Re: Hobbys [sic] (and other stuff) on resumes (long!)

[TRACY BOYINGTON <trlyboyi -at- GENESIS -dot- ODVTE -dot- STATE -dot- OK -dot- US>]

I originally wrote:
> >-- I want to see *perfect* spelling, grammar, and punctuation. It's
> >one thing to misspell a word or split an infinitive on this list (we
> >all do that!), it's quite another to do it on your resume.

Robert Plamondon replied:
> Since many of us, seasoned, eagle-eyed professionals that we are,
> can't avoid misspellings even when we are complaining about them,
> I hardly think that disqualifying applicants on the basis of a minor
> error or two is fair.

> But, more important than fairness, it discards writers who aren't
> good self-editors.  Since most writers aren't good self-editors, I
> figure that focusing excessively on perfect execution will throw out
> those writers who revise their resumes for a given opportunity (which
> is otherwise considered to be a good practice), and favor those who
> write one, have someone edit it, and never touch it again.

> So I think that focusing on textbook perfection in a resume selects
> for over-fussiness and a low level of interest in the position, where
> someone who dashes off a new edition of his resume as soon as he hears
> about the job has already demonstrated valuable traits.

To which I say:

I'm not a perfect self-editor ("no kidding," said Robert, gleefully
chuckling over the subtle way he pointed out my mistake in the subject
line), and I don't discard writers/editors who don't have perfect
resumes. I work with some really talented people who (I hope) edit my
work better than they edited their own resume. But when I see a *resume*
that obviously wasn't even run through a spell-checker (yes, I KNOW
they don't catch everything, but you can tell when someone hasn't even
bothered to use one), I have to question that person's common sense and
quality standards, whether they're applying to be a writer, an engineer,
or a dog-walker. I guess my list of what I'd like to see on a resume was
more of a wish list than a list of expectations.

And I promise this will be my last post on this subject!

Tracy


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Tracy Boyington
Technical Communication Specialist
Oklahoma Department of Vocational & Technical Education
Stillwater, Oklahoma

I never express opinions, but if one slips out, it belongs
to me and not ODVTE.

"I think I did pretty well, considering I started out
with nothing but a bunch of blank paper."
-- Steve Martin
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