Tesar-Reynes

We just got a job from a local agency and he needed help fast. Bob and I decided to post and tweet the position as well as do a search through the database. I was shocked by the number of ill-qualified responses! A couple of people were not even in advertising. On goes my judgment hat and I want to “correct” all the miscreants.

My suggestion for all of you who answer ads you are not qualified for is to stop. You are hurting yourself in more ways than you think. You are creating a self-fulfilling downward spiral. Here is the potential negative-feedback logic thread:

• I am a terrific employee for someone
• This is the start to my new life
• Getting a new job is my new job
• I need to get my resume out
• I will send a specific cover letter that shows …
  
  [ More ] January 20th, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in Getting a Job, Tough Times |

When times get tough the resume tends to become plastic. We see titles being changed, jobs being dropped out, graduation dates erased and the early part of careers completely excised.

In my eyes, each of the above has a different penalty. If a person does not include early career information or grad date, there is no harm done. They have not really misrepresented themselves and I can ask them to fill in the information.

The people that get nailed are those who willingly alter their past by creating new job titles/responsibilities and leave out entire pieces of their job history. The resume reads well, but if we catch it, the person will never be presented by us to a client. …

I was asked a really strange question the other day. Do I prefer to receive an unsolicited resume from a candidate I don’t know by snail mail or by e-mail. My response was simple: e-mail. She laughed and said that is a pretty black and white response.

My answer was definitely yes. There is very little I can do with a paper copy of a resume other than to request an electronic one. The perception, at least with me, is that if someone sends me a hard copy they’re not very much up on the world and don’t have an electronic one. It sort of creates a bad first impression.

On a fairly regular basis I’m asked by senior management about whether there should be a great deal of space devoted on their resume to their corporate summary or the bullet positioning of their experience and accomplishments. In most cases, these people have agonized over this piece of real estate. They’re unsure how many words to use and how all the key words will be scanned by recruitment software.

My position on this is pretty simple. I never read this part of their resume until after I’ve read the meat and potatoes down below and I feel that this candidate belongs in our database or that they fit a search that I’m working on. Only then will I go back and read a summary and only then will …

Some days I feel like Andy Rooney complaining about things. Over time, I have seen a lot of resumes – here are some things that really turn me off:

1. Cutesy Graphics

I don’t like a resume that has odd fonts or a big letter graphics in it.

2. No White Space

A resume that is full of a small typeface and fills the page from margin to margin offends my squinty eyes.

3. Functional Resumes

This format screams to me that the writer has something to hide or has a “challenged” career track.

4. Missing Dates

If I get a relevant resume that is missing dates, the first thing I do is call the candidate and fill in the holes. I must be …

I have found that there seems to be an increasing amount of resumes that I receive that have at least some dates missing in them.  Typically, they fall into two areas.  The first is leaving out dates of graduation from college.  This second is the truncation of the career history, where the first item that appears is at the director or vice presidential level.

Some people are concerned about their age; others feel they have had too many jobs or a dodgy career track. When I ask for the additional information, many are combative.  What they don’t understand is the fact that I have to understand their entire career before I can present them to a client.  Invariably, I asked the most negative, “If the situation were reversed and I was working for you, would you accept any resumes from me with dates missing?”

It …