Even though my RSS feed over there in the right column hasn’t worked for a month or two now, I still write quite a bit for Qvisory. Any topic that is work-related is fair game but I have a few pet topics, namely: resumes, work/life balance, and surviving at work.
With my background in recruiting, I have a pretty interesting take on writing resumes. After all, I did spend eight months of my life looking at countless resumes every day. I’ve seen great resumes, horrible resumes, and every shade in between. As such, I have a pretty decent idea of what employers are looking for in a good resume.
What I think is interesting, though, is how far removed writing about writing a resume is from actually writing a resume. There is a lot of job-hunting going on right now (the unemployment rate just went up to 6.1%! Zoinks!) and I’m doing my best to help several friends and family members land their next gig. As such, I’ve been reviewing/writing quite a few resumes lately.
Man, it’s one thing to write about how your wording should be concise and compelling, and quite another thing entirely to actually struggle with how to make selling cars sound compelling in a concise way. This just proves that people who give advice have to step down and get their hands dirty every once in awhile in order to stay relevant!
(for Kindle)
(printed book)
6 comments
Comment by Dane on September 9, 2008 at 5:49 am
I think going through resumes for even a few days in search of a candidate really gives one a perspective on how a resume is seen by potential employers. Or, rather, how it is seen by the entry level or temp drone tasked with sifting the wheat from the chaff. I had to do it, and I definitely formed some solid opinions about good resumes and bad resumes.
Comment by Erika on September 9, 2008 at 7:46 am
-Dane, When you see a perfectly hopeless resume, don’t you kind of want to call the person and help them out? However, as is true of critics everywhere, it is endlessly easier to criticize a something than it is to actually create it!
Comment by Dane on September 9, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Yes I do. I transferred that urge by showing some of my jobless coworkers (it sounds strange until you think about the nature of my last position) the dos and don’ts of resumes. I like to think that any success they may have had was due solely to my efforts.
Comment by Erika on September 9, 2008 at 2:54 pm
-Dane, you really enjoy the puppet-master role, don’t you? Yeah, the image of you planning and financing a major heist is coming into sharper and sharper focus…
Comment by Dane on September 9, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Understand I love puppet-master roles… but I’m the kind that needs to be in the middle of my master plan as well, guns blazing, shouting to my monkey-driver(driver who is a monkey, not one who drives monkeys) to “step on it!”…
I love ellipses! And lamp.
Comment by Erika on September 9, 2008 at 5:17 pm
-Dane, I’ll keep that in mind the next time I’m planning something big. I’ll make sure there’s a spot for you to give me money but also to run around with a stocking over your head, screaming at a chimpanzee while blazing a gun :)