Re: Resumes and HR scanning
I have been the victim of this practice. I was sent to anSubject: Resumes and HR scanning Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 15:49:28 -0500 From: "Robert E. Garland" <robert -at- JTAN -dot- COM> I'm on the market again, and this time the world seems to want scannable resumes. I have a resume that has served me well. The layout was created during outplacement seminars attended a few years ago. Unfortunately, this resume seems to break many of the rules for scannable resumes. What are the best ways to lay out a scannable resume? In a related issue, several companies have web sites where they want you to cut and paste your resume. After I cut and paste, the resume looks quite bad. Can those of you who are on the receiving end of "cut and paste" resumes submitted through the company website provide some information on how things look when they finally get to the hiring manager? -- Robert Garland Amateur Radio Station NX3S Hilltown Township Bucks County Grid FN20ii Pennsylvania USA robert -at- jtan -dot- com
interview with a prospective client, and what I saw lying
on his desk was what I thought a piece of draft text.
He picked it up, and started reading my history from it.
I asked him what he had, and he said your resume.
I gave him a copy of my formatted resume, and he said
"Wow. This is a RESUME! Just a minute. I want to show
this to my boss."
When he came back he said that the shop had sent them
an ascii text version of my resume, sans layout. The boss
had trashed about five such resumes, when this guy spotted
the words FrameMaker and Word in the resume. He grabbed
it from the trash, and called the shop. The bosses comment
was "Why should I bring in a tech writer who can't even format
their own resume?"
This, unfortunately, is a standard attitude, even among the
people asking for the ASCII text resumes. It is sub-conscious,
as the blasted thing looks like it was put together by an
amateur. And it was. The shop personnel.
I didn't get the contract, as this outfit had just been taken over
by a large corp., and the shop was not on the big guys approved
bidders list.
I also have a specifically formatted resume, designed to stand out
of the pile of resumes on the clients desk. I invariably ask the shops
if they modify my resume in ANY way before they send it to their
client. Invariably, the answer is no. Invariably, they modify it.
"Well, we have to put OUR logo in the header, so that the client
knows where it came from." is the answer I always get. I have
gotten so that I don't trust any shop. I know of at least 5 very
lucrative contracts that I have not been considered for, because
of this practice.
--
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You can't push a a rope.
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Keith L. Smyth Senior Technical Writer email smythkl -at- best -dot- com
From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=
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