What are the most important attributes of a successful and impressive resume? It’s simple.
- Clarity.
- Grammar.
- Punctuation and spelling.
None of it matters, though. You won’t find a job that pays more than $40K/year through the internet or the newspaper. There is no magical $100K/year job on the internet. If you’re lucky enough to find a job in 2009, you will be hired by someone you know who knows a guy — and that guy will recommend you for a position with his company.
The resume is just a formality, yo.
So let’s stop asking questions about the resume and start focusing on the important aspects in life: networking. I know, I know. There’s nothing worse than putting yourself out there and trying not to seem desperate and needy. I like this advice from eHow.
- Learn to ask ‘What do you do?’ with comfort, sincerity and interest. Become a better listener. Ask a question and then be quiet until you hear the answer.
In other words, look beyond yourself for a minute and maybe you’ll get to know a great human being — and someone knows about a fantastic employment opportunity.
[I would also suggest that you get your butt on LinkedIn, Twitter, and start a blog. Join Facebook -- but don't spy on your kids. That's a waste of time because your kids are actually on MySpace being propositioned by perverts and masochists.]
Any other advice that needs to be added to the Punk Rock HR FAQ? Let me know.
UPDATED: Cincy Recruiter (aka Jennifer) lists 25 Web Resources To Help You Get Your LinkedIn Game On — and she is awesome, so check it out. Jennifer is also an avid use of Twitter, so read her tweets — even if you don’t have a Twitter account — for insight and advice.
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Hey, you are cool! “What do you do?”
@Maya I’m a crazy cat lady. Let me tell you all about it…
crazy cat ladies can be cool, laurs.
question: what are your sentiments on retained search firms?
Laurie, listening is certainly the first and often most difficult piece of networking, but there is a step 2:
-Concisely (meaning in quickly and to the point), tell me how your background will benefit my organization and what you’ve done to quantify it. Three great bullet points for someone to focus on: 1. How you’ve made money for current and past employers, 2. How you’ve saved money for the same, and 3. How you’ve improved process’s for the same.
Keep it short simple and give real results. Don’t tell me what you would like to do, tell me what you really do, and why you’re good at it.
It’s always been all about “who” you know not what you know…must people with an IQ over 90 can figure most things out in any job (including mine)…It’s HR…not “Rocket Science”…
Your right on about blogging, twittering and Linking!
M
Hey Crazy Kat Lady,
I would agree with todays topic. We have a joke in our company about Linkedin its that of a dutch runner.
Completely off topic, 1/22 is Answer Your Cat
@Cols Hmmmm… we need a blog post on retained search. How do I feel about them? In what context?
@Jimmy You are all about show-me-the-money.
@Mark Anyone with an IQ of a dog could do my old job in HR.
@Luke What is a dutch runner? A plant?
@Nick I love that blog!
Don’t forget Plaxo! Folks say it’s going to take over LinkedIn soon.
Electronic networking is cool and you do it particularly well. I’m working on it. HOWEVAH, don’t ever forget the flesh-and-blood connections, the pressing of the flesh, that is too often neglected by impatient folks who want the whole job-getting process to be easier, faster, and less complicated than actually connecting with their fellow human beings in the way humans were first built to connect.
Um. Wait. That last sort of came out wrong…
Great advice Laurie (and thanks for ths shout-out)! It’s very true that networking is the way to go – always has been/always will be. But don’t forget the clarity, grammar, punctuation & spelling stuff – both on your resume and on-line. I’m a retained search recruiter (looking forward to the future post about how you love us), and I do find most of the candidates I place through networking. BUT, when I get a referral from someone in my network, before I contact the person I look them up on LinkedIn, Google, etc. to see how they present themselves and learn about them. I’m not doing it to find bad stuff, I’m trying to learn about them to connect. So it’s important, Yo!
I will continue to give resume advice until people start doing it right. It just baffles me that in this day and age I still see TONS of resumes that are…shit.
@Jen My original post had a typo in it — so I obviously don’t practice what I preach. And yes, I totally love you & your profession. No problem with it. You don’t ask a plumber to be a journalist — so why have stupid HR people do recruiting??
@RachL Sometimes I just want to point people in the direction of McDonald’s and say, really, please, just start over again.
Thank you for the blog and great thread which followed. I am in the middle of rebranding, improving my presentation and learning my aptitudes,skills and where they will fit in my next opportunity.
I whole heartedly agree with short and concise, answer this question. How can I help you?
I can also practice and strengthen my skill sets on purpose in my current opportunity.
Today is a great day, welcome 2009 jro
@Jim Thanks for the comment!