your marriage resume?