Resume and Interview Advice

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have just hired two employees, after weeks of searching for the right one. With the economy the way it is, I thought that there might be dopers looking for jobs and I thought I would share some of my experience. These are only my opinions of course, but it is free. All of these come from people who applied and didn’t get the job.

Remember, your resume is an advertisement for you. Use it to sell you. Forget the “one page” resume crap. I have hundreds of resumes and I will not be interviewing all of the people. TELL ME WHY I SHOULD INTERVIEW YOU. What have you done that makes your skills similar to what I need? Granted, 10 pages is excessive, but one rarely told me enough. I didn’t have time to follow up with all of you, make me want to pick you from the crowd.

It is OK to tailor your resume to a specific job, but be cautious. One candidate was not interviewed because the team thought that his resume was “too tailored” and probably a lot was stretched. (Actually, I would have interviewed him, but the others were against it.)

I don’t really need to know your objectives. If you want to tell me, put it in the cover letter. Slide it into conversation when you are interviewed. It probably won’t get you an interview and might free up space for info that will.

Don’t have your Mom call you in sick for the interview. If you are sick, call yourself in.

Don’t ask if you can work from home some of the time. In today’s economy, I had to fight to get a new hire. I want someone who is dedicated and excited. One cadidate told me that his home life was more important to him than his job and he would like to work from home half the week. Note that I don’t want a slave. If you regularly work more than 40 hours for me, I’m managing wrong. But I DO want your 40. You may work well from home, but I’m not going to risk my career on that bet. I fought hard to get a chance to hire you, show me you want to work for me.

Never be late, but don’t be too early. As a manager, I have several things going each day. I may have a meeting scheduled at 1:30 and if you are scheduled at 2:00 and show up at 1:00, then you have shown that you can’t follow instructions.

If I give you some hints on what you’ll hear in the interview, take it as an insider tip and use it. If I tell you that one of the members of the hiring committee is on the XXXX standards committee, do some research, find out about XXXX and mention it to him. It won’t hurt and sure could help. (Out of 20 interviews, only one did this research.)

If it is a professional job, wear professional attire. Jeans at an interview is out.

This one is open to debate. Some might think that is shows initiative, others might think it is pushy. If you have received a schedule, it was meant as a courtesy, not written in stone. In a big business sometimes things change. If you were supposed to see me and then “Bob”, but instead I take you to “Bill” don’t take this time to tell me that I’m wrong and show me the schedule. I probably wrote the schedule.

Show me as best that you can that you are excited about what I do. If you view work as a necessary evil, that comes through. Our top candidate was the top because he was genuinely interested. There were two others who where technically better, but it was pretty clear that they just wanted a job to hold them until retirement.

That’s it. I hope it helps, but if not, well, as I said, it is free.

2

Excellent point on the resume length - so many people hear the one page thing when they are first job hunting out of college, and that is fine for those entry level jobs.

For someone who’s applying for a high-level job in their field and has years of experience? Take the space you need. Even if you’re moving from one area to another - I submitted a resume for a position in the field I’m switching, after someone in my classes informed me they had applied for jobs with this place six times and managed one interview. I sent one in for an opening and got a call back - because I read the announcement and described how I felt the job was ideal for me. After discussing it with the person, we determined that the hourse were not flexible enough for what I need - but I was informed that I was welcome to apply for other positions.

And I have no experience in that field, but it’s all about selling yourself.

3

I’ve got a question to throw in for discussion. So many books and people tell you to call the hiring manager or drop em notes or any other way to constantly stay in view…

While the HR people I know hate when people do this.

Your thoughts?

4

Well, I’m not in HR, but I’ll answer based on the experience that I had during this hire. At our company we put together a hiring team. 4 or 5 people who interview with different view points in mind. We had one gentleman who had the skills we wanted, but didn’t seem to have much personality. However, he did send each person on the hiring team a letter thanking us for our time. It put him further up on the list.

However, we had one gentleman who was “in reserve.” This man called me, emailed me and called the HR people. We took him out of the running just because we didn’t want to deal with him everyday.

I guess I would suggest that you not call or write HR. Usually it is not their decision in the end. Try to get the card of the person interviewing you and send him a thank you note.

5

I have a question… I had an interview last week… it went very well. I talked to the Marketing Director for an hour and a half… we talked easily and I thought the interview went great. He told me to “call him the next day and tell me something he doesn’t know about me”… ok… so I called, but ended up calling 4 times to no avail, and leaving 2 voice messages for him to call me at my number. I did indeed send a Thank-you the next day as well. It’s been 5 days now, what gives? Do I keep calling? I’m confused about what to do since I do want to come of like a slacker, nor pushy… should I just take a hint?

6

Maybe I’m out of my depth here, 'cause I am not an HR person and I shouldn’t be giving advise as if I were. But again, I will speak from the experience that I have gone through. 5 days is nothing for the duration of the search that we just did. The candidate that started for me on Monday was intreviewed more than a month ago. My search for people started in July. We ruled some out right away, but many we were still on the fence about.

The Marketing Director probably has a million things going on, but he/she should, out of courtesy, return your call, or email. I would not keep calling every day. But it wouldn’t hurt to check in once a week for a few weeks.

7

errrr… but what if you’re not interested in a job that doesn’t allow you to work from home some of the time? Don’t forget, an interview goes both ways. The person looking for a job has just as much of a right to ‘interview’ the person representing the company as vice versa.

I’ve been in plenty of jobs, both good and bad. I have some criteria that needs to be met in order for me to accept a job offer. I’ll ask about those criteria in the interview, and if they’re not met, I won’t accept the position.

8

LOL. Clearly you’ve answered this for yourself. For you, it is worth losing the job to find out the answer. Of course he has a right to interview the company.

To forestall all other such observations; if you have made up your mind that you are willing to risk losing the job opportunity, feel free to:
Write one page resumes
Tailor your resume.
Wear jeans
Be late or early, as it pleases you
Show little or no excitement.
Point out that the interviewer is wrong about the schedule
Ignore tips or hints.

And mostly, keep in mind that these were my observations for the jobs for which I was hiring. Other managers may have different opinions. You may not be taking a risk by ignoring my advise. I’m just trying to help, but please, use your own best judgement.

9

Thank you for this post! I have been unemployed for six months. I haven’t found many jobs to apply for, but when I do, I want to be prepared. I interviewed 2 weeks ago for a position I would like. Followed up by delivering a thank you letter the next day. Two weeks went by and I heard nothing. Afer the 2 weeks the director called and left a message apologizing that the process was delayed and that I would hear from her within a week. That was Friday. Do you think this is good news? If she didn’t want me, wouldn’t she have sent a “Thanks, but no thanks letter”? Its great to hear from the hiring side. Thanks.

10

Khadaji, since you have interviewing experience, I’ve got a question for you. If an interviewer says " Tell us about yourself." What do they really want to know? If you ask for clarification they usually respond " Anything you’d like," which isn’t helpful. I’m sure they wouldn’t like to know one of my hobbies is writing fanfics, so I wish they’d be more specific. I’m sure they’d like to hear about experience and education, but are they asking about anything else? How long are you supposed to go on about yourself? I’m beginning to really hate that, almost as much as the “do you have any questions?” that I already started a thread about…

11

Snowglobe, I do think it is good news. And I hope so for your sake. I agree with your logic. What I think it means is, you have been narrowed down to the top X candidates. What will next happen is, the principles involved will get together and decide on who to hire. I think you are still in the running.

Elfkin, we had a hiring comittee of 4 people. Two had to be satisfied technically, two were there to see if the candidates would “fit” into the team. I suspect that the answer isn’t too important. For them, they are looking at how you relate to them. Do you smile often? Do you look them in the eye when you speak (don’t stare.) Tell them a little about your hobbies. One guy who interviewed me for the job I am in now, spent a half hour talking to me about SciFi and Fantasy. They want to know that you can do the job, but they also want to know that you will be part of the team.

I hope this helps. I don’t mean to be too anal, but please remember that these are my opinions only.

12

I am in agreement with most of the OP.

Dress well, even if you have to get changed in a McDonalds bathroom to do it. (many people currently employed just head over with bus. casual on).

I think sure, people shouldn’t be afraid to go over one page on thier resume when they become experienced in thier field. But, I believe on most occasions the opposite is the problem. Employers don’t care about that job flipping burgers in high school. They also don’t care about that job at a call center in college. (unless you are applying to a call center).

This is just my experience as someone who has many friends looking for work. I see lots of resumes of professional people that are well done, but have these non-relevant work experiences on there. Get rid of them, simplify. Don’t be afraid to leave gaps of employement. It’s better than spamming them with 8 jobs, of which only 3 are relevent. Also, nobody likes a job-jumper.

My $.02, YMMV. IANADLOIC, but I have a good job :smiley:

13

I agree with that advice Debaser. Only put on the jobs that are relevant. I would only add that if this is your first job out of college, it won’t hurt to put the other jobs on, because it will show that you can hold a job.

14

Maybe, you can settle an argument I have been having with someone. Should a guy be clean shaven or can he have a well trimmed beard of goatee?

15

I’m starting to feel like an advice columnist :smiley: Welcome to this edition of “Ask the Geek Manager.” LOL. I don’t mind though.

If a candidate were to show up to an interview with a well-trimmed beard/goatee I would have no problem with it. Other managers may have some prejudice against it, but I don’t think it is a problem.

16

Thanks Khadaji

That’s more or less what I thought. That it is becoming more and more acceptable but that some managers are still prejudiced.

17

I’m a hiring manager also, and I agree with everything the OP said. You should listen to him. A few additions.

You can’t (usually) overdress for an interview, but you can underdress. Even if no one at work ever wears suits, we don’t mind
if a candidate does.

I agree about not showing up early, but do leave plenty of time. If you get there early, you can sit in the car, after all. The candidate I just hired visited my location before the interview to make sure he knew the way. That was not a deciding factor, but it was a big plus.

I agree with leaving out objectives. I don’t care if your objective is to have an interesting and exciting job. My objective is to get the best match for what I need.

As for working at home - it is okay to ask what the policy is. I would want to get a feel for how someone performs before letting them work from home. If it is a requirement, fine - but expect to lose out on a lot of jobs.

After the interview, a thank you note can’t hurt, but calling everyday is not going to help. If we’re interested, we won’t forget your number. The only exception is if you have another job lined up, and want to give one you like better a last chance.
And finally - research the damn company you’re interviewing with! We phone screen anyone we bring in (even if they are local) and I’d be happy to answer some questions about the job to help the candidate. However, looking up the company, and looking for relevant press releases or technical papers can’t hurt.

18

This sounds like a great opportunity to give them additional information that will help them to decide to hire you. If the job you are interviewing for requires writing, your fanfic hobby would be a great thing to talk about. Are you a leader in volunteer activities? Anything synergistic with the job?

As for how long to speak, break it up with questions for the interviewer. If it is not clear whether the job involves writing, you might briefly mention fanfic, and ask if writing is useful. If it is, you can go into more depth.

An interview is a sales/marketing job. Figure out your message (which might change for each company you interview) and keep on hammering at it - subtly, of course! :slight_smile:

19

This sounds like a great opportunity to give them additional information that will help them to decide to hire you. If the job you are interviewing for requires writing, your fanfic hobby would be a great thing to talk about. Are you a leader in volunteer activities? Anything synergistic with the job?

As for how long to speak, break it up with questions for the interviewer. If it is not clear whether the job involves writing, you might briefly mention fanfic, and ask if writing is useful. If it is, you can go into more depth.

An interview is a sales/marketing job. Figure out your message (which might change for each company you interview) and keep on hammering at it - subtly, of course! :slight_smile:

20

This sounds like a great opportunity to give them additional information that will help them to decide to hire you. If the job you are interviewing for requires writing, your fanfic hobby would be a great thing to talk about. Are you a leader in volunteer activities? Anything synergistic with the job?

As for how long to speak, break it up with questions for the interviewer. If it is not clear whether the job involves writing, you might briefly mention fanfic, and ask if writing is useful. If it is, you can go into more depth.

An interview is a sales/marketing job. Figure out your message (which might change for each company you interview) and keep on hammering at it - subtly, of course! :slight_smile: