Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Why are you telling me this?

I know I'm flogging (blogging?) a dead horse here as this is at least my third post on this topic, but EVERY SINGLE TIME I see something like this, I'm 100% the same amount of incredulous and outraged. It's always like the first time.

From resume for A FINANCIAL ANALYST candidate:

"Professional caliber artist specializing in portraits and pencil sketches."

Why? Why is this on your resume when the jobs you are applying for have NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS? Why would I care? WHY ON EARTH WOULD I CARE?

What am I missing? I'm now cycling past incredulity/outrage to like, is it me? Am I the one who doesn't get it? I have forever claimed that I was absent one day in third grade and missed an all-school assembly that Explained It All and the reason why I am constantly befuddled by humanity is because I had a stomachache that day. That, or the fact that we were the only family without cable in my neighborhood doomed me to just never ever getting it.

But I don't get it.

Reader(s?...are there still at least two?), do you? Can someone please explain this to me? I try and try to imagine what on this planet could inspire me to think that some potential employer would be slightly swayed to hire me because I like to bicycle or make really tasty biscotti but I just can't. Can't imagine.

3 comments:

The Mad Tatter said...

In the dark ages of resume writing, it was suggested that adding personal interests to one's resume made one more appealing and and allowed for an employer to connect on a personal level. (Photographs of the applicant were even sometimes required; imagine that nightmare nowadays!)

It's highly unlikely that anyone truly believed that his/her personal interests could land him/her a job, but s/he felt compelled to put something there.

So it seems to be merely a holdover from a less enlightened time or, perhaps more like an old tradition that we just can't bear to let go of...like a bride needing to wear a white dress at her wedding.

Christina said...

I teach tech writing and some of the resume skills are a bit lacking, to put it nicely. Thanks for the tip about lip moisturizing. And I'm still trying to figure out what you write at the Shack....

tbd said...

Tatter: Please do not harsh my righteous indignation buzz with like measured reason and your “facts” and “information.” ;)

I guess I always thought it was one of those job-seeking things that did not pass the sniff test/application of logic or whatever. Like no authority figure could convince me that it makes sense.

I do sometimes get photos from the international candidates from less-litigious countries. Sadly, no one has yet to be hot, but I live and I hope.

Christina: A mild form of delusional self-importance (someone from my company MIGHT stumble across this blog during their systemic reading of every blog in the universe and MIGHT actually have paid enough attention to me to #1:care and #2: put two and two together) makes me wary to provide too many personal details but I will say this about my efforts ’Shack: they involve a giant forehead.