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What really shocks me is how poor the majority of applicants resume and cover letter is. These documents come to us full of spelling errors, terrible grammar, punctuation, confusing layout and full of needless information. My own writing skills could be improved but I get my husband, the English teacher, to help me with workplace communication.
How can you judge the grammactical errors of others so harshly when you aren't using proper grammar yourself?
I understand that it is very important to put your best foot forward when presenting yourself as a candidate but I would also say that it should depend on the position for which one is applying.
I'll chime in, as a supposedly "highly intelligent" IT worker. I'm also a "millennial" to boot.
Basically, I don't value the things that you value. You value social skills and personality because that is all that you have. You aren't intelligent, you can't program a computer, you don't know freshman level college mathematics, you can't explain Plato to me. These are some of the sorts of things that intelligent people value - i.e. intelligence and the pursuit of intellectually engaging subjects.
You overvalue your strengths and undervalue your weaknesses. To the average IT person/engineer, you are looked upon as a complete imbecile. You may have "people skills" but that amounts to jack when it comes time to get something productive done. Did "people skills" design the atom bomb? Do "personal skills" engineer tunnels under rivers?
This is the world view you are going up against. Your world view is what WE are up against. It is frustrating for both parties.
Technical people that are good at what they do tend to be a little single minded as well. We don't focus on self-promotion because we're actually demonstrably good at something that can be objectively judged.
Another archetype typically seen among IT/engineering/nerd types is the meek, ineffectual man.
You know the type. 42 years old. Bald(ing). Overweight. Glasses. Limp hand shake. Probably single for the past 15 years.
You can't expect these people to come across like a slick testosterone driven salesman from New York. They may be an accomplished systems or network engineer, but inside, they are a shambles.
Another archetype typically seen among IT/engineering/nerd types is the meek, ineffectual man.
You know the type. 42 years old. Bald(ing). Overweight. Glasses. Limp hand shake. Probably single for the past 15 years.
You can't expect these people to come across like a slick testosterone driven salesman from New York. They may be an accomplished systems or network engineer, but inside, they are a shambles.
Well today's computer systems are very advanced, constantly changing etc. You can't really expect a top of the line computer guy to be a jack of all trades. It simply does not work that way. I think the problem with most companies today is that they are constantly looking for the jack of all trade type person. When in reality, they should be looking specifically for the skills and abilities required of the job.
I can market myself pretty well.
Resume without errors, cover letters tailored to the positions.
But guess what? It's generally all bull.
Really, I'm usually just lying about really really wanting to work for a company!
(On the flipside, the jobs I REALLY feel passionate about and write even better cover letters for don't even blink an eye. There's one company that I want to work for, but I can't get in at all. My solution was to apply for grad school and try to get in there in a higher position. )
Wouldn't it be great if we could all be honest with each other in the job searching process?
We say: "Oh I'd love to work for XYZ because of this, that and those!"
We mean: "Look, I'm really only interviewing with you because you might pay me enough and you might give me enough hours."
p.s. I'm really sick and tired of everyone being so down on the 20-somethings and younger. I have two jobs and since one decided to cut my hours, I'm back out there looking for a replacement - in the dead of winter. I'm never late for work, and usually don't get sick, so I'm rarely ever absent. My job that has not cut my hours would hardly be able to run without me. My brother is 20 and spent his entire summer working 50 hour weeks in a factory. All of the "them darn youngins!" crowd just needs to get over it!
Ateo, you make it sound like it's either/or, black/white. People are either intelligent & creative or they have good common sense and social skills. That just isn't the case.
What most employers expect is a little of both. Yes, I can discuss Plato with you at length, as well as numerous other intellectual subjects. But I also understand that the business world has "rules" and unless you can play within those rules, to some extent, you aren't going to be successful. Why can't someone who's a computer whiz and a philosophy scholar also understand about saying please & thank you, dressing appropriately for the workplace, making eye contact, and composing a coherent sentence?
It's not just supervisors who have "nothing" but social skills & personality who feel this way; it's valued by most employers, in most settings. Also, one of the marks of true intelligence is the ability to use judgement and adapt to one's surroundings.
It's great to feel smug about your abilities (I'm pretty damn smug myself most of the time), but smug isn't gonna get you hired and won't put bucks in the bank!
Supernerdgirl,
I/we are not saying it's all the millenials who are like this. There are certainly exceptions, and you may be one of them. But there is enough evidence out there to show that there are some characteristics of this cohort that are very prevalent. The best thing for you to do is to learn about how this phenomenon is real among your age group, understand how it holds them back, and make sure that you stand out as different. You will certainly outpace your peers if you do!
His challenge, being IT and not Marketing is HOW to convey his many talents and experience, his strengths in a resume so at first glance people know what he can do. He is told he has a strong resume but I know he is torn alot on how to re-market or re-write his resume to show he is ready for the next or bigger challenge.
This is exactly right. It bothers me lot when a HR person who knows absolutely nothing about IT makes decision on how qualify a person is for the position. I think a smart company should let the hiring manager reviews all the resumes and decide which ones they want to have a face to face with.
That's how I did it.
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These documents come to us full of spelling errors, terrible grammar, punctuation, confusing layout and full of needless information. My own writing skills could be improved but I get my husband, the English teacher, to help me with workplace communication.
)
), but smug isn't gonna get you hired and won't put bucks in the bank!
