TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I have to ask this question, because it seems to me that everyone posting on
the resume threads:
(a) 'knows' that there is a 'standard' resume
(b) 'knows' what has to be in any resume to make it worthwhile
(c) believes that they alone have the key to the holy grail of resume writing
My experience is that there have to me easily two dozen different ways to write
a resume, that all of the people who write books on resume writing are
convinced that their way is the best way (if not the only way), and that the
key to getting a good job is having the perfect resume.
If all of you--and the writers of resume books, whose names are legion--are all
right, then what would an Unusual Resume look like? They all look unusual to my
ignorant and untrained eye.
One final shot. It also seems to me that most people approach resume writing in
the same mind set that primitives use when they sacrifice a chicken to appease
some god or goddess. There is more superstition and downright silliness
associated with the creation of a resume than there is in a quarter limit poker
game. Everyone seems to be worrying about the proper format, the proper font
size/type, the proper layout, the proper number of pages. And STILL no two of
'em come across my desk looking the same (unless they're from the same agency).
The time is long past when you can write your resume once and use it for every
job search situation or client approach. No one of us is so one-dimensional
that there is only one resume that a prospective employer/client needs to see.
You need to tailor your approach to your audience. (What a novel concept! I
shoulda thought of this years ago! Focus on the audience and the needs of the
audience.)
Oh, and lose the fancy paper. The first thing that happens to your resume is
that it gets copied. Often the second thing that happens is it gets faxed.
Doesn't it just break your heart to spend all that money on paper only to see
that your interviewer has a faxed copy?
Folks, it's time to get real about resumes and stop acting like there is one
"magic bullet" resume.
=====
Tom Murrell
Lead Technical Writer
Alliance Data Systems
Columbus, Ohio mailto:tmurrell -at- columbus -dot- rr -dot- com
Personal Web Page - http://home.columbus.rr.com/murrell/
Page Last Updated 07/15/01
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com
A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and
three and a half days of immersion in the state of the art:
IPCC 01, Oct. 24-27 in Santa Fe. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
+++ Miramo -- Database/XML publishing automation. See us at +++
+++ Seybold SFO, Sept. 25-27, in the Adobe Partners Pavilion +++
+++ More info: http://www.axialinfo.comhttp://www.miramo.com +++
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
