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The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

The Student Newspaper of DePaul University

The DePaulia

Insult to the modern resume

We are taught at an early age our resumes must be as perfect, positive, professional and complete as we can possibly make them, both for entry-level and experienced-level candidates. We are taught that our resumes are the “tip-of-the-spear” in our job hunts. We are taught that if it’s not “just right,” we won’t get a second shot at any job.

Then we discover—after putting our hearts and souls into our resumes for untold hours and revisions—that recruiters only glance at them for 10 or 15 seconds each before making a short-list or no-list decision. Some job fair representatives won’t accept any resumes at all. That’s like going to a bank and not accepting money.

More recently, we’ve been taught that it’s best to have a bullet-point resume because that’s what recruiters like best, not caring much for paragraph resumes anymore. But if the recruiter is only going to glance at it for 10 or 15 seconds anyway, what difference does it really make if you have a paragraph style, bullet-point style or a hybrid resume? They aren’t going to really read it anyway.

They just want something that’s pretty to look at—nice headers, nice margins, nice spacing, no typos, no fancy colors (not yet), no creases or folds, no coffee or food stains.

And now… now comes the most recent insult to our resume sensibilities. Now we discover that when recruiters actually get a resume they like, they don’t just call the candidate for an interview. Oh no—first, they drop everything to see if they can find the candidate on the LinkedIn Web site.

Why? It’s because they want to see if they like the candidate’s LinkedIn profile, too. Apparently, looking at a LinkedIn profile requires less thinking and comprehension than actually reading and understanding a traditional resume or conducting a conventional interview.

Don’t you just love modern Internet technology?

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