Resume tips 3

I liked this list of cliches to leave out of your resume:

http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/jobseeker/tools/ept/contribEditorPost.html?post=97

However, I thought their example of a really good piece of resume writing sounded rather unprofessional.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[materialsliz]

Those "boilerplate" phrases sound like they belong on a Dilbert meeting Bingo card...

I agree with you, HgTX. That example they gave sounded dumbed-down.

Liz

 

[HgTX]

Dumbed-down and way too chatty. I look at that, and I think, "Too many words."

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[IRstuff]

Sounds like something a 10-yr old might write. The one potentially concrete accomplishment doesn't even have a strong cause-effect relationship; "I did some surveys, so our sales increased." Duh??

But, this is the typical pablum that tech writers insist is what we're supposed to be writing.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[MintJulep]

The example sounds like a perfectly good cover letter for a fuzzy job like marketing research.

 

[Twoballcane]

This more sounds like for a cover letter than a resume. The cover letter is where you would give your resume a "human voice". Funny that the writer did not mention a cover letter.

Tobalcane
"If you avoid failure, you also avoid success."

 

[KENAT]

Well that would be because most online or even email submittals leave little room for cover letters.

I went to 3 places in person last week wanting to drop off a resume at the local office. Each one said we don't take resume's it's all done centrally through our website. The websites sometimes don't even let you upload your entire resume, you have to 'build it' on their site, so applying for a job takes several hours.

Sorry, pent up frustration.

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484

 

[casseopeia]

I don't mind the humanizing paragraph, but the example seems a bit too chatty and wordy. I'd put that stuff in a Profile paragraph and do a bulleted or list version, not a conversational paragraph. I recently added a Profile section to my own resume and thankfully avoided all of the corporatespeak examples.

On the resume topic, I was also told to remove the date from my graduation and any work experience more than 10 to 15 years old. The excuse was, "we don't want the person doing the hiring to think you are too old."


"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

 

[MikeHalloran]

Cass, especially in the work you do, age brings a certain 'intellectual patina' that should enhance your desirability to an employer with more than one neuron.

Leave in the dates.

Find a new source for resume advice.




Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[TheTick]

Sounds to me like she has it backward.

Yes, my resumes do get return calls and interview appointments.

 

[KENAT]

Well, actually found time to read the article.

A few months back my sister in law, who supposedly has written resumes for a proffession, reworked mine. I swear she replaced my 'human language' with about half the boiler plate phrases listed as "worst possible".

I give up. Everyone who has an opinion has different advice. Compounded by the fact you may have 2 or 3 distinct audiences. HR, manager & technical 'peer'. In some cases the manager may be the technical peer but not always.

Most people on this site probably fall into the technical group, with a fair spattering of dual role managers. So that's the advice/viewpoint you'll probably get here.

You probably wont get HR type advice, which is what the author is. So no wonder general opinion of the article is low.

KENAT,

Have you reminded yourself of faq731-376 recently, or taken a look at posting policies:

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484

 

[HgTX]

Regarding the dates--the advice you received was spot-on. They reveal too much about your age, which is no one's business. If there is vital stuff in those positions that you don't want to use, consider a functional rather than chronological resume. (Debate on functional resumes can be found elsewhere in this forum.)

I know I keep talking about my mother, but I've had a front-seat view of her job searches for the last 15 years (and she's visiting this week). She had her first involuntary job loss when she was around 50 (company folded). Took off the dates, removed the first several jobs (she'd changed fields anyway, so they were no longer very relevant), touched up the hair dye, no one knew she wasn't 40ish. (Women have a wee advantage here, because so many dye their hair just because they feel like it and not just because they're grey, so even if it's an obvious dye job, no one has to know why. On the other hand, women get considered "old" at an earlier age, so it's not much of an advantage.)

When she lost another job at 60, though, passing for 10 years younger didn't help much because that just put her back at 50, which had been too old ten years earlier. But at your age, Cass, it's worth doing what you can to avoid being on the losing end of age-related prejudice.

Hg


Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[casseopeia]

Thanks, Hg.

Now where did I put my coupon for $500 off for my first Titan skin treatment with the Juvederm bonus package. It's around here somewhere..........

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"

 

[Ron]

Interesting that the first line of their suggested "human voice approach", contains poor grammar.

 

[IRstuff]

Maybe that's what they meant by "human"

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[HgTX]

It struck me as odd, but I can't actually pin down an error. "Who's" for "who is" isn't wrong, and sounds fine when spoken out loud, but looks very strange.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[IRstuff]

My choice:

"I'm a Marketing Researcher with a driven curiousity about people's buying choices. My use of consumer surveys and online-forum analysis uncovered areas for product improvement that directly led to a 20 percent sales growth in the ensuing six months..."

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[ScottyUK]

Don't send me any CVs this woman writes. My bin is full enough.


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If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[ShaggyPE]

I think some of the boilerplate blurbs are a little cliche but are better than the "humanizing" paragraph... at least for a technical resume. But then again, I don't do any hiring.

Also, what about the non-technical HR people who are looking for specific buzz words? No buzz words = trash?

-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Certified SolidWorks Professional
Certified COSMOSWorks Designer Specialist
Certified SolidWorks Advanced Sheet Metal Specialist

 

[bradpa77]

No one would take the time to read the example they put there. Too wordy. I think short bulleted points are best but I agree with avoiding the use of cut and paste cliche words. I would rather see a bulleted list of very short project descriptions than general and overused "I'm a good worker" type phrases that anyone can put on a resume without anything to back them up.