Can Haz Resume

Big Bear Butt, over at Big Bear Butt has a few things to say about resumes because he's in the unfortunate position of having to hire someone. I'm not going to say that his post is wrong, but I do disagree strongly on a couple of points.

BBB sez:
"But I have a responsibility to hire someone that has the skills we need, someone that will stay here, dedicated, committed to making this company a long term place to continue your career."

Are you serious? Anyone telling you this is either lying or naive. If I tell you this, you should read it as: "Hi, I'll stay here as long as you, the employer, pay and treat me in a competitive manner to my other options." Companies will drop you at the slightest whim. Anyone not willing to drop a company at the slightest whim is to be treasured, but will probably be first in the line for layoffs. Loyalty to a company is so 20th century and VERY misguided.

BBB sez:
"What I don’t need, is for you to tell me, in your resume, about your personal interests. I most particularly do not need to know you enjoy four wheeling in the mud during Autumn, hunting with rifle and bow, and that you love taking a 6 point buck in deer season and dressing it out with your son. I’m glad you are a family man, but why exactly should I be giving a shit about that?"

You should care because you get an idea of what that person will be talking about during work, whether just during breaks or all day long. But it's primary purpose is to weed you out of the pool of potential supervisors and to grab the attention of the supervisor who does love the same things.

My resume does the following things, in order of importance:

1) Weeds out companies/departments/supervisors I DO NOT want to work for.
2) Has a few personal tidbits that tell certain people that I will probably get along well with them.
3) Showcases the things I do well
4) Ignores the things I don't do well
5) Still manages to get past the "HR professionals" who know nothing about the job or environment but somehow get paid to screen the jobs

Once they know you can do the job, everything else is personal. While a few misguided people may pick "the most qualified" the reality is that they will pick the one they like the most or the one who has the most similar interests, as long as they figure you can do the job.

And FYI, I am very well employed by one of the largest employers in the state. I work mostly with people I like, and am very well paid, despite having an average employment per job of about 3 years and I changed job fields two jobs ago.

My comments above apply to all resumes, whether it's for a job, or a guild, or a club, or where ever you are applying for membership.