Resumes: conservative use of color?

[Fatman]

I've never called anyone for an interview that had a spelling error on their resume. Do I care that they may occasionally screw up grammar in an interoffice email or something? No. But this is their resume. They had time to read it, re-read it and make sure it's perfect. If they didn't take the time for this one, very important document then that shows they don't care enough to get an interview IMO. There are 100 people trying to get that same job. It makes it easy on me to discard those that don't take the time to make it right.

 

Completely agree - while you're not screening for grammar skills, you are screening for caring enough to make sure that the grammar is correct. It's extremely easy to have someone proofread a resume.

[BeeR]

It's also extremely easy to mix up, say, "your" and "you're." Hear what you're saying, it wouldn't exactly wow me, but agree to disagree on an automatic sh**can of that person because of it.

[whoopazz]

It's also extremely easy to mix up, say, "your" and "you're." Hear what you're saying, it wouldn't exactly wow me, but agree to disagree on an automatic sh**can of that person because of it.

 

True , but not on a resume. We get so many good ones, you have to start eliminating somewhere. I'll agree that I probably wouldn't toss someone that looks really good due to a spelling error, but in my book errors on something this important send up a flag.

[darin3]

It's also extremely easy to mix up, say, "your" and "you're."

Maybe for a third grader.

[ljbrun]

I'm not an expert, but I've hired a few people for both hourly and salaried positions. So here's my 2 cents.

 

While there may be some disagreement here on the validity of tossing out a resume due to spelling errors, it's important to know that it happens. So, since you wouldn't want to completely miss out on even one opportunity, you should make sure that spelling errors do not appear on your resume.

 

Many resume reviewers are self taught. They get promoted/appointed to positions where they must participate in the hiring process and simply do the best they can. The expectations may be different for different industries and types of positions as well. All this makes it difficult to make blanket statements on resume structure. However, at least make it easy to tell how you match the requirements. Often that would include years of experience in the field, titles, industry experience, education/certifications and accomplishments. Sometimes that first reviewer is a low level person who is simply screening out based on title, education and industry.

 

While I don't have much interest in seeing an Objective. I do like to see a brief, well written Summary on a resume. It's the first thing I read and often will dictate whether or not I read further. I also find that a lot of white space will make your resume easier to read. Usually there are many resumes and little time or patience to devote to reading resumes. So don't make the reviewer work harder than necessary. Remember, the employer wants to get the right candidate, but he/she doesn't care if you're that candidate.

 

Regarding cover letters. I know that some, for various reasons, like to see them. Frankly, unless we've met previously or your resume comes to me through an introduction by someone I know. It doesn't mean much to me and I don't care. There's too many cover letter templates and examples out there for me to be impressed.

 

As far as colors etc. are concerned. I'd vote for simplicity. Unless you're in an artsy type of industry I'd stay away from colors and odd fonts. It's just another chance to screw up if it doesn't reproduce the way you expected it to at the employer's facility.

Edited March 1, 2010 by ljbrun

[whomper]

Completely agree - while you're not screening for grammar skills, you are screening for caring enough to make sure that the grammar is correct. It's extremely easy to have someone proofread a resume.

 

 

True , but not on a resume. We get so many good ones, you have to start eliminating somewhere. I'll agree that I probably wouldn't toss someone that looks really good due to a spelling error, but in my book errors on something this important send up a flag.

 

 

I agree with Fatman and puddy here. I just quoted Whoop to bust his chops I think people know that not everyone is the perfect speller but they expect you to take the time to spellcheck your resume and proof read .

Edited March 1, 2010 by whomper

[gilthorp]

As far as colors etc. are concerned. I'd vote for simplicity. Unless you're in an artsy type of industry I'd stay away from colors and odd fonts. It's just another chance to screw up if it doesn't reproduce the way you expected it to at the employer's facility.

 

Or the garment industry, which in that case, you can be as gay as you want.

[BeeR]

Maybe for a third grader.

uh no, for a tragic # of adults nowdays. Hell I see errors that bad and worse on major news sites, in novels, etc etc. And these are alleged pros w/the language.

 

 

I agree with Fatman and puddy here. I just quoted Whoop to bust his chops I think people know that not everyone is the perfect speller but they expect you to take the time to spellcheck your resume and proof read .

- there should be a period or semi-colon after the word "chops"

- there should be a comma after the word "speller"

- "spell check" is either hyphenated or two words

- "proofread" IS one word

 

 

j/k. I know, this is just a msg board, not a resume.

 

Agree to disagree. Exaggerated example to illustrate my point: say you have a job slot for someone w/the following requirements. The job does not entail writing or editing documents.

 

- at least a bachelors degree in the field; ideal candidate has MBA as well

- at least 10 yrs exp in the field

- at least 5 yrs exp with systems A, B and C

- Blah blah certified

 

Two people apply:

 

- One has a bachelors degree in the field and MBA, 15 yrs exp, 10+ yrs exp with each of the systems, blah blah certified

 

- The other has no degree, 3 yrs exp, never used any of the systems, not blah blah certified

 

But the first guy has.........gasp.......a typo on his resume.

 

So you toss him out and hire the 2d guy? OK......

[Fatman]

- there should be a comma after the word "speller"

 

So you toss him out and hire the 2d guy? OK......

 

Wrong.

 

Sorry, we've decided to go in another direction for this position

[cdrudge]

 

Have an awesome GPA? Great, bold that. ... I generally trash-can resumes that don't list school GPAs and/or school rank.

If they have been out of school any significant amount of time, what does their GPA tell you? I work in the IT industry, specifically web and software development, usually with an emphasis on marketing and ecommerce. Most of what I do on a daily basis currently I either learned after I graduated or wasn't even taught in a traditional computer science degree at that time (2002). While it game me a foundation for what I do now, not a lot of what I learned then really pertains directly to what I do now. If I had a 4.0 GPA, it would have made me no more qualified to do my current job then if I had something not quite so high. And if I just squeaked by with 1.5 GPA, there's a possibility that my current knowledge is greater then it was 8 years ago if I have the experience to back it up.

[BeeR]

 

I generally trash-can resumes that don't list school GPAs and/or school rank.

I hope you only hire people with little to no experience. Otherwise, that attitude is a joke for reasons stated well by cd above.

[whomper]

I have been at my current job for 13 years. I got that job because I was recommended to the owner. Sat down with him and 2 interviews later it was a done deal. I never had to make a resume since graduating from college.

 

2 years ago a nice opportunity presented itself. It would have been the only time I have ever considered making a jump in my career. I had to make a resume. I did one with my nieces boyfriend. We proofread it and made sure the spelling was right etc.

 

During the time this was going on I was talking to puddy on the boards and he said , if I wanted to , send him the resume since he reads them a lot in his position and he could give an informed opinion on it. When I sent it i had 3 sets of bullet points. Puddy noticed that the 3rd set didn't line up with the first 2. It wasn't off by much but it was off. I made the correction immediately based on the opinion of a person in the know

 

There is no doubt that you most likely have people that are better for the job that don't have a perfect resume. You just don't want the person reading it to have any reason to scrap yours at first glance for reasons that don't involve the content and your qualifications

[bpwallace49]

facts are the talent pool for applicants is so rich right now, something as small as a typo can be the difference between getting an interview and not getting an interview.

 

It isnt a comparison of a guy with 10 years versus 3 years. MOST have over 10 years, and if one guy can spell and another guys blindly trust the spellcheck (which doesnt catch GRAMMATICAL mistakes all the time) then the guy that put more effort into proffreading might get the nod.

[yo mama]

If they have been out of school any significant amount of time, what does their GPA tell you? I work in the IT industry, specifically web and software development, usually with an emphasis on marketing and ecommerce. Most of what I do on a daily basis currently I either learned after I graduated or wasn't even taught in a traditional computer science degree at that time (2002). While it game me a foundation for what I do now, not a lot of what I learned then really pertains directly to what I do now. If I had a 4.0 GPA, it would have made me no more qualified to do my current job then if I had something not quite so high. And if I just squeaked by with 1.5 GPA, there's a possibility that my current knowledge is greater then it was 8 years ago if I have the experience to back it up.

I'm an attorney. My field is education-intensive. While GPA becomes less and less relevant as time goes on, it is always relevant to some degree for various reasons. If you don't list your GPA it suggests you're hiding it because it is low. Even if it isn't bad, hiding/failing to offer relevant information also tells me something about a person.

 

You can argue that GPA shouldn't matter, but it does. Why anyone would hurt their chances being stubborn over this issue is beyond me. But then again, that kind of attitude also tells me something useful about a candidate.

 

As someone who hires people, my suggestion is for anyone's resume to list GPA for every college/grad school degree they have, no exceptions. You *can* hurt yourself by leaving it off, and GPA takes up almost no space on your resume. So from a cost/benefit perspective ask yourself this: what do you have to gain from omitting it? If you don't have a rock-solid answer to that question, then just nut up and list it.

[wildcat2334]

Color makes no difference. It would be more professional to bold the areas you are looking to stand out. Anything more than a 2 page resume is not something that keeps my attention either. I prefer to work with professionals that can keep it simple, and then have an additional form of project history that is more in depth if necessary. The 3+ page resume always makes me think the person is too scatterbrain and can't emphasize the major importance of what they've done. If someone has done 7 different things in two years, IMO, they should detail the few that are of most importance, and then summarize the rest quickly. Making every single task seem like equal importance and time spent is not the right way to present yourself.

 

Back on point, color is irrelevant in my IT profession.

 

The other thing that I've seen before that is a major no no is putting a picture on a resume. Tacky.

 

good info here

 

the only "color" in an IT-related resume would be from a logo from an MS or Cisco certification - dat is it

[Gonkis]

I'm trying to hire a Mech Eng right now. I have received about 30 resumes from an ad placed in yesterday's paper.

 

I have to admit that despite relatively impressive experience, I am not calling the 2 people that spelled words incorrectly. If this person can't check and double check dimensions, material specifications, etc. they are going to waste my time daily. The words mispelled? Collage = College and Dicipline = Discipline. No excuses. My eyes were drawn to those slaughtered words before I even read the resume. I hope I am not passing on a superstar, but can't take the risk.

 

One guy mentioned he is a member of a local chapter of Mensa. Ok, great. I guess I can understand that on a resume, but he emphasized it in his cover letter, as well. You all probably know him, I remember the IQ at huddle being about 150 on average in some thread from a few years ago.

 

Other problem I have is with people who spend too much time listing the software packages with which they are proficient. One of the resumes is very hard to read because it lists about 30 difference CAD packages, etc. The list is not vertically arranged, either, it is listed out with commas in paragraph form. Effin' Nightmare. I specifically requested experience in Solidworks, why tell me you have 20,000 hours on Pro/E and not mention Solidworks?

 

I know I am getting some resumes that are mass mailed by people on Sunday afternoon. I would hate to be looking for a job right now, but these people are not even trying to get a call back from me.

[keggerz]

I'm trying to hire a Mech Eng right now. I have received about 30 resumes from an ad placed in yesterday's paper.

 

I have to admit that despite relatively impressive experience, I am not calling the 2 people that spelled words incorrectly. If this person can't check and double check dimensions, material specifications, etc. they are going to waste my time daily. The words mispelled? Collage = College and Dicipline = Discipline. No excuses. My eyes were drawn to those slaughtered words before I even read the resume. I hope I am not passing on a superstar, but can't take the risk.

 

One guy mentioned he is a member of a local chapter of Mensa. Ok, great. I guess I can understand that on a resume, but he emphasized it in his cover letter, as well. You all probably know him, I remember the IQ at huddle being about 150 on average in some thread from a few years ago.

 

Other problem I have is with people who spend too much time listing the software packages with which they are proficient. One of the resumes is very hard to read because it lists about 30 difference CAD packages, etc. The list is not vertically arranged, either, it is listed out with commas in paragraph form. Effin' Nightmare. I specifically requested experience in Solidworks, why tell me you have 20,000 hours on Pro/E and not mention Solidworks?

I know I am getting some resumes that are mass mailed by people on Sunday afternoon. I would hate to be looking for a job right now, but these people are not even trying to get a call back from me.

because they are trying to gloss over the fact that they don't have any experience in Solidworks, lol

 

and I think it is veryimportant to always have someone also do a proof for you....many times we can't spot the errror on what we write because we aren't really reading it...afterall we know hwat it says (sorta like hwat could get missed for what by who wrote it)...an extra set of eyes is always beneficial, imo

[BeeR]

facts are the talent pool for applicants is so rich right now, something as small as a typo can be the difference between getting an interview and not getting an interview.

 

It isnt a comparison of a guy with 10 years versus 3 years. MOST have over 10 years, and if one guy can spell and another guys blindly trust the spellcheck (which doesnt catch GRAMMATICAL mistakes all the time) then the guy that put more effort into proffreading might get the nod.

Good points

 

 

 

Sure, if it's neck-and-neck between the two, I can see that...but such an attitude in the extreme is IMO foolish on the part of the resume reviewer(s). Passing up the best guy for the job because of a typo is like firing someone because they made a typo on the job.

[yo mama]

Good points

 

 

 

Sure, if it's neck-and-neck between the two, I can see that...but such an attitude in the extreme is IMO foolish on the part of the resume reviewer(s). Passing up the best guy for the job because of a typo is like firing someone because they made a typo on the job.

You know, the best guy for the job rarely comes with a sign around his neck that says so. And if he did, that would be weird.

[Gonkis]

Best cover letter ever. I just got this one....

 

DEAR COLLEAGUE:

 

 

ATTACHED IS MY RESUME. I AM AVAILABILITY ASAP.

 

PLEASE REVIEW IT BECAUSE MY UNEMPLOYMENT RUN'S OUT THIS WEEK AND I NEED TO GET

BACK TO WORK.

 

MY WORK EXPERIENCES ARE VERY BROAD AND CAN ADAPT TO MOSTLY ANY TYPE OF WORK.

 

IT CONTAINS A COVER LETTER AND A 3 PAGE RESUME.

 

 

' THANK YOU ' FOR YOUR TIME AND LOOKING FORWARD IN HEARING FOR YOU SOON.

 

 

SIGNED

<name>

PLEASE CALL

 

 

<phone number>

[bpwallace49]

Good points

 

 

 

Sure, if it's neck-and-neck between the two, I can see that...but such an attitude in the extreme is IMO foolish on the part of the resume reviewer(s). Passing up the best guy for the job because of a typo is like firing someone because they made a typo on the job.

 

WOW! Nice catch! Good thing this isnt my resume and only a post on a fantasy football forum!

 

The point is that if you are depending on a resume to actually get you gainfully employed and you dont care enough to proofread it, that WILL cast an opinion on the quality of work/detail of the applicant.

 

Bottom line . . . . spell check AND proofread your resume! I really cant believe you are arguing otherwise . . . .

[detlef]

Good points

 

 

 

Sure, if it's neck-and-neck between the two, I can see that...but such an attitude in the extreme is IMO foolish on the part of the resume reviewer(s). Passing up the best guy for the job because of a typo is like firing someone because they made a typo on the job.

I couldn't disagree more. When I get a resume that contains misspelled words or is sloppily formatted (not that it needs to look like it was designed by a graphic artist, more like consistent indents, if one job title is bolded, they're all bolded, things like), the content better be totally of charts because they've got a major strike against them. This is their first impression and illustrates their attention to detail. I'm only hiring bartenders, waiters, and cooks, but all of them are going to have perform things in a rather specific manner and I need to know that they're not going to forget or not care about details.

 

I just gave a lecture to a bunch of HS kids about my industry and made a point of saying this. Make your freaking resume tight.

 

And it's not the same as firing someone for making a typo on the job. There's a long list of things that will keep you from getting hired that won't get you fired. Showing up late, for instance. You'd better have a really, really amazingly good reason why you show up 10 minutes late to your interview. On the other hand, I'm not going to fire a guy the first time he shows up late to work.

[BeeR]

WOW! Nice catch! Good thing this isnt my resume and only a post on a fantasy football forum!

 

The point is that if you are depending on a resume to actually get you gainfully employed and you dont care enough to proofread it, that WILL cast an opinion on the quality of work/detail of the applicant.

 

Bottom line . . . . spell check AND proofread your resume! I really cant believe you are arguing otherwise . . . .

First I can't believe you didn't get that I was kidding re your typos (gee I thought the little winking smiley face was a pretty good clue), or that you think I am arguing against what you said above.

 

 

 

I couldn't disagree more. When I get a resume that contains misspelled words or is sloppily formatted (not that it needs to look like it was designed by a graphic artist, more like consistent indents, if one job title is bolded, they're all bolded, things like), the content better be totally of charts because they've got a major strike against them.

Of course. But that wasn't what I was saying either. Not meaning to rip on you or anyone, but I don't see any point in trying to re-explain what I've already said. Never mind...

 

And it's not the same as firing someone for making a typo on the job. There's a long list of things that will keep you from getting hired that won't get you fired. Showing up late, for instance. You'd better have a really, really amazingly good reason why you show up 10 minutes late to your interview. On the other hand, I'm not going to fire a guy the first time he shows up late to work.

You're right, it's not, disregard that statement.

[bpwallace49]

First I can't believe you didn't get that I was kidding re your typos (gee I thought the little winking smiley face was a pretty good clue), or that you think I am arguing against what you said above.

 

I know . . but I still do not see any reason why someone shouldnt discount an applicant if they dont take the time to spell correctly on the document that is the entry to a interview/job.

[wildcat2334]

I know . . but I still do not see any reason why someone shouldnt discount an applicant if they dont take the time to spell correctly on the document that is the entry to a interview/job.

 

 

in the IT world, you would be shocked. I see resumes all the time from brilliant Software Developers with tons of spelling and grammatical errors. I just cleaned up one from a guy with his MS Comp Science and 10 years at Microsoft - dude couldn't spell for chit.

 

Ideal? no way, but I think some of those guys brains are wired differently - they are able to pay attention to important details development-wise, spelling is just not on their radar

Edited March 19, 2010 by wildcat2334