- Jobseeking is Hard
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- #64 - Important Resume Sections
Hey There!
Welcome to Issue #64 of Jobseeking is Hard!
Congrats to the 25 winners of our recent giveaway! That makes 175 3-month LinkedIn Premium trial memberships we’ve given out in 2024 to help your job search!
If you didn’t win, don't worry…we're trying to obtain more trial memberships to give away (and some other resources to help your job search), and we hope to have more contests shortly. Keep an eye out in the newsletter, my LinkedIn, and my Twitter for more announcements!
If you (or anyone you know) has access to resources that we can give away to help jobseekers, reach out at [email protected] and let us know. Thanks!
The initial feedback to our new Premium section, “Debunking Career Clickbait,” has been overwhelmingly positive, so I’m glad you’re finding value in it!
Remember - Just because someone has a lot of followers or posts proficiently doesn’t mean they know what they’re talking about. There are no barriers to content creation…all it takes is an account.
Engagement is a heck of a drug (especially for people trying to cash in), so always ask yourself, “Has this person recently recruited or hired?” or “Has this person even used an ATS?” before implementing their suggestions.
And people have been asking if they can submit posts or articles for me to debunk. Please do! If you see a post or article with questionable advice, send it to [email protected] and I’ll add it to the list.
This week, I’m addressing “a simple resume hack” so the ATS selects you for an interview. (There’s so much wrong with that sentence I don’t even know where to start.)
Speaking of Premium, we’re introducing a new feature for Premium subscribers in this issue: Comments! Starting with this issue, Premium subscribers can comment, ask questions, and discuss the issue.
Let’s get to it!
STUPID INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
I was interviewing for a Recruiter position and was asked, "Can you solve a Rubik's cube?"
They then handed me a Rubik's cube.
Companies: We can’t find anyone to hire!
Their interview process:
I was once asked, "If you were a bird, what color would your beak be?"
Later she told me she asks off-the-wall questions to throw candidates off their game.
Imagine you received multiple job offers. When evaluating which company to join, how many people would say, “I really want to work with the hiring manager who tried to throw me off my game in the interview. That’s the kind of environment I’m looking for.”
I was interviewing with the COO of a mid-sized engineering company. I was asked, "If you invited friends over for dinner, what would you cook them and why?"
That question was weird, but it got weirder and more inappropriate as we went along. "Are you married?" "Why did you get divorced?" "Are you in a relationship now?"
After the divorce and desperation to enter the workforce again after a long period of contract work while attempting to change industries, I took the job (against my better judgment).
SURPRISE!! I spent the next 3 years being subjected to increasingly inappropriate comments about my appearance, sex life, etc.
Sooooooooo.....obviously, the dumb questions should've been a warning sign! Live and learn.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. I totally get it. Desperation makes people ignore those red flags, because, ultimately, we all need a paycheck. It’s easy for me to say, “Don’t ignore what your gut is telling you,” but in the real world, those tough choices have to be made. If you need a job, it’s best to look at opportunities like these as bridge jobs…get paid while you continue to look for your next role.
And I receive *so many* emails from people that say they were asked about their relationship status, so now I’m curious:
Have you ever been asked about your relationship status in a job interview? |
Want to share your stupid interview questions? Reply or email [email protected]
COMMUNITY CATHARSIS
I found a job on Indeed for a t-shirt place looking to interview a graphic designer. This place specialized in making customized one-of-a-kind shirts for things like family reunions, corporate retreats, recreational sports leagues, etc.
The interview went well, and I was asked to do a test where I designed a t-shirt for a fictional family reunion. I did okay, and the hiring manager liked what I did. I sent my thank you note the next day.
About 6 or 7 months later, I got an email from that place saying, "We decided to hire another candidate. As a thank you for applying with us, here's a coupon for 20% off when you order a customized garment from us. When you stop by, ask for me. I would enjoy meeting you."
These people decided not to hire me and didn't bother to let me know until months later...but sent me a coupon to spend money at their place.
A few months ago I was visiting the area and noticed the place had gone out of business.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. I’m sure the whole experience was extremely frustrating. I feel like getting a coupon for the company that rejected you is worse than getting one of those surveys asking about your candidate experience. At least those are just selfishly asking for your time, not money.
Also, am I the only one who thinks that the “fictional family reunion” wasn’t “fictional?”
If there's a jobseeking horror story *you’d* like to share, reply or email [email protected]
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SHAMELESS PLUG
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SUBSCRIBER QUESTIONS
Thanks so much for all the great and funny content you provide regarding job searching, resumes, etc. I really appreciate it, and you are providing a great service to so many.
I have a question I can’t find an answer to anywhere on Google and was hoping to get a professional opinion.
I was laid off about 4 months ago and have had the #OpenToWork banner up on LinkedIn. I have had a contract job since the end of December. If I am still looking for a full-time job with benefits, should I add this current contract work/employer to my LinkedIn and/or resume? And if so, should I still leave the #OpenToWork banner on or remove it while I continue my job search? The contract work is open-ended, with no specific end date, and they are aware I am looking for a full-time job.
Thanks for any advice you might have, and thanks for all you do.
Hey there! Thanks so much for the kind words! I really appreciate it :)
First, congrats on snagging a contract job. It’s a tough market, and having some money to pay the bills is no small accomplishment.
To answer your specific questions:
1) If I am still looking for a full-time job with benefits, should I add this current contract work/employer to my LinkedIn and/or resume?
Yes! In my opinion, the most significant bias in hiring is the unemployed bias. (Ageism is a close second.)
“If they’re so good at what they do, why hasn’t anyone hired them?” The unemployment stigma is real; if you have a contract gig, you want to put that on your LinkedIn profile and resume. Someone hired you, and that’s a form of validation for recruiters and hiring managers. I’m not saying it’s right, but it’ll make you more desirable to recruiters/hiring managers if you’re currently working.
2) And if so, should I still leave the #OpenToWork banner on or remove it while I continue my job search? The contract work is open-ended, with no specific end date, and they are aware I am looking for a full-time job.
The key to your situation is, “They are aware I am looking for a full-time job.” You always want to protect your paycheck. So if you have any job, contract or otherwise, and if that employer will have an issue with you looking for work, do not publicly advertise that you’re looking for a new job. When your employment is at-will, don’t let anyone know you’re looking for a job.
But, in your case, if the employer knows you’re still looking for a full-time job, I’d still leave the green banner on!
Hope that helps! Good luck!
**Premium Subscribers! I’ll tell you how to list the contract work on your resume to avoid another type of bias! And since being employed is more desirable to recruiters than being unemployed, I’ll suggest what you can list as current experience if you’re unemployed right now (to avoid yet another bias).**
Have a question you want answered? Please reply to this email or email [email protected] for a chance to have me answer it in a future issue. If I still need to answer *your* question, don't worry. It's still in the inbox...no need to resubmit!
This week, I'm discussing:
My thoughts on 1-page resumes.
Does the About Me/Summary section of the resume work better as a paragraph or bullet points?
What an About Me/Summary should focus on.
Should you use an About Me/Summary section or a cover letter to highlight relevance?
Do you really need a list of skills, or is it better if they all appear in the resume somewhere? And should you focus on soft or hard skills?
Should you include older jobs on the resume?
What resume section I suggest you always include, and why.
How to list current contract work on your resume to avoid a bias.
If you’re unemployed, what you can list as “current” experience.
And I’m debunking a “a simple resume hack” that’ll get you an interview.
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Jobseekers, have a great rest of your week, and good luck with those applications!
-Adam
PS!! If you're enjoying the newsletter, let people know! Forward it, post it on social, tag me, whatever...the bigger the discussion, the better! The idea is to help as many people as possible!
About Adam- Recognized as a leading voice on hiring and workplace trends, Adam has been recruiting and providing career advice since 2003, developing high-trust relationships based on honesty with companies and jobseekers. A highly sought-after speaker, he has appeared in numerous outlets, including Bloomberg News, Business Insider, LinkedIn, and CNNMoney. You can find out more about Adam's resume and coaching services here.
Hey all! Thanks for being a premium member! I hope you find the additional info helpful as you navigate your job search.
Over the weekend I came across a post advocating an approach that’s been around for years…and is pointless.
Using white font.
If you’re not familiar with this “strategy” (and I use this term loosely), the idea is to copy the job posting you’re interested in and paste it into your resume in small white font so it doesn’t take up room and isn’t visible to the naked eye.
The theory is that, since the ATS decides what candidates/resumes the recruiter will view (some theories go even farther, suggesting the ATS is the deciding factor in which candidates will get interviews), inserting the job posting into your resume will greatly enhance your chances of interviewing since all of the keywords and phrases will match.
A variation on this is to just have a massive list of keywords, including skills and software that you do NOT have experience with, in the hopes that you’ll still get an interview.
Considering the ATS does *not* select which candidates to interview (or reject), this approach isn’t that useful. Even if the ATS utilizes a keyword scoring method to match keywords and then rank candidates in order of relevance (Which isn’t common. Why? Because careers and experience have nuance, and a candidate’s relevance to a job isn’t based on keywords any more than using years of experience to determine someone’s skill level.), the recruiter will still read the resume to determine which candidates to interview.
And if the only relevance and/or keywords that are on your resume are in white font, the recruiter can’t see it…if it’s the white font keywords that get the recruiter to review your resume, how can they select you for an interview if your relevance is hidden?
Not to mention some recruiters will just get irritated that you wasted their time by pretending to have relevance you really don’t have.
You’re better off taking the time to actually tweak the resume with the job posting’s keywords so the recruiter can actually, you know, see how your experience and skillset match up.
Basically, in careers, if someone calls something a “hack,” or guarantees an interview using a certain method, they’re either 1) lying or 2) don’t know what they don’t know.
Be careful out there!
Read a post or watch a video with questionable advice? Send it to [email protected] and I’ll debunk it!
How to list current contract work on your resume to avoid a bias:
First, you want to list the client as your employer on the resume and LinkedIn, not the employment agency. You want the client to be noticed, not the agency paying you. The idea is to showcase your value, so highlighting the client over the agency gives your experience a better feel to help avoid “temp bias.”
Then, as part of the job title, you want to include “(contract via [name of temp agency])” for 2 reasons. 1) To clarify that you aren’t misrepresenting yourself as a full-time employee of the client and 2) that you are on a contract, so it doesn’t look like you are leaving a job “too soon.”
If you’re unemployed, what you can list as “current” experience:
Consider listing any current/recent education, such as a certification or certificate, as your current/most recent experience in the Experience section to show the reader how you are keeping active. You can list something such as “Educational Pursuits” as the employer and then, just as you would with experience, include bullet points detailing the education and how you are upskilling.
Also include any personal projects related to your professional career field, which can also be included as educational pursuits.
And if you are a member of any organizations, especially in a leadership capacity, consider listing those in the Experience section just as you would work experience. Just be sure to add “- Volunteer” to whatever job title you list to avoid misrepresentation, along with bullet points of experience.
My resume has an About Me section with 3 bullet points, a list of soft and technical skills, my last 2 jobs (total of 16 years of experience), and my 2 degrees.
It is all on 1 page, but it’s pretty tight.
I am a former teacher who has spent the last 4 years training and supporting sales consultants in the education content space. I am looking to transition into a professional development job.
The 2 jobs listed on my resume are 1) the role I just got laid off from- the title of which is Academic Consultant and 2) my last teaching job.
(I could add one other teaching job and 3 part-time self-employed jobs)
My questions are:
1) Does the About Me work better as a paragraph or bullet points? What should it focus on? For most jobs I am applying for, I have been using the cover letter to show how my skills transfer. Should this be done here instead?
2) Do you really want/need a list of skills, or is it better if they all appear in the resume somewhere?
3) Is there a section I am missing? I could add my other jobs, volunteer work, etc.
Thank you for the work you do!
Hey there!
Those are great questions, but before I answer them, I want to address something else in your note: "It is all on 1 page." I'm super curious as to why you are limiting yourself to just 1 page, especially if you are looking to transition into a specific job?
I'm not a fan of 1-page resumes for experienced professionals. I get the same question almost daily: "With so many applicants, how can I stand out?" Context. Context highlights your relevance to the reader, and if you limit yourself to 1 page, I'm willing to bet that you're leaving off information that the recruiter will find valuable…especially when pivoting into something new.
When your job titles or experience are different from the job posting, having a 1-page resume is asking a lot from the recruiter to understand your fit (and they assume nothing that isn't on the resume). They don't have your professional background. They usually don't have the technical/educational background of the jobs they're recruiting for, and all they have to evaluate you is the job posting. So, successfully demonstrating your transferable skills is hard on 1 page when transitioning into a new role.
As for your specific questions:
1) Does the About Me work better as a paragraph or bullet points? What should it focus on? For most jobs I am applying for, I have been using the cover letter to show how my skills transfer. Should this be done here instead?
I like using the Summary/About Me paragraph to mirror the role's description in the job posting, highlighting your relevant skills and experience.
"Adam, isn't that what the cover letter is for?" While cover letters have value, especially when pivoting, most people don't read them. Consider the Summary/About Me section a cover letter that someone can't ignore (and keywords that can pop up in keyword searches). So, while you should discuss the same skills here that the job posting references, you can then use the cover letter to give detailed, specific examples using those skills. In 6-10 seconds, there's no opportunity for storytelling in the resume, but in the cover letter, you can give solid STAR examples to reinforce your relevance.
If you're unfamiliar with STAR examples, STAR stands for:
Situation (a time when)
Task (what you needed to do)
Action (how you did it, using the skills you want to highlight)
Result (achieving your goal)
2) Do you really want/need a list of skills, or is it better if they all appear in the resume somewhere?
Good question! I don't know any recruiters or hiring managers who will look at a list of soft skills and think, "Oh, it says they have experience with emotional intelligence. Let's interview them." I wouldn't list them. Instead, I would demonstrate the use of soft skills throughout the resume's experience and the cover letter (again, via STAR example).
As for the technical (software/computer/equipment) skills, listing them throughout the resume would be helpful for context, but I also suggest listing them in their own Technical Skills section. Why?
Again, you want to maximize your impact within 6-10 seconds. Showing the tech stack all in one place will help the recruiter notice it, as opposed to if a specific keyword is buried in the resume.
Some ATS only read/parse/recognize info based on headings, so you should have a Technical Skills section so the program can pull the correct info. Even if it is just Microsoft Office...it could help if it is on the job description.
3) Is there a section I am missing? I could add my other jobs, volunteer work, etc.
You could add the other jobs, but only if they are relevant and reinforce your candidacy. Ideally, you want to keep the focus recent and relevant, and don't leave off something that the reader could find value in. That's a judgment call you have to make based on the job and/or company you're applying to.
Same with the volunteer work. If the skills you used or if the organization you volunteered with has some relevance to the job/company you're interested in, highlighting similarities can never hurt. But if it's just something such as "worked in a soup kitchen," while certainly commendable and could resonate with a hiring manager, it's not demonstrating relevance to the actual job.
As for a section you could add, consider a Key Achievements section to highlight your top 3-4 achievements (quantified/qualified) based on the job you are applying for. Showing success is the easiest way to highlight your value.
I hope that helps! Good luck!
That's it for now, and send in those questions! Don't forget to put "Premium" in the subject line so I can stay organized!
Do you have any thoughts or suggestions for the premium membership? Let me know! The premium tier is a work in progress, and I want to create something of real value for subscribers.
Have a good one!
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