Are there no jobs for the talentless anymore?

November 8, 2005 9:39 AM

Does anyone know any good rules of thumb for writing resumes?

I did what they told me. I went to college and got a BA in Creative Writing. Now I have trouble getting even the McJobs, because I'm over-qualified. I'm in a desperate way here. Oh yeah and I'm a real estate agent to boot. So what aspects do I highlight and how do I highlight them so they deserve a second look from the people over at human resources?

posted by SinisterPurpose to work & money (22 comments total)

So what aspects do I highlight and how do I highlight them so they deserve a second look from the people over at human resources?


Additional info will help us to help you: what sort of job are you looking for? Are you looking to continue your career in real estate or a career change?
posted by necessitas at 9:52 AM on November 8, 2005

- Write to your audience -- I have 5 or 6 different versions of my resume, depending on what I'm applying for
- Use concrete examples rather than vague generalities, e.g. "managed a zero down-time $5 million printing operation" vs. "dependable, reliable worker"
- Keep it to one page if possible.

That said, the only decent jobs I've ever gotten were through friends and/or family. Blind applications didn't do me a lot of good.
posted by LordSludge at 10:14 AM on November 8, 2005

Looking to stay in real estate part-time and looking to move into something web based which will utilize my talents. I gave up on writing a long time ago and nothing good has come of it. So maybe a revision of my question is in order. Can writers eek out a modest living online? You'd be amazed how little I can live on.
posted by SinisterPurpose at 10:23 AM on November 8, 2005 [1 favorite]

Use active words to describe your achievements. Outline your responsibilities in previous jobs then immediately state how well you accomplished your goals (and met or exceeded your responsibilities).

And make sure you write "resume" with the proper accents: résumé (I wanted to start a blog linking to all the incorrect iterations of that poor word on the Net but it would have taken too much time). As a writer you should already know that.
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 10:33 AM on November 8, 2005

Yeah I've thought about it but I have no idea how to make those marks appear. Never said I was a writer.
posted by SinisterPurpose at 10:38 AM on November 8, 2005

If you have any interest in/experience with persuasive writing, there is decent money to be made in freelance copy writing. In fact, there is a lot of money to be made in copy writing for real estate agencies. Check out the gigs section on craigslist.

If you haven't done any copy writing in the past and need to build up your portfolio, taking on volunteer assignments is a good way to get experience (in fact, I need a "volunteer" copywriter for a tiny project, email is in the profile if you are interested).
posted by necessitas at 10:41 AM on November 8, 2005

1. Use active verbs (organized, managed, coordinated).
2. Don't be afraid to use bullets.
3. Leave out the "Objective." Some people include this at the top of their resumes to define what sort of job they're looking for, but I think it's either too general or ends up limiting you. Goals should be addressed in your cover letter.
4. Include a short list of your qualifications and skills at the top. It should summarize what's in the rest of your resume, allowing the HR staff or hiring manager to get a quick read on you.
5. [Similar to what LordSludge said] Use quantifiable examples, rather than generalizations about your experience.
6. [To help with above] Think of five adjectives to describe yourself (as an employee) and then include projects, experiences, awards, etc that back those adjectives up. This works for interviews, too. If you can focus on how you want to present yourself as an employee (conscientious, productive, logical) and think of stories from your work history that reinforce that image, you can answer just about any question posed during an interview.

That said, sending an unsolicitated resume won't really get you anywhere. At the very least, you have to follow up aggressively. The best advice is to network through friends, family, and professional organizations.
posted by lunalaguna at 10:41 AM on November 8, 2005

To make those accents over the e's in resume on a Mac first hit Option-e, then hit your e key again. I don't know how to do it on a PC.
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 10:45 AM on November 8, 2005

wrt: résumé

If you're using something like MS Word - goto insert-->symbol--> scroll acround until you find the right character
posted by PurplePorpoise at 10:46 AM on November 8, 2005

As someone who's slogged through reading many a pile of resumes:

A good resume is a list of reasons they should hire you. A bad resume is a ginormous list of everything you've ever done. Show them why they should hire you for this job. Write a resume specifically for the job you're applying for, and make sure everything in it is relevant. Don't be afraid to leave stuff out if it's not relevant. This means the more research you can do about the company and the specific job ahead of time, the better -- but even if the only information you have about the job is the specific requirements listed in the help wanted ad, make sure you at least implicitly address each of those specific requirements.

You're writing for two audiences: first, HR will read through the resumes and weed out the obviously unqualified. HR people can't generally tell the difference between a qualified and unqualified candidate: all they have is the list of requirements given to them by the department that needs the hire. So mostly what you need here is to meet the bullet points: if the ad says they want three years experience at X, your resume must either show you have three years experience at X, or show clearly how your knowledge of Y can stand in for X. They are in a hurry, and are often clueless. Make it as easy as possible for them.

If you pass that phase, you get to the actual department that's hiring you. What they're looking for depends on the job and the company, but it usually boils down to "is this person someone who I want to work with?"

Be specific, and skip the buzzwords and resume-speak; plain english works better. Windy phrases about 'utilizing teamwork to improve managerial efficiency and enhance existing product lines' are a waste of space. It doesn't hurt to let your real personality show, (unless you're a big jerk) -- reading resumes is boring, and I suspect someone who seems like a human being is more likely to get called in for an interview than someone who's just transcribing buzzwords from a thesaurus.

Last thing: there's no such thing as "overqualified." What they really mean is "we don't think you'll stick around long enough for this to be worth our time." If that's actually true, you're applying for the wrong jobs -- it's just as hard to get a McJob as a real one, and the results are much less satisfying.
posted by ook at 10:52 AM on November 8, 2005

PurplePorpoise, for Windows accents, AllChars is your friend. It's like having the Sun Compose key on a Windows box.
posted by scruss at 11:04 AM on November 8, 2005

In my experience, working in some web-based capacity involves knowing more than HTML or even HTML+CSS+JavaScript. These are merely tools one uses, much like you would never get a job on a construction crew just because you are handy with a screwdriver. Besides, everyone and their secretary can toss out HTML (albeit generally crappy HTML—the problem is getting them to care about this). What you should do instead is package your other competencies (did I just use that word?) with your web monkey skills and sell that.

This brings me to writing a targeted resumé. Draft a general resumé but then re-purpose it for each job you apply for. When you do this, use concrete examples and ape the language used in the posting. When they say "experience using foo to create bar" be sure to include an example of using foo to generate bar in your relevant work experience. If you've never used foo but have experience with something similar (say JSP vs ASP) mention that and then draw this transferrable knowlege out in your cover letter. They're telling you want they want to hear when they post job descriptions. Your job is to tell them what they want to hear.

Also, alway write a cover letter. This is a great place to parrot whatever corporate babble they throw out there and relate it to your specific experiences. This helps you remove that cruft from the resumé so you can keep it to a single page in length.

This approach takes more work than blindly sending 10^x resumés out every day, but the effort to individualize each application is what sets you apart from the teeming masses. It also involves research on your part to find positions that fit your particular skill set. Basically, look at yourself as a [creative writer | real-estate agent | foo] with web skills, not as a web monkey for hire.
posted by Suck Poppet at 11:15 AM on November 8, 2005

Of course, if you can network, all of the above becomes vaguely unnecessary...
posted by Suck Poppet at 11:20 AM on November 8, 2005

Hey, I want to thank everyone for their help. I love Metafilter.
posted by SinisterPurpose at 12:00 PM on November 8, 2005

Good luck. And don't forget to write that thank you note after your interview (and refer to your interviewers by name).
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 1:00 PM on November 8, 2005

Thanks scruss! It doesn't explicitly state that it supports XP, though - and I've got all the common accented words (that I use) setup under autocorrect.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 1:14 PM on November 8, 2005

2 things:

1) Your cover letter may be as important, if not MORE important, than your resume. Your resume is, after all, a list of your accomplishments and previous jobs. While you want to tailor your resume to an extent, you shouldn't have to do that much tweaking between different jobs. The only exception to this rule is if you have a TON of previous jobs, and really need to pare it down to include only relevant ones.

2) Screw rules of thumb. Seriously. People are always really impressed with my resume, and it breaks ALL THE RULES. It doesn't do them in some cool, creative avant-garde sort of way, either. I just ignored the rules, listed all the stuff I wanted employers to see, and said screw it, I will hook you with my cover letter to the point that you will read my damn resume even though it's 2 pages instead of 1.

My resume, so you can see an example.
posted by twiggy at 2:47 PM on November 8, 2005

There is a lot of good advice in this thread. Having a targeted resume is key, as is a good cover letter that explains in specific terms what you bring to the position.

You have heard this before, but make sure to check your spelling incessantly. I see hundreds of resumes every year, and a simple spelling error will more than likely get you tossed into the “don’t bother” pile.
posted by gemmy at 3:27 PM on November 8, 2005

Some good tips here.
posted by Wet Spot at 5:16 PM on November 8, 2005

Q: Can writers eek out a modest living online?
A: Do you use a trackpad or a mouse?
posted by rob511 at 6:45 PM on November 8, 2005

No one will hire you twiggy. No funny line things above your "e"s in resume. So sorry.

Where in the hell do people base their hiring decisions on the apostrophe like things above your "e"s? Printing companies? I wouldn't work there.
posted by Carbolic at 6:51 PM on November 8, 2005

I will second the idea of paying close attention to spelling. I have also seen large numbers of resumes with spelling mistakes and it does significantly lower your opinion of the applicant.
posted by Carbolic at 7:05 PM on November 8, 2005