Ignorance is bliss, I guess

It seemed a little chilly this morning when I went out onto my porch in my bare feet to feed Sam and Dean the stray cats. The old rosy fingers of dawn were scratching at the east end of the porch, while the light of the silvery--and still almost-full--moon was casting shadows on the west end, and there was some frost on my car.

So I put on an extra shirt and my winter gloves and pedaled off into the morning for an 8:00 meeting.

Holy shit. I just got to my desk and looked at the actual temperature: 26F/-3C.

I really need to buy some socks.

Free Help With Your Résumé

I have a brilliant new insight into résumé writing. Are you ready? Here it is:

Make your résumé sound like the job you're applying for.

Revolutionary, huh? But I've spent hours in the past few days evaluating applications for the position of my boss, and I'm now wondering if this really is some best-kept secret of the employment-getting world.

We're hiring an executive in a technology department, and of the 70-odd applications we received, about 20 cleared the first bar of minimum qualification.

My task was to read those 20 résumés and assign points in Leadership, Technical Knowledge, Communication, Customer Service...stuff like that. All of these criteria were clearly spelled out in the job announcement. They were, in fact, the essence of the job description.

Only six of these 20 applicants had bothered to tailor their résumés to the job description, even a little. I mean, when you're applying for a job where communication skill is weighted equally with technical knowledge, you should consider communicating...using words like "communication skill". And if you're applying in the public sector, you might want to remove references to "offshoring jobs" and "maximizing profits". Because we don't do that here. Even if, as a taxpayer, you think we should, okay?

Anyway, now I know: it's not disingenuous to parrot back the language of the job announcement in your application. It's helpful. The people reading your application probably don't do the kind of work you're applying for, but they do work where you say you want to work, so make it easy for them. Make your résumé look as much like the job you're applying for as you can without, you know, actually lying.

Trust me, if you're lying, they'll catch that in the interview.