Desperate times call for desperate measures
With the tough economy, particularly in the United States, jobseekers are more than eager to have their resumes make the top of the pile. But they’d better make a good impression fast — 48 per cent of HR managers typically review 25 applications or less for open positions. On average, 38 per cent spend less than one minute reviewing a resume while 18 per cent spend less than 30 seconds, according to the CareerBuilder survey of 2,534 Americans.
But a common mistake made by job seekers is a lack of customization. Seventy-nine per cent of the HR managers said they pay more attention to resumes that are tailored to their open positions.
"While it's important to stand out from the crowd, job seekers need to make sure their resumes catch hiring managers' eyes for the right reasons," said Rosemary Haefner, vice-president of human resources at CareerBuilder. "Job seekers need to communicate their relevant experience and utilize keywords from the job posting, while customizing their resume for each and every position. Focus on what you can bring to the table right from the get-go."
The most memorable missteps the HR managers encountered when going through resumes included a candidate who:
- put God down as a reference
- listed her hobby as alligator watching
- claimed to be a direct descendant of the Vikings
- had an email address with "lovesbeer" in it
- listed "Master of Time and Universe" under experience
- specifically pointed out he was not a gypsy
- said he must be allowed to bring his pet monkey to the workplace
- pointed out, "I'll have your job in five years.”
- sent a 24-page resume for a five-year career
- put a picture of her cat on top of her resume
- sent a video trying to hypnotize the HR manager into hiring him.
