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things learned while reviewing resumes
May. 9th, 2006 01:09 pmi get to hire a part-time data entry / office assistant person so i can do less drudge work and more other stuff, yay! i posted the job to craigslist and sat back to watch the deluge of resumes pour into our system. now i get to review them and choose some to phone screen, whee. so far, i have come up with the following advice for would-be job seekers:
1. when applying for a very low-level 10-15 hr/wk part-time job, you might want to change your objective from something that talks about seeking a job that will challenge your skills and provide opportunity for career growth. you might also want to make sure that your objective is compatible with the job for which you are applying. for example, if your objective is a "customer-service-oriented position in a medical environment," then why would i want to hire you to do data entry at a software company?
2. when a job posting has specifically stated the compensation as $10-15/hr, you should probably not apply if your desired pay is $20/hr, and if you do apply, you might want to put something a bit lower in the desired pay field.
3. when the craigslist posting has a link that says "click here" to apply, that is probably the best way to apply for the job. sending your resume by email as an attachment with no cover is not.
4. when you know that several hundred people are probably going to be responding to the same ad within a short time frame, you might want to make an attempt to stand out. submitting your resume with no cover letter is kind of dumb.
5. submitting your resume with a cover letter that was obviously written for an application to a different company is dumber. or with a blank left for the name of the position. that's pretty dumb too. especially for a job that requires attention to detail.
6. while not required for the application, and although i will ask about it if i call, people looking for part-time work really ought to include in their cover letter why they are interested in a 10-15 hr/wk position. even if you really are just desperate for any work at all and applying to everything you can possibly find, it looks a lot better if you can come up with a good reason why this 10-15 hrs will fit in well with your greater fabulous life.
7. you know, i always thought including hobbies on my resume was silly, but damned if it doesn't actually increase the likelihood of calling you if i see some interesting activities listed... personality is nice to see.
8. if you type less than 50wpm, why on earth do you bother putting it on your resume?
1. when applying for a very low-level 10-15 hr/wk part-time job, you might want to change your objective from something that talks about seeking a job that will challenge your skills and provide opportunity for career growth. you might also want to make sure that your objective is compatible with the job for which you are applying. for example, if your objective is a "customer-service-oriented position in a medical environment," then why would i want to hire you to do data entry at a software company?
2. when a job posting has specifically stated the compensation as $10-15/hr, you should probably not apply if your desired pay is $20/hr, and if you do apply, you might want to put something a bit lower in the desired pay field.
3. when the craigslist posting has a link that says "click here" to apply, that is probably the best way to apply for the job. sending your resume by email as an attachment with no cover is not.
4. when you know that several hundred people are probably going to be responding to the same ad within a short time frame, you might want to make an attempt to stand out. submitting your resume with no cover letter is kind of dumb.
5. submitting your resume with a cover letter that was obviously written for an application to a different company is dumber. or with a blank left for the name of the position. that's pretty dumb too. especially for a job that requires attention to detail.
6. while not required for the application, and although i will ask about it if i call, people looking for part-time work really ought to include in their cover letter why they are interested in a 10-15 hr/wk position. even if you really are just desperate for any work at all and applying to everything you can possibly find, it looks a lot better if you can come up with a good reason why this 10-15 hrs will fit in well with your greater fabulous life.
7. you know, i always thought including hobbies on my resume was silly, but damned if it doesn't actually increase the likelihood of calling you if i see some interesting activities listed... personality is nice to see.
8. if you type less than 50wpm, why on earth do you bother putting it on your resume?
