Everyone Should Be Short, Accurate, and Interesting

Stop the presses! The Pongo Blog received its very first content critique on Monday, and we like it! This is what I'm talking about, submitted by Mary L.:

"I think your posts are usually pretty good, but sometimes they're just too long. I'd love to add some comments here and there, but I rarely make it through the original post because it's so long. Sometimes they're just too heavy, also – throw a little more humor out there – looking for work doesn't need to be so serious all the time. It can be light and fun, too!"

We can't help but agree with you, Mary. Sometimes we have a lot to say and get carried away. So we'd like to turn it over to you, our readers, to let us know what you like to read and what you'd rather we leave out. And the same goes for those of you out there writing your resumes. Let us know what's relevant to you!

So for you, Mary, I'll make the rest of this post short and (maybe) sweet.

A friend of mine came over this past weekend. A group of us were headed to the 19th Annual Jaffrey Festival of Fireworks and we had over an hour of drive time to get there. So he brought some reading material with him: a two-page resume.

A buddy of his was looking to get into Public Relations and wanted some tips on tailoring his resume to fit the desired position. So he asked my friend – who's been in the PR industry for years – to look at it for him.

I asked to look at it, too, and had to choke back a laugh. Wait – no – I did laugh. Not only was it two full pages of text in 10-point font with very little white space, but this person had never worked in a Public Relations position before. What on earth did he have to say about his non-PR related experience that required two full pages?

I'm not an HR representative or a hiring manager, but I can tell you that submitting a two-page resume that has very little to do with the industry you're targeting will surely make you the subject of water cooler gossip. As in, "Hey, did you see that resume I got yesterday? It took me 10 minutes to read!"

OK, really, that won't happen. Instead, they'll spend 15 seconds looking at it before they toss it in trash.

Now I'm not bashing this guy for his resume-writing skills. Instead, I'm going to praise him for having the common sense to ask his PR-knowledgeable friend to critique his resume before he submits it.

And if this scenario sounds familiar, I encourage you to buddy up and ask for help, but only if you really want the job. Otherwise, learn how to turn away every employer with tips from Not Hired.