What Your Resume Says About You
We're hiring again. Someone filled out our employment form, and pasted in his resume.
The first bit of the resume mentioned his college education (graduated 1991), highlighting his B average and golf internships.
Huh?
Then, he had a list of all the places he's worked at over the years, and what he did there. He didn't explain what any of these places were, and I couldn't tell from the names. I didn't want to go look them all up.
Huh?
It looked like most of his jobs had him responsible for sales, purchasing, logistics, inventory, some accounting, and what I'll call corporate things. Our job is for someone who deeply, deeply knows eBay selling AND is at the advanced level with HTML, CSS, and Photoshop. I saw no mention in his resume of eBay, HTML, CSS, or Photoshop. The space I left for him to put in his eBay ID was left blank. He picked "Good" for his skill level with HTML, CSS, and Photoshop when our form page says that we are unlikely to hire people unless they choose Advanced or Expert.
But wait, it gets weirder.
I email him:
I'm a little puzzled by your email below. Based on your resume and responses to the skill questions, you don't seem qualified for our position at all. Did I miss something?
His response was:
I am very qualified however I saw no need to overstate or embelish regarding the skill set. I am completey capable but do not perform all those skills currently on an everyday basis.
Huh? I wrote him back that he didn't seem to be in any danger of overstating these things considering I saw no mention of any of the skills and experience our job requires anywhere in his email or resume.
People, when you write your resume, consider the reader. Is your golf internship at college nearly 20 years ago the main highlight of who you are? Are you applying for jobs for which you are qualified? If so, will your resume prove to the employer that you are perfect? If not, you need another version of your resume for that kind of job. It needs to tell the truth :) and it needs to clearly show why you're perfect for that job.
Don't overstate or embellish, but I dare you to wow me with how qualified you are. I can only imagine that when this guy said he didn't want to overstate or embellish, the translation there is, "I'm not right for the job, took a stab, and can't honestly say that I fit any of the qualities you want.
Then don't waste me time! Though you did give me a laugh.
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