Thursday, January 8, 2015

Resume Missing Something?

People agonize over resumes – writing, editing, re-writing, proofreading, and starting all over again yet it seems like once or twice a month I get a resume that falls short in the critical information department. When I saw critical information I’m not talking about great content, or compelling copy – I mean CRITICAL INFORMATION.
This may or may not come as a surprise, but the most common critical information missing is a way to contact the person.  I’ve had applicants send me a great resume and I have no way of connecting to them. I’ve received resumes with a phone number where the voice mail isn’t set up. I’ve had emails kicked back. Folks, if it’s on your resume make sure you know we’re trying to connect with you!
Another piece of missing information is dates of employment. I’ve seen resumes that don’t include any date information. I can’t work with no date information – if there’s no date information at all I move on to other resumes. However, there is another common piece of date information missing: months of employment. Most of us want to see the start and end month of your employment (for me going back 5 years is fine) because 2013 – 2014 can mean you worked there a month, or two years. I immediately thing “hiding a gap” when I don’t see months listed on recent employment.
Another common piece of critical information is missing names. I get a LOT of resumes with just the first name – very commonly from people who are originally from India. Not sure why this is so common, but I have 1,000 Kumar’s in my database and adding another one doesn’t do anyone any good. I also see resumes with just the initial of the person. I’ve even seen a resume where the person used a pseudonym. Don’t send me a resume without your first and last name because it’s not going to get read.
Finally, I have seen resumes with absolutely no employment information whatsoever. I see the role and responsibilities but they neglected to list WHERE they worked. I can understand if you’re posting the resume to a public board putting “Confidential” if you don’t want your current employer to stumble across your resume, but it’s ALWAYS a red flag when I see that listed on a submitted resume. If a candidate isn’t willing to disclose where they work I can’t help them.
Missing information always makes me ask myself “What else are they hiding?”
I want your full name, a way to contact you, where you’ve worked, and the dates of employment. If my initial six second scan doesn’t hit those points I’ll find someone who does.

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