Re: 'Splain me somethin... (was Re: TW Resumes: What to look 4?)

["Hamilton, Susan" <shamilton -at- METASOLV -dot- COM>]

I know it isn't helpful, but I think the whole thing depends. My company
is relatively small (<100), but growing rapidly. Our HR person does a
good job at screening resumes, so I usually only get a few a week.
Consequently, I prefer at least a two-page resume that gives me some
detail, if the person's experience warrants it. If I were in a large
company and soliciting kabillions of resumes, I might prefer a single
page.

A couple of days ago I got two resumes--one was two pages and contained
enough detail that I felt comfortable this person had done the things
she said. The other was one page--the detail was sparse, the format was
OK, and I couldn't really tell that what the person had done was what I
was looking for. I am going to interview them both, but the only reason
I am going to interview the second one is because the way he found our
company was interesting (saw an article about it in a business
magazine), and he lives in Dallas (don't have to pay to fly him in to
interview).

I think it's easy to tell when someone has loaded their resume with
buzzwords and doesn't know what they mean.  I look for a clean layout
that shows the person knows something about aesthetics, even if it isn't
a unique format (although that certainly catches my eye). In addition, I
look for reasons why I want to interview this person. I am a lot more
likely to call someone in for an interview when their resume says they
"wrote end-user manuals for a PC-based general accounting system
developed in Visual Basic" than someone who's resume says they "wote
end-user manuals."

I also look more at what the person has done, rather than the tools they
know. If someone knows Word and Frame and other miscellaneous tools, I
can teach them RoboHELP. But it annoys me to no end when someone lists a
tool on their resume and then can't talk intelligently about features of
the tool or what they like about it in comparison to other tools--they
didn't really know the tool, they just used it once a long time
ago--there's a difference.

And just a side note to those who do send resumes electronically--watch
out for your signature line. I once got a resume sent by email. The
automatic signature line had a link to the person's web site. Naturally,
I went to look. The web site was full of the person's adventures, most
of which included scantily-clad women on beaches or backyards or
bedrooms. And there were plenty of pictures to prove it. Needless to
say, that person doesn't work here.
>----------------------------------
>MetaSolv Software, Inc.
>Susan Hamilton
>shamilton -at- metasolv -dot- com
>14900 Landmark  Suite 530
>Dallas, Texas 75240
>http://www.metasolv.com
>(972) 239-0623 x172
>----------------------------------


>----------
>From:  Mitch Berg[SMTP:mberg -at- IS -dot- COM]
>Sent:  Wednesday, February 19, 1997 2:05 PM
>Subject:       'Splain me somethin... (was Re: TW Resumes: What to look 4?)
>
>Hold on...
>
>Since WHEN is more than one page acceptable?  All I EVER hear is, "Get
>it into one page!"
>
>Even as recently as last year, I have heard of HR people throwing out
>resumes of > one page.
>
>What's up here?
>
>

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