Resume Bloopers

Senior Executives from large companies were interviewed and asked about resumes with mistakes.  The response concluded 40% indicating they would eliminate the candidate for just one typo on the resume, while 36% said it would take 2 mistakes before placing it in the “no” pile.  As for the other 24%, they were not mentioned.  But that’s not the purpose of this post.

The purpose is to entertain you with some favorite resume bloopers.  Spell check obviously isn’t always something to be depended upon.

Objective: Seeking a party-time position with room for advancement

Professional headline: 1 year old marketing executive

Achievement: Planned new corporate facility at $3M over budget.

Explanation of employment gap: career break in 1999 to renovate my horse

References: Referees available upon request

Skills: I am a rabid typist

Strengths: Impersonal skills

Hobbies: Enjoy cooking Chinese and Italians

Education: College: August 1880 to May 1984

Cover letter: I would like to assure you that I am a hardly working person.

And just how much information on a resume is too much?

Objective: To have my skills and ethics challenged on a regular basis

Personal Information: Married, eight children, prefer frequent travel

Language Skills: Exposure to German for two years-but many words are inappropriate for business

Reason for leaving last job: the owner gave new meaning to the word paranoia

Achievements: Nominated for prom queen

Education: Finished eighth in a class of ten

Interests: Gossiping

Awards: National record for eating 45 eggs in two minutes

References: Bill, Tom, Eric – but I don’t know their phone numbers

Salary: The higher the better

Cover letter: Please disregard the attached resume; it’s totally outdated

As amusing as these are, you do not want your resume to end up in the “no” pile so here are a few tips on avoiding typos:

• Print out a copy of the resume to proofread. It is easier to catch mistakes on the printed page than on the computer screen.
• Set the resume aside for a few hours and come back to it later. This may help you spot new typos.
• Ask three people to read the resume. Among the three of them, one is bound to catch an error.
• Err on the side of caution and use common sense. A resume isn’t a data dump of everything you have ever done or a window into your soul. It is a marketing tool that should put your best foot forward.
• Your resume may very well be the single most important document you ever write. Pay attention to every detail and be memorable for the right reasons.

Hope you found this entertaining as well as helpful.  Good luck, and as always, thanks for visiting.

Social Networking Etiquette

5 Suggestions for Proper Social Networking

1. Do Not Mix Business and Personal
As interesting as your personal life might be… your “business world” does not need to know this information. If you are networking to find a job, which is what this blog refers to, your personal issues could limit you from being considered. Befriend professional contacts on this network, not your friends, your children, and their friends, and their parents, etc. Best to save personal issues and contacts for your “facebook”.

2. Remember: You Are Online
If it is online…. It is public knowledge. Be extremely careful. This is especially important if you are still employed while networking for a new position.

3. Check Frequently
Nothing is more frustrating for potential employers, or recruiters, than to leave a message for someone who does not check for activity and respond to their efforts. You get upset when there are no responses to your resume submittals right? Thank you.

4. Professionalism
It is important to maintain professionalism at all times when networking to find opportunities. Use proper language, you are not texting, and ALWAYS spell check. One of the most popular faux pas regarding professional conduct we can identify, is the selection of the email address. If you are (or think you are) a “golf pro”, please save golfprogenius@whatever.com for your friends and your personal email address. This does not look good at the top of a resume or on a professional networking site. To a potential employer, or recruiter, this could indicate your interest lies in something other than your career. Believe it or not….. We have questioned contacting candidates with emails such as these. Please, be professional and use your last name in your email address. This identifies you for quick accessing in order to make contact with you and assists in easy filing. Thank you, again.

5. Check Attachments and Links
This is probably obvious and self explanatory, but nevertheless, important. If you have attachments and/or links to your network site, make sure they work.

Downsizing Woes

Ok, you have been downsized. You can cry (go ahead you’re entitled) and you can burn your employee manual (you won’t be needing it anymore). But there are a few other things to consider. You cannot stop bad things from happening nor can you stop good things from happening.

Trust in yourself. No matter how frightening or sad it is to leave familiarity behind, look forward to what is next with excitement and positive anticipation. Understand that looking for a job IS a job and it requires discipline. Put your resumes out, make phone calls, talk to recruiters, and follow up on leads. You can do this no matter what your attitude for the day is (you will have good and bad). Do this happily, sadly, anxiously, positively, or negatively… but you HAVE to do this.

This space of transition is a gift of time to use wisely. Do you want to stay in the same career? Or is this the time in your life to branch out and change? It is the economy that is broke…. not you.

Opportunities Page Updated

Thank you for visiting. If this is your first visit, welcome…. if you’ve been here before be sure to look at the Opportunities page. Business is doing well. We have added the positions we are currently searching for on this new page and hope to be updating it frequently. This, of course, will depend on our client’s needs. So far the industry that seems to be most hiring is the automotive aftermarket. This follows two sales positions (in the storage industry and the rubber industry) that we have completed recently. As mentioned in a previous post, when sales positions are requested to be filled, we hope the marketplace is making a comeback. If you are looking to make a career move, please submit resume to search@gcyeiser.com. Also, you may leave a comment here, or request a connection on LinkedIn through the link on this blog.

No News is Good News

It has been awhile since we have posted here at Team Yeiser’s Blog. That’s because we really haven’t had anything new to post. Things in the job marketplace are still the same. We are filling sales positions and have added a new page to the blog. Coming soon is our Opportunities Page. It is our continued hope that we will have numerous searches that we will need your assistance with. We will be posting these jobs in order to receive referrals in our comments section and/or resumes submitted for consideration. Watch for these postings on the Opportunities Page soon!

Thanks for visiting.