Here’s another blast from the past, a few sage words of advice for jobseekers previously posted anonymously because I guess it might have been viewed as overly harsh, crass, or just plain cranky. Cranky notwithstanding (it really is the kind of rant recruiters have when they’re around other recruiters), job seekers would be surprised how many inquiries recruiters receive from people, that at first glance (and often second, third, and fourth glances) are destined for the NO pile. Even more, job seekers would be further astonished as to how many people seem to do their very best to sabotage their interview by “dress and breath” errors alone.
Read on – and yes, these are real example…
I hate your resume.
Your billboard size name? It’s like wearing a big shirt over your fat belly. Guess what? You’re still fat. Hate it.
References will be furnished upon request? Uh, no shit. Hate it.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: – underlined, emboldened, and with a colon after it? Makes me (a) want to look for AMATEUR EXPERIENCE and (b) wonder if the person has an endless supply of ink cartridges. Hate it.
Ending some sentences with a period and others without it? Make up your mind and delete that “strong attention to detail” line. Hate it.
Expert in Microsoft Excell? Give me a break; might as well say you’re detail-orientated? Hate it.
Detail-orientated? Orientated??? It’s “oriented.” Hate it.
Salmon colored paper? Heck, fancy paper of any kind. Waste of money. Hate it.
Spelling out acronyms? Do you think I’m a moron? Unless you’re coming right out of the military (these are AEHs…Acronyms from Hell), you do not need to parenthetically explain every acronym. Hate it.
Periods between letters of the acronym? See above. Hate it.
Italics. For the entire resume? Try <Shift-I> every so often. Hate it.
MS-DOS on your resume? Nothing says “old” more than mentioning something that is long dead and gone. Hate it.
Pictures of little puppy dogs instead of bullets? And you want to be a CFO? Are you kidding me? Hate it.
Writing “Email” before your email? Well, thank you for letting me know it’s your email. Hate it.
Emails with “69”, babydoll, etc. in it? Might as well hold up an “L” to your forehead. Hate it.
And while I’m telling you about everything you do that I hate – interviews. Let’s go there.
Boobs are nice but put those puppies away for a professional interview.
Pants hanging halfway down your derriere? For an interview? You really don’t want this job.
Fishnet stockings might help catch fish but aren’t of much use when catching jobs.
Guys, did you really have to use half a tube of hair gel?
Cologne and perfume showers? Are you trying to asphyxiate me???
Windsor knots that look like goiters? Didn’t your Daddy teach you to tie a real knot?
Toothbrush + Toothpaste – Coffee Breath (also, curry, garlic) Residuals = Happy Recruiter
Get the picture? KISS: Your resume is about detailing your past performance (including the specific problems you’ve solved), your legacy, and specific skills. Anything more than this is distracting to those of us who read hundreds of resume every day. And unless we tell you that our company is a place where you can let your hair down (or show that tattoo on your “girls”), be a free spirit on your own time. Please… help us and we’ll help you.
The Recruiting Inferno 
I have to be honest Steve; this post had me giggling at first, then reality set in. These items that you point out are the basics of job search 101, so if someone is not adhering to these points, he/she has not 1) done his homework on the company; 2) reacted objectively to the position; 3) shown respect to the person on the other end of the ATS who pulls up the resume to read it, and sadly; 4) not shown himself any respect by taking the time to make sure everything associated with the contents of the resume and preparation for the interview are A+.
I, like you, have a big spot in my heart for job seekers, but for me it comes down to this, if someone doesn’t respect his personal brand, no one else will either. Your personal brand is a precious possession… treat it with care.
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Cyndy…every recruiter sees things that make them scratch their head and wonder about the direction of the world’s collective intellect. However, I don’t know really know if it’s truly a function of depressed intellect, abject carelessness, or a lack of overall education about the job search process that’s causing people to do the silly things I’ve written about and then claim after sending out 25 resumes over a 6 month period that the economy sucks and companies don’t care about people.
I won’t go so far to say it’s someone showing disrespect to their personal brand as I will claim that people just aren’t taking the time to truly introspect and then make the necessary changes needed to attract the interest of hiring managers and recruiters…
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Does that mean I have to take Mr. Stinky off the resume?
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Mr. Stinky – RIP – is still smarter than many jobseekers…
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Software development is a weird profession in this respect: If you dress up too much, people automatically suspect that you are inexperienced, irrespective of gender. Most of my assignments are done from wherever I want to work, I have no office. I often meet clients in coffee shops, and we’re both super-casual. Sometimes I never meet a client or my co-workers in person. I can’t even remember the last time I donned a pair of slacks or a skirt, I think it may have been for a funeral. I have a javascript developer friend who has made it his mission to live as much of his life without wearing pants, and although we all laughed at him, we realize how possible this is in this profession, in this day and age, and we wished him success at his self-imposed challenge. It’s an interesting time to be a software developer. The boundaries of everything are being challenged: when your work day ends (meetings at Midnight are pretty common for me: it’s the only time everyone seems to be free, especially people with young kids), the personal space which becomes work spaces, the public space which becomes your office, how much free time you spend writing software irrespective of how much software you wrote for pay that day. It is a bizarre and wonderful profession, and I honestly cannot say I dislike the boundary challenges I’ve listed.
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