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Reviewing resumes
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mindwaves
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May 24, 2019, 01:46 AM
 
It is kind of nice to have the ability to review resumes for hiring purposes. I remember the day when I submitted my resume to companies and I pondered how to format my resume, what to include, and what buzzwords to add inside.

Now, I am reviewing resumes for a position within my company and it is interesting to see what other people include. Many people have various typos inside and many people include unique words such as "voracious appetite" to show their enthusiasm in the matter. Some people submit resumes for positions that they are not in the least qualified for.

It is also nice to have various requirements of which I can ignore some resumes. Some candidates have worked for various companies for no more than 8 months, which I ignore, or too many typos for this "editing job" that the job requires. Some people don't even read the job description of what forms to submit and don't qualify, despite having an otherwise stellar resume.

Any resume stories to share?
     
Thorzdad
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May 24, 2019, 07:31 AM
 
I'm impressed that you're reading the resumes. These days (at least in my experience) most companies require you to submit resumes electronically, and are then screened by software, not humans.
     
Laminar
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May 24, 2019, 08:13 AM
 
I worked with a recruiter earlier this year and in reviewing my resume, they found two typos. As someone that takes pride in being thorough, that was pretty embarrassing.

When my wife was going through my resume with me (she's a recruiter), she made some suggestions on wording. I told her they sounded great and had her type them straight in.

You can see where this is going.

I couldn't tell the recruiters, "Sorry about the typos, my wife wrote my resume for me."

I'm just glad they caught them before the resume went out to employers.
     
turtle777
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May 24, 2019, 10:52 AM
 
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
I'm impressed that you're reading the resumes. These days (at least in my experience) most companies require you to submit resumes electronically, and are then screened by software, not humans.
Sure, but whatever passes the screening ultimately ends up on the hiring managers desk. For most jobs, Humans will (yet) make the hiring decisions.

I don’t even want to know what I have been spared by the screening process.

-t
     
Demonhood
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May 24, 2019, 04:22 PM
 
Most common mistakes I see are related to customization. Example: they have an objective at the top of their resume but it's tailored to some other industry. Or they've mail merged their cover letter to a bunch of different people and submitted the wrong one to us.

I like to see personality when reviewing. Which is why I appreciate a good cover letter.

Oh, other advice: remove outdated skills or experience. Unless you're applying for a VERY specific job, nobody cares that you know FORTRAN.
     
ghporter
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May 24, 2019, 09:13 PM
 
Writing annual performance reports, and award and decoration recommendations in the Air Force gave me the opportunity to craft compelling verbiage that obliged the reader to prioritize the candidate above his or her peers. My recommendations focused on goal orientation and above-and-beyond performance, along with off-the-job achievements worthy of accolades by themselves.

The bulk of annual performance reports were formatted as "bullet statements", such as "Honor Graduate of the AETC NCO Academy in residence while maintaining a 4.0 GPA at University ABC in pursuit of a Bachelor of Science degree." This was 100% true, 100% accurate, and actually undersells the challenges involved in this achievement. This was me, by the way, in 1993.

Such bullet statements are common in résumé and CV formatting. The Air Force emphasis was to fit as much "bang for the buck" wording within the physical space allowed for that portion of the report, including minimizing white space in that part of the form. Thus, I got a lot of practice writing tight, impressive phrases. And plenty of practice re-re-reading for spelling, punctuation and grammar. Because of this, my own résumés have been fairly easy to craft, if not easy to keep to a single page.

But this also gives me some standing in reviewing other people's résumés. Plus, our boss asks us to review applicants' submissions and often to conduct a peer interview. I've seen résumés that gave too much space to side issues, or that were light on education and experience in favor of not-too-relevant awards and honors. I haven't seen too many blatant issues with spelling or grammar, but I chalk that up to using word processors that keep an eye on that for the writer. Of course you have to actually look at what the program is telling you and do something about it...

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
andi*pandi
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May 25, 2019, 12:00 AM
 
My work recently hired a new manager who would be overseeing a web design team. As part of the deal the team got to be part of the process, further down the line after the initial screening process. We were very worried that HR did not understand technical issues and would be bamboozled by someone who vaguebooked their experience (knows wordpress should mean can write custom themes or edit PHP, not "has a cat blog on wordpress.com"). Sure enough, one of the final 3 had never coded anything and said I quote "I don't see the difference in managing print and web designers." The person hired was still less of a coder than the team but at least speaks the lingo.
     
subego
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May 25, 2019, 02:16 PM
 
The big difference I’ve found between managing web and print designers is the web designers need to be told to move the dishes before they pee in the sink.
     
turtle777
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May 25, 2019, 04:18 PM
 
Is “house trained” a skill I should be looking for in the resume ?

-t
     
andi*pandi
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May 25, 2019, 08:36 PM
 
apparently where subego works they have a low bar. Also a low sink.
     
subego
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May 25, 2019, 10:08 PM
 
Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
apparently where subego works they have a low bar.
It’s more of a mini-bar.
     
mindwaves  (op)
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May 29, 2019, 10:12 PM
 
Guy, 33 years old, lists his high school on his cover sheet...

Also, he writes on his cover sheet that he originally entered UC Santa Barbara (3 months) and then to UC Riverside (graduated) and writes that both are well-known and top ranked universities. I think no need to mention the UCSB thing (can mention in interview and in resume, but not in cover sheet). I think he only mentioned UCSB because it is ranked higher than UCR.
     
mindwaves  (op)
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Aug 20, 2019, 10:05 PM
 
Still reviewing resumes.

Guy, 27 years old, writes how he used to play the piano in elementary school. A bit weird to mention something so long ago and not relevant to the job, but offered him an interview. He took too long to respond, so took back the offer.

Where I live, it is common to post a picture of yourself on your resume and this guy posted a picture of himself when he graduated from college.....in 2002. I thought odd, but rejected him because his salary requirements were too high.

A lot of people just cannot accept that they have aged and must move on with life.
     
turtle777
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Aug 20, 2019, 11:49 PM
 
Originally Posted by mindwaves View Post
Where I live, it is common to post a picture of yourself on your resume ...
I have seen that in Mexico and some European countries.

It’s unthinkable in the US.

-t
     
andi*pandi
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Aug 21, 2019, 07:38 AM
 
unless applying for acting jobs, a head shot is not part of a job application.
     
mindwaves  (op)
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Aug 21, 2019, 09:06 AM
 
Yeah, I'm overseas right now and it is common to have a profile picture. I would think if you do post a profile picture, something recent would be better than something 17 years old. Regardless of old picture or not, I wanted to offer him an interview, but saw that his salary request (again, I know not common in US, but common here) was out of the upper limit (and a bit ridiculous), so I declined to give him the interview. Perfectly legal here.
     
mindwaves  (op)
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Aug 4, 2020, 06:24 PM
 
Been reviewing resumes and interviewing people again. As mentioned before, it is standard practice here and apparently common to use a very old picture of yourself. One 33 years old guy used a picture of himself that was probably taken when he was in middle school and another 39 years old guy used one when he was 24-25 years old.

But on the interview side, one guy dressed very informally for this law firm related job and I couldn't hire him just based on that (among other things) because it looked like he just woke up, put on a super casual beach shirt, and forgot his glasses (and thus couldn't see my remarks clearly on his written exam). And there was this extreme case where this 39 years old man was nervously shaking throughout the entire interview (especially the first few mins) where I thought he was going to faint or pass out. I offered him more water and paused for a bit so he could compose himself. He was shaking out of extreme anxiety.
     
turtle777
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Aug 4, 2020, 06:48 PM
 
Yeah, some people are extremely nervous, some are really careless, and then you have some whose greatest skill is interviewing, but they can’t get anything done once hired. Recruiting is an arduous task.

-t
     
Waragainstsleep
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Aug 4, 2020, 07:26 PM
 
I think this is from a movie but its a good one:

When I have a stack of resumés to read through, I divide the pile into two, pick a half and throw it in the trash. If I'm going to hire someone, I want them to be lucky.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
The Final Shortcut
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Aug 4, 2020, 10:40 PM
 
Requiring a picture is actually pretty outrageous. What possible use could one make of a picture other than for a discriminatory purpose?
     
reader50
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Aug 4, 2020, 11:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Shortcut View Post
Requiring a picture is actually pretty outrageous. What possible use could one make of a picture other than for a discriminatory purpose?
That's my thought too. A pic lets you verify the race, gender, and age before offering an interview. You can screen out the undesirables up front.
     
OreoCookie
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Aug 4, 2020, 11:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by mindwaves View Post
Been reviewing resumes and interviewing people again. As mentioned before, it is standard practice here and apparently common to use a very old picture of yourself. One 33 years old guy used a picture of himself that was probably taken when he was in middle school and another 39 years old guy used one when he was 24-25 years old.
My cv does not come with a picture, unless the application specifically requires it. (In Japan it is customary to include a picture.) When I interview people, I don't want a picture, because I am concerned it'll skew my perception.
Originally Posted by mindwaves View Post
And there was this extreme case where this 39 years old man was nervously shaking throughout the entire interview (especially the first few mins) where I thought he was going to faint or pass out. I offered him more water and paused for a bit so he could compose himself. He was shaking out of extreme anxiety.
That's a tricky one. My sister is in HR and has previously worked for a head hunting company that specializes in engineering. A lot of “weird” people can nevertheless be an excellent fit and do an excellent job. There was one guy in her database who according to her was an exceptional engineer, but came across as weird. He'd take some of his previous drawings with and completely nerd out over them. That put off the companies, though, for fear that he wouldn't fit in. Question is, though, whether this is an actual impediment for a particular job. (IMHO it depends on the job.) But seems like he could be a huge asset if he is given the right job and some amount of freedom.

Lots of other companies were quite racist, although they usually put a very thin veneer on it (“The applicant needs to fit into our company's culture.”). That put my sister in a bind: her previous employer worked on commission, i. e. they only got paid if they suggested someone who was later hired. So suggesting someone with a “non-German” name would have meant that her suggestion went straight to the virtual recycling bin.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
The Final Shortcut
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Aug 5, 2020, 07:28 AM
 
I’ve worked with my HR to remove the name entirely when making initial interview selections. That forces you to look only at the qualifications and removes some built-in bias. You can use that info at the later screening/interview stages. I highly recommend it.
     
Paco500
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Aug 5, 2020, 11:16 AM
 
Putting a seemingly pointless but interesting fact on my resume was at least partially responsible for getting me a job.

A few weeks before I submitted one for a position, my wife had won a contest, prize of which was a 1 year membership as a non-playing member of the premier polo club in the UK.

I put it under the professional organisation and certification section of my resume, and the hiring manager for some reason found this funny and called me in for an interview- it became a central talking point- not polo, as neither of us knew anything about it, but his curiosity around why in the hell I had included it.

I got the job.

To be fair, I was a well qualified candidate, but I'm sure the polo thing helped.
     
ghporter
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Aug 6, 2020, 09:52 AM
 
Paco, having something to do with polo probably made you look more posh than other candidates. Seriously. On a related point, there have been multiple studies that show that performance on college entrance exams (such as the SAT or ACT here in the US) has absolutely no bearing on performance in school, or even probability of graduation. But it's a datum that selection committees can use and point to... "These otherwise qualified applicants did better on the SAT than these other qualified applicants..." It's a useless statistic, but it's there.

On the subject of requiring a photo to be submitted with a résumé, I absolutely oppose it. A photo brings in so many potential biases (sex, skin color, age, etc.) that it reeks of potential for (even unconscious) abuse. Years ago, the USAF eliminated photos in officer promotion packets, and even removed other potentially bias-invoking information such as gender. While I think (and always have thought) that "boards" for promotions are inherently biased, it was a major improvement.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
andi*pandi
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Aug 9, 2020, 08:54 AM
 
There are many colleges out there who no longer require SAT scores. Given this years "unprecidented times" where they can't administer the tests (large proctored room with hundreds of students) the tests are cancelled, and many are lobbying all colleges to drop the requirement.
     
ghporter
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Aug 9, 2020, 09:50 AM
 
That’s a very positive thing. SATs have always been biased toward students from higher income families; even the language used in the questions can be biased.

Now if that stupid GRE can go away, graduate education would be less intimidating to many otherwise excellent and gifted students.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
   
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