Careers Articles: Being creative on your resume can be a good thing. But beware of crossing the line between creative and crazy. "People are always thinking, 'Hey, I want to stand out in the job search,' and that's ok," says Katharine Brooks, executive director of personal and career development at Wake Forest University. "But you don't want to stand out by being weird. You want to stand out for excellence."
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Reading articles like this always makes me feel a lot better about my own resume. You can never be sure if a potential employer is going to like what you send them, but at least you know you're not crazy. If you have doubts about being qualified enough, at least you'll be above that guy who sent a plastic foot. Sad as it is that these people may never find work using their "creativity," I also think I might enjoy receiving some of the items listed as someone on the other side of the table. I might not be calling them to pursue further, but I'd probably find a special drawer to keep those resumes in for when I need to remember that it could be worse.
Im curious if they actually tested the vial of blood to make sure it was fake. Because that is really really creepy. However the plastic foot has to take the cake for the worst thing just because of the horrible pun they are going for with it. If you need some cheesy (or creepy) addition like these for people to remember you you are doing something horribly wrong with your life.
I agree with Kassondra in that reading about these crazy resumé tactics makes me feel a lot better about mine. While some of the mistakes listed in this article are outlandish and it's pretty obvious as to why they were inappropriate choices, this article also make a few less obvious points worth noting. One is the point about being careful when listing a skill or interest that you think might be a conversation starter. This is a time where knowing the company you're applying to can be important. Perhaps this company prides themselves on having employees who live active lives and have a wide variety of interests, but perhaps they get a ton of applications, and take the application process extremely seriously...that company probably wouldn't find your "special" skill very funny. I tend to think that those sorts of skills and interests are better off being brought up in an interview, if things are going well and the employee asks you about what you like to do. There's actually an opportunity for a conversation to be had there, because you are already on the phone or in the room with the employer, and that's when you can really make an impression.
I was not expecting that! I mean a foot?!? Fake Blood?!? I can't believe people actually sent those in with resumes! Like the others, I am definitely glad no matter what, my resume won't be the craziest or least desirable. It's also interesting about some of the things they listed to not put on your resume. It had never occurred to me to include things that could be conversation starters, but I can see why people might do that.
I understand and appreciate trying to make your resume different and unforgettable, but these honestly made me laugh. However, they also made me think, why do these people thing it's okay to send, let's say, a vial of blood to a potential employer? Are we as a society saying that that's the only way that we can obtain a job nowadays? As for the example listing body proportions, this one disgusted me the most. We, as a people, are not our bodily statistics, and anyone that thinks that height and weight define themselves needs to take a step back and think about their priorities in life. I understand that there are some professions that require certain aesthetics, but this was not one of these times. People need to tailor their resumes to their interviews and not get out of hand. A simple thank-you card can make the difference between a "yes" and a "no," but I can't speak for plastic feet. That's not my specialty.
Gotta wonder what they were thinking. I wonder if the application where they sent in a plastic foot was serious or just some kind of joke. I have heard stories of a lot of weird interviews and resumes but that takes the cake. Getting the interview is the first big step when applying for a job and the resume is supposed to get you there. My first few resumes were not put together well but I at least had the common sense not to throw in jokes or odd and irrelevant skills.
I'm almost annoyed that they opened with the actually insane ones, like the foot and the blood, because that desensitizes the reader to what I think are the more egregious errors, namely the paper shredder and the English ones. I mean, it seems pretty obvious that sending anything that could be construed as a serial killer present is a terrible and mildly disturbing idea, but I've read actual resumes with things like "knowing how to use a paper shredder" and "fluent in English" (in the US and other English speaking countries) on them. I guess these articles do make me feel better about my own resume, but they also just make me kind of sad for the population who feels the need to resort to crazy gimmicks to get hired.
Thankfully this article was more of a joke than serious advice. Everyone in the world is slightly crazy, and I guess some people show it through their resumes. It is always interesting to hear people's advice on what to put under the skills section. For example, it would be silly to put down that you can use Microsoft Office if you really don't know the ins and outs of all of the programs. In theater I feel that we have more leeway to put slightly more exotic skills, because maybe as a stage manager your ability to juggle will come in handy.
I got a really good laugh out of this article. This really goes to show that sometimes theres weird people in the world that will do anything to land themselves a job. This makes me wonder if they are so desperate that they've reached absurdity in their resume's or they're simply just strange people. Saying you are proficient in the English language is one thing, but come on sending a vile of fake blood!? If I were an employer I would be extremely creeped out and wouldn't even consider that person.
I struggle with what to put on my resume a lot. I believe I have at least 9 current versions of my resume, each tailored to different fields in which I have worked. I say this all the time, but I have this notion that the resume isn't really about you, it's about the person reading it. The more you know about what they want to see, the more chance you have of them putting it in the next pile instead of the shredder. I haven't included an "Interests" section on a resume in a while, and I've never gotten feedback at an interview that made me think that my interest in "rock climbing" was the reason I got called in. I know we are taught about something called an "Info-Graphic" resume in Professional Practice class here, and I'm interested in hearing about what the perceived benefit is of such a document. I've had the awkward experience of being in an office when one of those came in from a prospective employee, and I can tell you, in this particular case, it was only a distraction from the actual merits of the candidate, albeit an entertaining one. It's a hard line to walk, being memorable and giving insight into your personality without being a joke.
Are people really that dumb? Common sense is a glorious thing that people really need to acquire and acknowledge in everyday use, especially when applying for jobs. Sending out plastic foots or vials of blood is in no way professional and really does make someone look down upon you, in my opinion. I did find some issue with the special skills that spark up conversation though. I feel that some things you can put on your special skills to spark up conversation even if they aren't very relevant to your work, but I do think there is a line that can be crossed, such as the board game as mentioned. But in general, I think it's fine to put certain special skills that aren't very relevant.
This article sort of felt like it wasn't even taking itself seriously. I completely agree that some of the things listed here are so ridiculous that you have to wonder who would actually put that on their resume. But I think the author could have considered writing this a way that more had the attitude of these are things that do not translate well on a resume, but here are ways that you could actually be creative and stand out. Instead it was too focused on the silliness of these anecdotes. I guess that because some people actually did these things, this article could educate some to avoid them, but I think that if this wanted to be widely informative, the author should have taken a more realistic approach.
“But beware of crossing the line between creative and crazy.” That second sentence sums up the entire article. Within the theatre industry (including, but less so the technical/management side), many of use are creative and eccentric and full of energy. Personally, I don’t know that I’d circular file (trash) a resume that came in with a plastic foot, if the resume managed to work enough puns in there to make it funny. I’m pretty quirky though, I’m not sure how other potential employers might feel about a plastic foot. Maybe a company that won’t tolerate a joke such as that isn’t a company you necessarily want to work for.
All this being said, the quirkier you’re enclosures become, the higher the risk that an employer wont take you seriously, especially outside of our little niche world of theatre makers and facilitators.
Wow, this is pretty unbelievable. People's lack of common sense sometimes is just really hard to comprehend. I mean unless you were entirely denied an education and also had little to no social or societal interaction in your entire life then I really do not see how anyone could do things like this and think it would help them get the job. I agree with the author there is certainly a line between leaving an impression and just being ridiculous, but sending someone a vial of fake blood is not even in the same state as that line. Also I could see how some people think they are being funny but there is a time and place for that and unless asked or it is somehow relevant, it should be rather obvious that resumes are not the place.
It's so strange to think that some people did some of the more eccentric things on this list. It is always really difficult to know whether or not your resume is going to be what an employer is looking for, however I doubt that there is any gimmick that could sway them in the direction of an unqualified candidate. I do think that these situations would have turned out better had the candidates sent in a regular resume and saved the corny jokes for their interviews or even better after they had gotten the job.
Well even if my resume sucks, at least there isn't a plastic foot attached on top of a tower of vials of fake blood. I think the larger point for these resume fails are that their authors are missing the larger objective of their resume. The person who is "paper shredder capable" probably failed to grasp why that is just not important. I suppose, just like everything else we do here, you have to "design" your resume with the big picture in mind.
When I first read the title of this article I thought it was going to be like weird things that people listed. I didnt realize that it was going to include things like physical props as well. That being said, if their actual resume was good and they were a very qualified canidate, as an employer i might not discount the creativity they used to get my attention and stand out from the rest. Also as absurd as some of these ideas are, i do know of advertising companies that actually expect you to do something weird to get their attention and show them creativity. I guess its all about knowing your audience.
If I got a resume that said they knew how to use a paper shredder, I might just take it to one and see if I'm qualified to do so as well. If it jams, I guess Ill have to higher them. On the other hand it seems weird that once of the outdated items was Microsoft Word, youd be surprised at who cant use Microsoft Word. There is a vast way to represent yourself, and you definitely want to make sure you do so in a way that is appropriate for the job. Ive learned to always cater my resume to where I am applying. I would put food addict on my resume if I wanted to be a waiter.
If I got a resume that said they knew how to use a paper shredder, I might just take it to one and see if I'm qualified to do so as well. If it jams, I guess Ill have to higher them. On the other hand it seems weird that once of the outdated items was Microsoft Word, youd be surprised at who cant use Microsoft Word. There is a vast way to represent yourself, and you definitely want to make sure you do so in a way that is appropriate for the job. Ive learned to always cater my resume to where I am applying. I would put food addict on my resume if I wanted to be a waiter.
I think this is really more of a silly article than a useful one. It's quite funny though, especially the one with the vial of fake blood.
Personally never have written a serious resume, from all the articles that are being posted in this blog about it, I'm guessing that it is more difficult to write than it seems.
I really think that at the end of the day it is about common sense. And it probably doesn’t hurt to go to the school facilities that can help you write and format a good resume.
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