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> My own opinion about resumes is perhaps a radical one, but I'll toss it out
> anyway: they're usually evidence that an applicant hasn't done his/her
> homework and isn't top of the line.
Tim, you're saying that the fact that one even HAS a resume means
they're a dud?
> I'm asked often by students and newbies how they should write their resumes.
> I tell them to forget it except under extraordinary circumstances, as when
> they have to supply an internal champion with good ammunition to justify a
> hiring. I tell them, instead, to think months ahead. Make appointments to
> talk to lots of techdoc departments and managers. Don't make the meeting
> into an employment interview. Instead, ask them what kind of work they do
> there, the technologies they're wanting to move to, the software they run.
> Ask what skills they're looking for now and in the future. Take them to
> lunch. Hang out at STC meetings. Send notes. Buy Harvey Mackay's books. Buy
> a couple of Rolodexes. Join other professional organizations. Start building
> a network.
That's an interesting theory, Tim, but I wonder how it works in the
real world. Yes, all the things you talk about are excellent ways to
find a job, better than sending resumes to everybody in the phone
book, but come on -- anybody who meets a new or near grad at an STC
meeting and is impressed enough to consider them for a job is going
to say "Do you have a resume on you?" And if the answer is "No, I
don't believe in them" my first reaction would be "I'm not only going
to have to teach this person how to do their specific job, but how to
function in the world of work, too." I'll pass. Showing up for a
networking function without that basic tool of networking just makes
you look clueless.
Tracy
==========================================================
Tracy Boyington
tracy_boyington -at- okvotech -dot- org
Oklahoma Department of Vocational & Technical Education
Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA http://www.okvotech.org/cimc/home.htm
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