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Well I am not so friendly today. I am taking a break from looking at candidates to tell you I am so shocked today about the poor quality resumes that are hitting my desk. I suspect many are nice people who are quite accomplished but they are doing such a terrible job selling themselves, we will never know.
Here are some of the terrible mistakes I am seeing in the resumes of the college graduates applying for a number of professional jobs for the company I am working at:
Resumes that are 5-7 pages long that have every job they have held since 1961.
Resumes that list only job duties instead of accomplishments, talents and skills
Resumes that have no indication of professional growth. Instead they show a movement from one similar job to another year after year.
Resumes that have no industry or career buzz words to catch the attention of resume scanning software
Overly flowery objective statements that do not give us an idea of the applicants career, trade or orientation
Resumes full of overly personal or irrelevant information. This includes things like religion, political party or very unusual hobbies.
Resumes with Typos, mis-spelled words, poor grammar and crazy phrasing.
Please folks get someone to look at your resume who knows what he or she is doing, or you will be unemployed forever!
Resumes that are 5-7 pages long that have every job they have held since 1961.
Question for you, since some resumeisms come and go with the times:
(1) Is the one page rule an absolute ? I can understand not wanting to read 5-7 pages, but what about 2-3 pages ?
(2) How far back do you need to go with regards to job history ? I've been in the work world since 1992, with 2 years off in the mid 90s getting a masters degree.
Well I am not so friendly today. I am taking a break from looking at candidates to tell you I am so shocked today about the poor quality resumes that are hitting my desk. I suspect many are nice people who are quite accomplished but they are doing such a terrible job selling themselves, we will never know.
Here are some of the terrible mistakes I am seeing in the resumes of the college graduates applying for a number of professional jobs for the company I am working at:
Resumes that are 5-7 pages long that have every job they have held since 1961.
Resumes that list only job duties instead of accomplishments, talents and skills
Resumes that have no indication of professional growth. Instead they show a movement from one similar job to another year after year.
Resumes that have no industry or career buzz words to catch the attention of resume scanning software
Overly flowery objective statements that do not give us an idea of the applicants career, trade or orientation
Resumes full of overly personal or irrelevant information. This includes things like religion, political party or very unusual hobbies.
Resumes with Typos, mis-spelled words, poor grammar and crazy phrasing.
Please folks get someone to look at your resume who knows what he or she is doing, or you will be unemployed forever!
The sad thing is that instead of people heeding your advice they will probably come on here and badmouth you for being a recruiter.
Nowadays more than ever it's critical to have a fantastic resume with RELEVANT information in it. It's an employers market and people looking for work need to adapt and create a resume that is going to sell them to a prospective employer. Most people's resumes lack the correct information or they fill their experience with obvious job duties (You mean an admin assistant TYPES STUFF??? )
A great resume will show what you did at a company to make it great. What was the problem, what actions did you take to resolve it and what were the results of those actions taken:
example - Increased stagnant sales 27% by implementing email campaign for existing customers and previous buyers resuscitating relationships and boosting profits.
Problem (Stagnant sales), Action (implemented email campaign) Result (resuscitated clients, increased sales 27% and boosted profits)
It has been pointed out that he may be a troll! i.e. lonesome traveler, weekend traveler, traveling alone.
I don't know if he is these other people, and I don't care!
My advice to him and you is get into a conversation! They are more benefical then quotes followed by hmmm nice quote!
cheers!!
I find Weekend Traveler's advice relevant in today's job market. I don't see how one can compare user names - there are a huge number of names that start with "Moon" but they are not me!
Question for you, since some resumeisms come and go with the times:
(1) Is the one page rule an absolute ? I can understand not wanting to read 5-7 pages, but what about 2-3 pages ?
(2) How far back do you need to go with regards to job history ? I've been in the work world since 1992, with 2 years off in the mid 90s getting a masters degree.
2 is fine and 3 is pushing it. It depends on the kind of job you are looking to land. Also, depending on the level of the position you are putting in for and the relevance of the work history determines if you should let prospective employers know you ran a nude yogurt stand back in 1992 or if for the past 12 years you have been a CMO at a fortune 500.
Make your resume speak to what they are looking for. It's your first opportunity to sell yourself and if you sell yourself short OR if you make your pitch too long you will be turned away. Sales people should list numbers, solutions and awards. Financial people should list how they saved money or boosted profits by saving money or implemented some type of new business system. Marketing people should talk about campaigns they have worked on from soup to nuts and so forth.
Think this way.....if I was a manager hiring for this job what would I want to see on a resume. Who would be my ideal candidate or better yet, who is the best person you ever knew in this role and see if your experience and achievements match that. Your resume should pretty much answer the job description as if each "requirement" was a question.
But if you want to know about CD users opening several accounts, you will have to ask Sinsativ!
I don't know how CD knows or other Op's know!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moonlady
I find Weekend Traveler's advice relevant in today's job market. I don't see how one can compare user names - there are a huge number of names that start with "Moon" but they are not me!
p.s. Actually, i have done it myself, so therefore, I don't have a problem with it!!
I am no troll. Just a friendly recruiter taking some time off now and then to tell people things that may help them in today's job market. Or to bring up other interesting topics of trivia or thoughts on other forums. If you do not like my posts, then do not respond. You do not have to talk to everyone at the party!
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