(Courtesy of your friendly HR Manager, currently hiring for an Office Admin)
1. If your resume is interesting, or you are qualified, I will Google you.
2. If I Google you and find your Facebook/MySpace/Flickr/Blog, there is a 99.999% chance I will look at anything you put on the Internet. You chugging a beer in college will be hilarious for me to show my cube-mates, but it won't make me pick up the phone. (Tip: Make it private, or don't post it.)
3. If your email address includes the phrase "aol.com," there is a very, very good chance I will not look at the rest of your qualifications. Particularly when I use the phrase "comfortable with emerging technologies" in the advertisement.
4. Proficient in Microsoft Word? Your resume should reflect this a bit. You don't need to use a ton of themes, objects, or clip art (on second thought, don't use ANY of those), but something more than a grid and Times New Roman would be nice.
5. I want to know what you actually did in your last job. Your work description shouldn't be "I hated being on commission, the hours were terrible." So... you complained the whole time you worked there? Got it.
6. Tell me what you want to do with yourself, in a few sentences or less. I don't need a static cover letter. It's a software company! We're hip! You have a little leeway here. And be honest! "I just graduated from college, I need some experience and money" will do just fine.
7. Please do not take the application process as an opportunity to tell me how bad the economy is. I KNOW HOW BAD THE ECONOMY IS.
8. Don't use a silly email address. I learned this in my college orientation, and I've carried it with me ever since. If your email address is not some combination of your first name and/or last name, it better be somewhat professional. If it references a Disney movie, I will take a lot for me to move past that and actually review your resume.
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4 comments:
Christina, I just found your blog through Career Builder's "The Hiring Site" blog. Looks like you just started blogging - Welcome to the HR blogging community!
I have a few thoughts on your article (numbers match yours up-top).
Whenever I see lists like this, I question the validity of some of the selection methods recruiters mentions. For example:
2. We all did this. Yea, it probably should be private, but Gen Y is transparent to a fault. Does it really impact their ability to do an amazing job? I'd say no.
3. Same thing with the AOL address. Using an aol email doesn't mean a person isn't comfortable with emerging technology. It means they've been using the internet for over a decade and didn't want to screw up their friends (possibly - or it means they suck at computers!)
4. Being proficient in Word doesn't mean you need anything beyond a basic grid and font. If they changed the font to Verdana, would you be happier? I don't see the relevance. They're not going to do a mail-merge on their resume!
5. Spot on.
8. Also spot on... getting a resume from an email like "AntDawg72" or "XOXOPrincess" (@ aol.com haha) just shows bad judgement. Again, still might do an amazing job, and I'll probably still reach out to you. But it makes you seem like a goof.
You're billing yourself as non-traditional, and for all I know, you damn well may be. But this article screams "Traditional HR" to me. Interested in hearing your thoughts/responses/comments.
Again, welcome to the blogging community. Please reach out to me if you want to chat - I can introduce you to some other bloggers. ManagersSandbox@gmail.com or on twitter at twitter.com/ChrisFerdinandi.
Cheers!
Chris
9. Change your silly, stupid voicemail message on your phone that you made with friends. I'm not "the man now dawwggg," and I certainly won't leave a message.
Hi Chris--
Thanks for checking it out! You've made a lot of fantastic points.
Regarding #'s 2, 3, 8, (which I think are more or less the same topic)--- it relates to the idea of first impressions. My impression won't be fantastic. My urge won't be to pick up the phone. You *could* very well be fantastic, so you absolutely have a point there. Of course, is someone is extremely qualified, I can get past the fact that they are using an outdated email client.
To summarize, I completely agree with you. Of course there are going to be some great candidates with awful MySpace pages, and outdated email addresses. There are always exceptions to almost everything.
#4- I expect to see some formatting, something to make it look a bit more readable without resorting to a standard box grid. I should clarify that my point was readability, not necessarily font choice.
By non-traditional, I'm referring to my industry. The software industry (as I know it) is not traditional, especially as it relates to HR-- the work environment in particular. I made this blog to try to find other folks in non-traditional industries. If my article screams traditional, that's because it is. I've probably come across articles like this hundreds of times. It's just my thoughts, my experiences.
Anyway, I'm sure we can agree that the process of reviewing resumes can be long and frustrating.
Thanks again for reading--
Change your call tone along with your out going voicemail message... I do not want to hear music when calling someone about a job. Especially when the song contains offensive language.
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