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Benny can you explain your student loan situation again. Do you have private loans? What type of loans do you have? I work in higher education and I still can't figure out why you're having issues (or being forced into forbearance?)
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Aug 14, 2013 01:04
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Benny the Snake posted:Well I gave my resume to Resumes to Interviews and when I explained I didn't have the letter they decided to put on my club publicist position under volunteer work. When is the last pro-active thing you've done for youself Benny. That is to say, that actually you initiated and had a good result? You seem (understandably) passive and not really engaged in your ultimate outcome. I know your having a hard time deciding which is a "right" decision vs a wrong one, but don't you have anyone at all to run by these kind of critical decisions by? Like a friend or whatever?
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Aug 14, 2013 02:40
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You need to add Microsoft Office, Gmail/Google Apps, Mail, iCal, etc to your resume/cover letter. You don't have any software experience according to your letter.
cname fucked around with this message at 03:58 on Aug 14, 2013 |
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Aug 14, 2013 03:48
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cname posted:You need to add Microsoft Office, Gmail/Google Apps, Mail, iCal, etc to your resume/cover letter. You don't have any software experience according to your letter. Is this stuff really worth putting on a resume at this point? I really don't have a clue - I've been assuming that basic MS Office (or equivalent)/email programs/etc are just standard expected office job stuff now, to the point of not even being worth mentioning. But perhaps I assume too much?
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Aug 14, 2013 10:45
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Fugue Stater posted:Is this stuff really worth putting on a resume at this point? I really don't have a clue - I've been assuming that basic MS Office (or equivalent)/email programs/etc are just standard expected office job stuff now, to the point of not even being worth mentioning. But perhaps I assume too much? If you submit your resume electronically, they may use some sort of program to grade it before people see it. In general it's a good rule of thumb to put everything, including basic office skills on there to ensure you don't get excluded by a computer program somewhere.
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Aug 14, 2013 14:12
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Fugue Stater posted:Is this stuff really worth putting on a resume at this point? I really don't have a clue - I've been assuming that basic MS Office (or equivalent)/email programs/etc are just standard expected office job stuff now, to the point of not even being worth mentioning. But perhaps I assume too much? For an office administrative/clerk job it is as using them will be your primary task. Otherwise no not really.
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Aug 14, 2013 14:22
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Fugue Stater posted:Is this stuff really worth putting on a resume at this point? I really don't have a clue - I've been assuming that basic MS Office (or equivalent)/email programs/etc are just standard expected office job stuff now, to the point of not even being worth mentioning. But perhaps I assume too much? I usually look for it. Just one example why: I'm a manager at a title insurance company. A lot of my applicants are non-practicing attorneys, many of whom were in private practice for decades. A lot of them are really accustomed to dictating everything to typists or administrative assistants, to the point where they don't even know how to reply to an email or save a Word doc. I learned that lesson the hard way, and now I always make some pretty thorough inquiries to verify that applicants at least have the fundamentals of office production software down.
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Aug 14, 2013 15:49
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Hello everyone, I run the Resume to Interviews company that created Benny's resume, and I feel like I should explain some of the logic behind the moving and removing of Benny's campaign experience. At the time he ordered, Benny told us that he was using the resume to apply for writing positions. Specifically, he mentioned that it was for a writing internship at a local newspaper. Benny's campaign experience was only three weeks long. When we listed it as volunteerism, it was only 90 hours. As we've already shown, Benny's resume is full of short-term jobs, so the idea of removing it came after deciding that adding yet another short position which was not relevant to the target he told us he was shooting for would do more harm than good. I was unaware of Benny's situation or his need to apply to other positions. Otherwise, I may have made a different call. Benny, I will create a new draft of your resume this week with the campaign experience included so that you may use it to apply for clerical positions. I do recommend keeping it under "volunteerism", however, because a three-week volunteer position is a much brighter spin than a three-week job. Moving it to volunteerism had nothing to do with the letter, it was completely about the length of your work. (I am not even sure what "the letter" is referring to.) As with all clients, if there's a decision made in your document that you are unsure of, or a change in your situation, please feel free to ask about it during the collaborative process. That is how a strong document is made.
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Aug 14, 2013 16:36
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Hahaha wow for some reason I thought this campaign stuff was months long.
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Aug 14, 2013 16:39
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Three weeks? Benny! In this whole thread, you've made that campaign gig sound like a serious thing that you chose instead of looking for paid work because it was a potential opportunity for career advancement. Thanks for the explanation, DustingDuvet.
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Aug 14, 2013 16:41
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DustingDuvet posted:Hello everyone, Aw heck, Thanks for the offer. Leme email you so we rectify this situation 
Benny the Snake fucked around with this message at 16:49 on Aug 14, 2013 |
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Aug 14, 2013 16:47
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Benny the Snake posted:Wait, I could've sworn I specified it was from January to March; so that's at least two months. Benny even two months is a really short time to be in any position. Although, I question what you actually told Resume Company.
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Aug 14, 2013 16:50
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Benny the Snake posted:Wait, I could've sworn I specified it was from January to March; so that's at least two months. If that is the case, then I apologize for the miscommunication, and we should definitely get this rectified. It is listed on all your revisions as only one month, with ninety hours worked. I will make sure this gets taken care of.
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Aug 14, 2013 16:53
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See, the internship started on the 28th of January and ended on the voting date, March 12th. This was a primary election and we all expected for there to be a runoff but my candidate was KO'd so that's why it was such a short internship. Also it was ten hours week so...about 80 hours more or less over seven and a half weeks.
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Aug 14, 2013 16:54
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Mods: Please rename thread "Dunning-Kruger effect in action". Thanks.
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Aug 14, 2013 16:57
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Benny the Snake posted:See, the internship started on the 28th of January and ended on the voting date, March 12th. This was a primary election and we all expected for there to be a runoff but my candidate was KO'd so that's why it was such a short internship. Also it was ten hours week so...about 80 hours more or less over seven and a half weeks. 10 hours a week was what prevented you from seeking a full time job for 2 months. 80 hours is 2 weeks of full time work you did over 8 weeks.
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Aug 14, 2013 16:59
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You paid for a resume to apply for writing jobs. Do we not see the irony here?! Also, Benny-- you told the guy you wanted writing jobs? You need ANY job. Stable jobs. A job you can do. What happened to "writing is just a hobby." And ... 90 hours. The bulk of your professional experience is 90 hours. That's the equivalent of two really busy weeks at work for most people. Thanks Dusting Duvet. I didn't and don't think Benny needed your service, because what he really needs is a job at Target-equivalent, but I had a feeling your service itself wasn't the issue.
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Aug 14, 2013 17:00
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Guys, come on, what's wrong with being delusional?
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Aug 14, 2013 17:02
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Mods: Please rename thread "Dunning-Kruger effect in action". Thanks. This really seems to be clearly the case. He went on an on about confidentiality forms, his 'network' of campaign workers, the unnamed candidate, blah. He worked 10 hours a week, I doubt the candidate even met him, much less knew his name. Benny you really
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Aug 14, 2013 17:14
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Just when I thought this thread couldn't get any better... The most potentially entertaining part of any E/N thread is the part where a poster who knows the OP in real life shows up and pops their story like a balloon. This is probably the next best thing.
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Aug 14, 2013 17:27
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I had to do 8 months of fulltime 40h/week internship for a stage of my lovely bachelor's degree, and you think 10h a week prevented you from jobhunting? I'm on your side but you have some very poor judgement man.
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Aug 14, 2013 17:42
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Mods: Please rename thread "Dunning-Kruger effect in action". Thanks. loving Hell, Benny. Also, yeah, 10 hours a week for 8 weeks isn't a job. It's volunteering.
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Aug 14, 2013 17:50
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Eh, I still think he should play it up in his cover letter. Even if it was a volunteer position, it seems to be the only thing he has that's relevant to finding clerical work.
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Aug 14, 2013 17:53
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Pfirti86 posted:Eh, I still think he should play it up in his cover letter. Even if it was a volunteer position, it seems to be the only thing he has that's relevant to finding clerical work. I don't think anyone's saying "Don't use it for all it's worth", they're just recalling early-thread "I'm too busy with this very intensive work to look for other jobs".
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Aug 14, 2013 17:55
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Ursine Asylum posted:I don't think anyone's saying "Don't use it for all it's worth", they're just recalling early-thread "I'm too busy with this very intensive work to look for other jobs".
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Aug 14, 2013 18:09
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Ursine Asylum posted:I don't think anyone's saying "Don't use it for all it's worth", they're just recalling early-thread "I'm too busy with this very intensive work to look for other jobs". Exactly, and you don't put the number of hours you worked per week on any resume, just the start-end dates. Months in this case but its better than nothing. e: Benny the Snake posted:Oh trust me I was looking for jobs on top of that: I even turned in my resume to the congresswoman who my candidate was gonna replace...speaking of which I'm gonna contact her. Bonus points if you listed him on your resume.
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Aug 14, 2013 18:10
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Ursine Asylum posted:I don't think anyone's saying "Don't use it for all it's worth", they're just recalling early-thread "I'm too busy with this very intensive work to look for other jobs". Fair enough, I recall that too. I'm still rooting for you Benny. On the plus side, you're still pretty young, and as far as we know you haven't been arrested or charged with a felony yet. And you just seem clueless, at least you're not an rear end in a top hat or a piece of poo poo. That already puts you over a lot of other people in this country.
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Aug 14, 2013 18:12
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Darth123123 posted:Bonus points if you listed him on your resume. "Everyone loves a winner."
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Aug 14, 2013 18:14
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Darth123123 posted:Bonus points if you listed him on your resume. I don't really think it's terribly uncommon to work for one candidate in the primary, have them lose, then work for their opponent who advances to the general election.
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Aug 14, 2013 19:54
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If an activity you only spend 10 hours a week on is fair game for a resume, I'm going to have to add jerking off to mine
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Aug 14, 2013 20:05
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lexan posted:I don't really think it's terribly uncommon to work for one candidate in the primary, have them lose, then work for their opponent who advances to the general election. I meant when he applied to HER campaign while he was volunteering on the opponents staff. That would be cool I guess with Benny being so high on the campaign totem pole. Just seems awkward to apply midstream. By far not the most awkward Benny move though.
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Aug 14, 2013 20:08
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Benny post a picture of a Target pay stub sitting on top of a pile of comic books to prove that you're not a troll.
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Aug 14, 2013 20:14
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Benny the Snake's second cover letter posted:Dear Sir or Madam, Hey Benny, I've been following your saga for ages. You've already got a lot of great advice on your cover letters. I'm on my office's hiring committee, and I screen and review the cover letters and CVs of our applicants for entry level positions (I interview as well), so I hope I can add some additional relevant advice for you. Seeing the hiring process from both sides has been a huge eye-opener for me and has massively affected the way I would apply for positions in the future. When I review our applicants, I sort them into three piles based on their cover letters and CVs: Pile A (excellent candidates, will interview), Pile B (acceptable candidates, will interview if nothing from Pile A works out), and Pile C (the C is for "comedy"). The first cover letter you posted would have ended up in Pile C, but you already know that. Your second cover letter is a big improvement, though. A couple things in your letter stand out to me that you might want to consider changing. "Dear Sir or Madam" is fine, but if you know the person you're submitting your application to, of course you'll address them by name ("Dear Mr./Ms./Dr. Lastname", etc.). This is not a personal letter, so your salutation should be punctuated with a colon rather than a comma (since you're in the US). Never start a formal letter (or any letter, really) with "My name is..." That's flirting with the comedy pile. Your name is at the bottom of the letter, the HR person will look there if he or she wants to know your name. Try something else for an opening line, like "Please accept my application for the position of front administrative assistant", or, more conversationally, "I'm pleased to submit my application for the position of..." I always read cover letters before looking at CVs, and I would think many if not most HR people do the same. Cover letters and CVs all start to look the same after the first ten or so, so if the cover letter doesn't grab my attention I probably won't even look at the accompanying CV. A cover letter gets my attention by being professional, applicable to the job, and appropriate in tone. The last one is the toughest to get right. You want to sound competent and professional without being a stilted beep-boop robot. Nobody wants to work with that person. Some parts of your second letter still sound stilted, like the second sentence of the first paragraph and the last sentence of the third paragraph. Lines like "I'm confident that I'm the best fit for the job", are cover letter cliches and should be avoided. Whenever I read something like that, I say to myself "I'll be the judge of that." I might have missed something earlier in the thread, so if you've got something going on after August 26th ignore this, but you shouldn't be trying to dictate when your interview will be held or that they should contact you "soon". If you get invited to an interview, do everything in your power to accommodate the time and date you were offered. You might want to consider changing the gist of your last paragraph to something like, "I'd be very pleased to meet with you to discuss my suitability for the position", etc., etc. The rest of your letter is not bad, but not great either. These are editorial changes, but find a way to lose the semi-colon and "on the spot" in the third paragraph. Discussing your campaign experience and duties in brief was good. If I were reviewing your application, you'd be solidly in the B pile (assuming your CV is in order). I think you can try to work a little more on applicability to the position and professional but conversational tone to get into Pile A. Think about typical admin assistant duties, things like data entry, scheduling, telephone communication, running a front desk, maintaining office equipment and supplies, taking minutes, drafting memos and other correspondence, or any other duties mentioned in the jobs listing as advertised, and try to map that to your experience. In fact, you should mine the job listing for things to include in your letter (don't just copy and paste them in though, and remember to keep it professionally conversational).
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Aug 14, 2013 20:38
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Priestess Cashmere posted:Amazing advice that Benny will not use This is really amazing stuff and hopefully some lurkers will benefit from this advice. I have one minor point though: Priestess Cashmere posted:I always read cover letters before looking at CVs, and I would think many if not most HR people do the same. I am in charge of screening applicants for my company and never read cover letters. They simply get ignored. I feel like this happens way more often than people realize. Not saying that it's an excuse for people to slack on their cover letters, but just be aware that not all organizations treat them the same way.
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Aug 14, 2013 20:53
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WampaLord posted:I am in charge of screening applicants for my company and never read cover letters. They simply get ignored. I feel like this happens way more often than people realize. Not saying that it's an excuse for people to slack on their cover letters, but just be aware that not all organizations treat them the same way. They're mostly useful for quickly screening people OUT.
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Aug 14, 2013 21:04
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WampaLord posted:This is really amazing stuff and hopefully some lurkers will benefit from this advice. I have one minor point though: Cover letters can also be an indication that you actually read the job posting; most of the applicants for a position I was helping hire in my workplace didn't include one even though they were asked to, and they were promptly ignored for interviews for being incapable of reading thoroughly and following directions.
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Aug 14, 2013 21:13
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WampaLord posted:I am in charge of screening applicants for my company and never read cover letters. They simply get ignored. I feel like this happens way more often than people realize. Not saying that it's an excuse for people to slack on their cover letters, but just be aware that not all organizations treat them the same way. This is good to know! Cucurbit makes a good point too that you can think of your cover letter as a courtesy. And as Arch Stanton says, you can also manage to get yourself screened out by sending a poor cover letter (the comedy pile). So I guess my advice to Benny would be to polish that cover letter up, but don't rely on it. Tailor your CV appropriately. Priestess Cashmere fucked around with this message at 22:33 on Aug 14, 2013 |
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Aug 14, 2013 21:27
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Priestess Cashmere posted:(excellent stuff snipped)
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Aug 14, 2013 21:46
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Done and done; especially for the "on the spot" and "my name is" bits. The rest of it will take more time to get around since it's a habit but I'll kick it sooner than later. Can anybody explain how I can format my .doc files directly into a GMail without having to go line by line and get rid of the extra spacing? It's tedious as heck.
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Aug 14, 2013 21:48
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Benny the Snake posted:It's tedious as heck.
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