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Subject:Re: Too old? From:Beth Agnew <beth -dot- agnew -at- senecac -dot- on -dot- ca> Date:Tue, 26 Sep 2006 16:00:10 -0400
The only thing I've ever left off my resume was my prison experience.
(Working there, not incarcerated, :-).) It was an aberration in an
otherwise writing-themed resume spanning many years. I have always
presented the whole shebang. My reasoning is that if you don't want
someone who is female, or my age, or whatever, you can make that
decision just looking at my resume and you don't waste my time or yours
on something that is not going to work out anyway. I certainly do not
want to work for a company that might have any reservations whatsoever
about hiring me. Rather a nasty shock for the interviewer if they expect
someone 30 and someone visibly older walks in.
It has been an effective filter, too. When I was looking for more
creative/multimedia work I had a resume that sported a cartoon of me,
and a design that made the resume distinctive. If you didn't like the
resume, you sure weren't going to like me, so don't even waste time
considering it. On the other hand, if you were looking for someone who
did things differently, then when you got my resume you were definitely
going to pick up the phone and call me. I got some great jobs that way.
When I applied for a job at TSN (The Sports Network), I sent them my
sports trading card with stats, instead of a resume. Got that job, too.
--Beth
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