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October 14, 2008
The art of selling yourself
I've been searching through resumes on a popular recruiting website lately, for reasons I'll leave undisclosed, and I am learning so much... Here are some notes translated into tips, straight from my desk to your brain:
"Dating" yourself:
Age discrimination is unlawful. But listing MS-DOS as one of your computer skills is probably unnecessary.
I told Mike, and his response? "Wow! That's quite a skill.That's like saying you can load a musket."
Self-assurance:
The "Target Job Title" blank could be a negative delimiter. But really--how will an employer know what job to interview you for if you don't even know what kind of job you'd like to have? Putting "Not sure yet" is about as helpful as a broken compass. No one knows how to direct you if you don't know how to begin by directing yourself a little.
Listing a resume as "confidential":
First of all, if this information is so confidential, why would you post it on the Internet? If it's worth posting and you actually would like to find a job, give good, honest information. Not listing where your degree is from or your name is misleading. And I realize that some people make assumptions about names (implying heritage/ethnicity), which is also discrimination, but honestly... the people you want to work for want to know your name. And your contact information. And where you went to school. I thought those were no-brainers...
capitalization:
Capitalize your freaking name. Show yourself some respect. Gosh.
The "Desired Salary" blank:
Leaving this blank seems to make the most sense, to me. Especially when I was just graduating, unemployed, or a just a grad student. I didn't know how to speculate what I'm worth... Some folks seem to think they do. I see a pattern developing, as I browse: the estimates hit both extremes. Really high, really low. It's interesting to read over people's education and experiences to see if their suggestions are rationalized. Sometimes they are. It just doesn't seem like there's a safe way to answer this question though. Mike suggested putting "free lunches."
Ohmygoshpleaseproofreadyourwork:
One resume I read listed experience at a Navel Yard. ><
Oh really. Picking oranges or bellybuttons?
How about a Naval Yard...
Or how about the one that wanted to be an "administrative asistant."
Spelling should not be an issue. Wow. Nor should homonyms! (And this is not grammar-crazy Karissa speaking--this is common-sense Karissa, the resume reader speaking.)
Posted by KarissaKilgore at October 14, 2008 2:03 PM
Comments
c:\>load "musket.exe"
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at October 14, 2008 9:59 PM