Thursday, June 16, 2005
Lessons learned from reviewing people's resumes
I know, I know, there's been a hiatus, but I need to be inspired in order to blog, and generally, I find inspiration in stupidity. Here are some (pretty common sense, you'd think) don't's when applying for a job (yes, even if it's a lowly student job) culled from actual applications for a student job we posted recently.
1. Don't put "Job employment" in the subject line.
2. Don't put "About the JOB" in the subject line.
3. Don't put "job interest," "seeking a job" or "very interested in job" either.
4. Don't ask in the cover letter, "So what do I do to get the job?"
5. If you're gonna use a Word resume template or copy-paste a template from the web, for f*ck's sake take a look at the final version before you hit the send button. Otherwise, your killer cover letter and experience won't quite offset an Objective that reads:
6. If you have a boiler plate message/signature like "Soul Committment to God and Christ his son," it's a good idea to take that out when you're emailing a prospective employer, and not just for spelling reasons.
7. If you're not sure what a word means, use a dictionary instead of just winging it. Fancy words won't impress anybody if they make no sense as used in the sentence:
1. Don't put "Job employment" in the subject line.
2. Don't put "About the JOB" in the subject line.
3. Don't put "job interest," "seeking a job" or "very interested in job" either.
4. Don't ask in the cover letter, "So what do I do to get the job?"
5. If you're gonna use a Word resume template or copy-paste a template from the web, for f*ck's sake take a look at the final version before you hit the send button. Otherwise, your killer cover letter and experience won't quite offset an Objective that reads:
"[Although providing an objective in a resume template is tradition, many professional resume writers now omit this section in modern resumes. If you choose to include it, explain your main career goals or the type of job you wish to land, in one to three brief sentences. Otherwise, delete this section from the resume template.]"
(Brackets in original)6. If you have a boiler plate message/signature like "Soul Committment to God and Christ his son," it's a good idea to take that out when you're emailing a prospective employer, and not just for spelling reasons.
7. If you're not sure what a word means, use a dictionary instead of just winging it. Fancy words won't impress anybody if they make no sense as used in the sentence:
Compare products with vendor receipts. Dispute any discrepancies. (emphasis mine)
8. Don't write your name in all lower case.
9. Don't start your cover letter like this:
"Dear XYZ,
8. Don't write your name in all lower case.
9. Don't start your cover letter like this:
"Dear XYZ,
First of all, I would like to introduce myself, my name is XYZ."
(I omitted the names; he didn't actually write XYZ. Just thought I'd clarify.)
10. Don't invite your prospective employer to visit your blog or personal website.
Alright, this list could go on forever, but I have to go back to work and tell these people we can't hire them even though we were very impressed with their qualifications, and that we will keep their resumes on file for future consideration. Yeah, I know I shouldn't lie but I have this uncontrollable need to please people. It's terrifying.
(I omitted the names; he didn't actually write XYZ. Just thought I'd clarify.)
10. Don't invite your prospective employer to visit your blog or personal website.
Alright, this list could go on forever, but I have to go back to work and tell these people we can't hire them even though we were very impressed with their qualifications, and that we will keep their resumes on file for future consideration. Yeah, I know I shouldn't lie but I have this uncontrollable need to please people. It's terrifying.
