It seems obvious, but asking someone you trust (who has some background in hiring, or even just some common sense) to look over a resume before you send it out is a good idea. I had a nephew who had a good background in his field, but wasn't getting the response from employers that he expected. I looked over the resume. It was well done, except for one item I'm sure he never realized was a problem. He and his wife had a small side business doing photography (portraits, weddings etc) His wife did the photography, but he handled booking the jobs, setting prices etc. He listed as experience his current management of the side business.

As I explained to him, a potential employer is going to see that and have doubts as to where his loyalty and primary focus was going to be. What he does on his own time is his business, but you don't want a potential employer to have doubts as to whether or not his professional focus was going to be on his job, or the side business.

He agreed, took it out, and had a job in short order. What he thought was a positive (management experience in the side business)was actually a negative.

quote:

Originally posted by berto:
Wife said they frequently got pictures with applications back in the day. Headshots, candid shots, sometimes even bikini pics. It was entry level administrative assistant type stuff or entry level minimum wage assembly stuff.

Enclosing a picture is the norm in some countries/cultures, e.g. South America and Southeast Asia. I once got a resume from a woman from Columbia who was completely unqualified for the job, but was so incredibly hot that I had to get her in for an interview. She was as nice a person as she was gorgeous, even better-looking in person than her picture, I almost hired her anyway just to have some eye candy around the office.

And, on the subject of spelling, not in a resume, but I once got a cover letter addressed to "Dear Sir or Madman," that candidate we didn't call in.

I have to say I’m surprised by people saying to give him a pass on the resume. I don’t think this is just a person with poor writing skills. I read it as someone that doesn’t want a job and is being funny about it. The very first few lines basically say, “I can’t work in a busy place. I don’t have reliable transportation to get to work and I’m going to call out sick a lot. “

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
I have to say I’m surprised by people saying to give him a pass on the resume. I don’t think this is just a person with poor writing skills. I read it as someone that doesn’t want a job and is being funny about it. The very first few lines basically say, “I can’t work in a busy place. I don’t have reliable transportation to get to work and I’m going to call out sick a lot. “

Having fun while they meet the minimum quota to stay on unemployment, lol.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
I have to say I’m surprised by people saying to give him a pass on the resume. I don’t think this is just a person with poor writing skills. I read it as someone that doesn’t want a job and is being funny about it. The very first few lines basically say, “I can’t work in a busy place. I don’t have reliable transportation to get to work and I’m going to call out sick a lot. “

That's exactly what I saw. For an entry level position, I don't care if you have the skills to do the job. I can teach those. But I need to see some indication that you have decent work ethic, dependability, and the ability to stick it out for the long term so it's worth my time to teach you. This resume raises some major concerns in those areas.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
I have to say I’m surprised by people saying to give him a pass on the resume. I don’t think this is just a person with poor writing skills. I read it as someone that doesn’t want a job and is being funny about it. The very first few lines basically say, “I can’t work in a busy place. I don’t have reliable transportation to get to work and I’m going to call out sick a lot. “

Agreed. That is why I posted it. I wasn’t trying to be rude by posting it. I wasn’t intent on bashing him. But for the love of God, you put on your resume that this restaurant was too busy. Broken down car. Left a job when struck with pain. Definitely not someone I would consider just because of what was said.

I have hired a few people to say the least. I don’t look for a fancy resume with a ton of fluff and bullshit. I look for decent humans. I can train anyone to do a job. I can’t train someone to nice, and have integrity.

Long time ago during the CETA funding days of the 80's I called the local unemployment office to offer a entry level position in the parts department of a auto dealership that I managed. Order receiving, stocking, filling parts requests, looking up parts in paper catalogs, etc.

Unemployment office sent in probably the worst bunch of potentials. Literally half drunk, unshaven and showered, filthy clothes, etc. One applicant had a fourteen year gap in employment history, when asked what he did for those years his answer was "around". Had my own theory of what that meant.

One applicant came in, clean clothes, showered, sober, probably in his twenties. His uncle was with him, he introduced him to me, I assumed it was his ride to the dealership. When I handed him an application he turned and promptly handed it to his uncle who asked me to use a pen.

When I said "I only have one opening", the applicant said "I can't read or write, my uncle has to fill it out for me." Seems his high school just passed him along, gave him a diploma and let it go.

I felt sorry for him but there was nothing I could do, reading, writing and simple math was a requirement.

There were intelligible sentences in there. That counts for something in this day and age where literacy seems to be optional.

I didn't say I'd hire him. I said I see a real person on that page.

Based upon that single page, we can say he's ignorant of many things. Hell, he doesn't even know to proofread his resume, or hit F7 for a spell-check if he did know.

He's near-bottom rung manual labor. If that's what the job called for, he'd get an interview from me.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:

quote:

Originally posted by berto:
Wife said they frequently got pictures with applications back in the day. Headshots, candid shots, sometimes even bikini pics. It was entry level administrative assistant type stuff or entry level minimum wage assembly stuff.

Enclosing a picture is the norm in some countries/cultures, e.g. South America and Southeast Asia. I once got a resume from a woman from Columbia who was completely unqualified for the job, but was so incredibly hot that I had to get her in for an interview. She was as nice a person as she was gorgeous, even better-looking in person than her picture, I almost hired her anyway just to have some eye candy around the office.

And, on the subject of spelling, not in a resume, but I once got a cover letter addressed to "Dear Sir or Madman," that candidate we didn't call in.

I made pizzas when I was in high school, and the manager hired waitresses solely based on their looks. It wasn't a bad criteria to use for pizza joint waitresses.

But, Lord, those Tefakjian sisters.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I didn't say I'd hire him. I said I see a real person on that page.

Based upon that single page, we can say he's ignorant of many things. Hell, he doesn't even know to proofread his resume, or hit F7 for a spell-check if he did know.

He's near-bottom rung manual labor. If that's what the job called for, he'd get an interview from me.

I don’t disagree. I just don’t fully believe he is as ignorant as the resume looks. I just think he doesn’t want a job but has a reason to apply (keep welfare benefits maybe, assuming that’s really a requirement).

Well, if he's a willfully ignorant smart-ass, then he can shoot for being the best damn dishwasher in the world, and if welfare is what he wants, then Uncle Sam is eager to bring him into the fold with a monthly check.

quote:

And, on the subject of spelling, not in a resume, but I once got a cover letter addressed to "Dear Sir or Madman," that candidate we didn't call in

^^^^^^^^^
How come??? No spelling error. Would insane guy be a better salutation??

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

And, on the subject of spelling, not in a resume, but I once got a cover letter addressed to "Dear Sir or Madman," that candidate we didn't call in

^^^^^^^^^
How come??? No spelling error. Would insane guy be a better salutation??

I think my boss at the time was thinking the guy was hitting too close to the truth!

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by SFCUSARET:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
My retried USMC counterpart didn't cal l the candidate in.

Those retried guys are hard-asses.

I believe he wasn't hired as a Tech Writer because he spelled medals as "metals"

Well, yeah... But jhe888 was sneakily commenting on the fact that the guy posting about the failed applicant misspelling "medals" also himself managed to misspell "retired".

Hell! What do I know, I'm just a retarded military service member

I was on the interview committee a couple of times when we were filling positions in our Substation Maintenance group . To start with , HR did the initial screenings and sent us a group of resumes to look over and decide who we wanted to interview . The problem was , HR had no idea what we did and we got resumes that didn't meet the qualifications that were posted . Too bad , these are your applicants . Pick the best ones and we'll have them come in .
One guy's total electrical experience consisted of repairing an extension cord at his house . No mechanical experience , couldn't weld , nothing . WHY did they send him to us ?
The guy we ended up with was a Lineman with the company and did not have the skills we needed . He knew people ...

If you are relying on HR as a recruiting strategy, you will rarely if ever be satisfied with your potential candidate pool.

quote:

Originally posted by Graniteguy:
If you are relying on HR as a recruiting strategy, you will rarely if ever be satisfied with your potential candidate pool.

I agree , but in our situation that was the process .

Last week our local car dealer was hiring an entry level oil change guy. The dealership is owned by a really nice and very young Hispanic. He was interviewing a candidate for the job and asked why he left the last place and his answer was "Because they brought in a Mexican to do it cheaper"

He didn't get the job.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
One guy's total electrical experience consisted of repairing an extension cord at his house . No mechanical experience , couldn't weld , nothing . WHY did they send him to us ?

Well? Did you hire him?