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Subject:Resumes, typos, and absolutes From:Michael Priestley <mpriestley -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 3 Mar 1997 17:11:33 EST
I've been warming my hands at this flameware for quite some time, and
the statements of position have finally become extreme enough for me
to combust as well.
Ralph E. Robinson <R2innovations -at- myna -dot- com> writes:
>I have been truly amazed at the weak excuses some members of this
>list have used in an attempt to justify mediocrity in our profession.
...
>When it comes to the person's
>marketing piece, and that's what your resume is, typos and
>grammatical goofs are verboten.
Aah, that melts the ice from my toes. Thanks! I'll try to add a few
more weak excuses to your collection, below.
Jim McAward <jimmc -at- chyron -dot- com> writes:
>I've always followed the rule that someone who lets a typo slip by on their
>resume is automatically disqualified from working for me.
...
>Back to the typo-on-resume issue... I once hired a guy who used "and" on
>his resume in place of "an". This was in the stone age, before PCs and
>spell-checkers, when actual humans did all proofreading. He had otherwise
>terrific qualifications, and rave reviews from every supervisor. I looked
>past the typo. He turned out to be an absolute dud.
>
>I learned. You might, too...
You know, we hired someone here a couple of years ago with an absolutely
perfect resume, no typos, no grammatical errors, every bulleted list in
line with the Chicago Manual of Style. It was a work of art. He was
a dud. I hope you can all learn from our mistake. My experiences are
universal, and my prejudices are law. Those who deny the obvious truth
in my position will be the first up against the wall, come the revolution.
This whole thread made me kinda nostalgic, dreaming back to those high-stress
days of interviews and aptitude tests before I was assimilated by the
Borg uh I mean IBM. I finally tracked down my old resume in the basement,
underneath a pile of old C/370 manuals and composting coffee grinds.
It had a typo.
Guess that makes me not only a champion of mediocrity, but an absolute dud!
Cool. Lucky for me IBM hasn't noticed yet.
Anyway, I'm off to shiver in fear of discovery now, and take what meagre
solace I can in my recent promotion and information excellence award
(we win STC awards too, if that matters).
Michael Priestley
mpriestley -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com
mpriestley -at- acm -dot- org
Absolute dud and IBM Information Developer
...marginal smilies are available for a nominal extra charge...
Disclaimer: speaking on my own behalf, not IBM's.
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