Friday, June 16, 2006

Resume tips from a "Valid Victorian"


I stood in the Business section of Half Price Books today and gazed in amazement at the number of "resume-related" books that stood on the shelf. Yes, I work for a wireless phone company but my Blackberry doesn't have a camera. Today, I wished I had the camera.

Job-seekers have more resume-related tools available today than at any point in history.

And yet...

Just because spell-checker says the resume is scrubbed and ready to roll, doesn't mean the resume is necessarily ready for prime-time.

Resume tip for Friday, June 16th:

Have your resume previewed by someone you trust. Preferably,
someone that has a command of the English language.

I graduated from Pauls Valley High School (the great state of Oklahoma) number 27 out of a class of 127. Obviously, I was not the Valedictorian. However, I managed to get my share of higher education and I know what a Valedictorian is and how to spell the word.

We received a resume this week (courtesy of the great Liz Reyes, T-Mo Talent Scout) that brought a smile to our recruiting-hardened faces. I am not making this up. Here's a copy of the text from the bottom of the resume:


EDUCATION

XXXXX High School, XXXXX, CA
Graduation 2000 as Valid Victorian

The x's are mine. The Valid Victorian reference is not.

Something makes me think the applicant was not the official holder of the Valedictorian title.

Is your resume worth the investment of your time and effort?

You bet your first job it is.

Dennis Smith
T-Mobile Recruiting

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That is too funny! I've seen an interesting resume or two in my time, too. :)