The Resume and Interview ULTRATHREAD: they saw Amazonian attributes

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > The Resume and Interview ULTRATHREAD: they saw Amazonian attributes

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Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Vegetable posted:

My dumb idea is that the science, technology, and medicine part connotes some kind of knowledge about STEM issues, albeit from a humanistic perspective. When I discuss it with recruiters it seems to make me slightly more interesting than generic history majors.

That said I definitely recognize how lovely the whole thing looks though.

If you're trying to find work in a STEM field, you're going to get laughed out of the room if you try to say that a History of Science degree gives you knowledge about STEM issues.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2015 00:00

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 21:27

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

GobiasIndustries posted:

Sounds good, thank you!

Next question: applied to a job last Monday, haven't heard anything yet and my job application status is still at 'In Progress'. Is there any good way to send an email just to see what's going on and what they are expecting the timeline for interviews to be?

If you were invited to apply or have a connection in the company, go ahead and e-mail HR or your connection to see what's up.

If you fired off a resume blindly, there's no way to do that tactfully.

# ¿ Apr 30, 2015 00:14

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Mourne posted:

What am I supposed to do with recruiters who have language and ethics issues?

I'm in PA and I have a BS in chem with a biochem concentration and a few years of paid academic lab experience. I have been applying to pharma jobs and I have a recruiter offering me 25% below base salary (according to glassdoor and salary.com) and no benefits for a company that I'd really like to work for. Should I keep playing ball with this recruiter? I'd really like to work for this company but going through the recruiter means a total compensation of 40k/yr (no health insurance, 401k, PTO) where as getting in with the company through their website would be closer to 60k/yr. The company offers 150% 401k match up to 6%, 3 weeks PTO, and good health insurance. I'm entry level with a bunch of undergrad research experience with a small school with a brand new 30$M building and a (senior) student faculty ratio of 1:1. I have learned and mastered many techniques that you typically wouldn't be exposed to until your third year in a PhD program. I understand I don't have much leverage here, but what should I do?

In addition the recruiter is clearly an ESL individual -- I can not understand them on the phone and their emails are full of typos and weird grammar and syntax. The recruiter has also been encouraging me to alter my resume to include skills that I am not familiar with. Going so far as to send me another candidates resume to "copy" to bring mine up to snuff. I didn't make any changes as the resume I was forwarded contained typos and and grammatical mistakes. This is obviously a huge red flag. Am I being scammed? The company website seems legitimate. I have a bad outside recruiter for an awesome company.

What should I do?

Does the recruiter actually work for or with the company? How did you initially get in touch with the recruiter?

# ¿ May 6, 2015 02:05

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Mourne posted:

No, it's a scientific staffing agency. He got in touch with me from a job I applied to on indeed.

I wouldn't expect the recruiter in this case to actually provide any benefit to you. Apply directly to the company. Also, feel free to ask the recruiter why there's such a discrepancy between the recruiter posted wage and the website posted wage. Also ask the recruiter exactly how going through him is a benefit to you. If you smell bullshit, bail.

# ¿ May 6, 2015 23:50

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Leroy Diplowski posted:

I don't know if people are still critiquing resumes, but here's mine. I feel like the skills section is a little weak, and the work experience is a little too verbose, but I'm not sure exactly how to clean it up while at the same time conveying what I was up to while self-employed.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d5JcsrErwOk9Qb_mFJgq1wKNS6czuJrQRLCNlR40nWo/edit?usp=sharing

E: this is babby's first resume

Work Experience

Owner/Operator Raley's Confectionary, Tallahassee, FL; Feb 2013 - May 2015
- New product Development: Turned an idea to a product, selling over 200,000 units in 2 years.
- Technology: Developed and administered e-commerce website; used various programs for business development, benchmarking, strategy, and bookkeeping.
- Sales: Facilitated buying process for over 100 B2B accounts including Whole Foods, Fox Onestop Media, Sea Island, Lolli and Pop, and more.
- Event Management: Planned and supervised over a dozen promotional events at FSU, Whole Foods, Sea Island, The NHML, The Tallahassee Museum of Natural History, The city of Thomasville, and more.
- Supply Chain Management: Managed Procurement, Logistics, Planning, and A/P for over 20 suppliers.
- Marketing: Ran Social media campaigns on twitter, facebook, and instagram, as well as SEO.
- Cost accounting: Maintained Balance sheets, Income statement, Statement of cash flow, and Prepared annual filings as well as reemployment taxes, sales taxes, and social security payments.

General Manager REDACTED, Tallahassee, FL; Aug 2010 - Feb 2013
- Managment: Interviewing, scheduling, training, and management of employees as well as customer service in person, via e-mail, and over the phone.
- Administration: Labor audits, Drupal Website Maintenance, and some basic bookkeeping.
- Events: Planned participation in events for
- Trade Show: Participated in the Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market doing product demonstrations, supervision of other employees at the show, booth setup and tear down.

Education

Florida A&M 2010-2012
Bachelor's in Business Administration

Brevard Community College 2006-2008
Associate of Arts

Skills

- Excellent written and verbal professional communication
- Basic web design
- Strategic Planning
- Proficiency in all MS office programs
- Comfortable and confident public speaking

Fix the typos. Make the verb tenses consistent. Use consistent capitalization throughout the document. Use consistent punctuation; either end all your lists with periods or not. It doesn't matter which, as long as it is consistent. Instead of "over a dozen", use an exact number. Don't say "including A, B, C, and more." Drop the "and more". It's redundant with "including". Don't use "as well as" when you can simply use "and". Don't use underlining, italics, and bold throughout the document to create impact. It makes it look like a mess. Finish the sentence under the Events sub-tab.

You should probably also drop the line about excellent written professional communication, at least until you fix the typos.

Edit: I know I'm being a bit harsh, but you're going to get much more useful advice in here if you give us a second or third draft rather than a raw first draft.

Dik Hz fucked around with this message at 00:15 on May 18, 2015

# ¿ May 18, 2015 00:07

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Leroy Diplowski posted:

I appreciate the harshness! working on cleaning it up now.

e: I'm afraid if I drop the underlining, italics, and bold then it will look like a sea of text. Are there some formatting tricks to use, or am I just misjudging the eyesight of a potential resume reader?

e2: Managment, lol - I could have sworn I fixed that . Oh wait, I uploaded the wrong draft to google docs

I went through and did a pass on your resume. A lot of my changes are personal preference things, so feel free to revert them if you don't like them. I like bold headings and regular text for bullet points. This is just personal preference and a style guide or someone with more experience would be a much better reference than me. I also like capital first letter on a list or heading and everything else lower case, except for proper nouns. This is also a personal style preference. I'd love to hear from an expert on this.

So, as for the changes. I don't like the "subheading: Stuff I did" format. I'm much more interested in what you actually did. When you lead with the subheading instead of the action, it puts you in a box instead of letting me figure out what you actually did. As a caveat, I am a hiring manager and not an HR person. When I get resumes, it's because either a recruiter or and HR person has passed them along to me. An HR type may give different advice and I'd love to hear it.

I also recommend axing your skills section. Excellent communication is something that everyone thinks they have, but needs to demonstrate by actually communicating effectively. Basic skills probably shouldn't be put on a resume. And your other three entries I think are best demonstrated by inclusion as action-verb blurbs in your job experience rather than listed in a skills section. "Used product demand forecasting software to determine appropriate inventory levels" is more convincing than listing strategic planning as a skill.

Again, these are just my opinions.

# ¿ May 18, 2015 04:49

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Deegan posted:

Are you getting screwed over by using a recruiter or a placement service when looking for a job?

When I've used them on the hiring side I've always felt that the rate we are paying for an individual is so much higher than what we'd be willing to pay a full time hire. For example, we'd pay a temp/recruiting agency $30 for someone that might normally earn $18-$22 in a full time position.

Now that I'm looking for a new job myself, I'm wondering If I'm getting overlooked because the recruiter is jacking up my asking rate too high. As a direct hire I'd be happy with $40 an hour, but are they bumping me up to $70/hour to make their margin? Sheesh, I'd have trouble justifying paying myself $70 an hour.

Now I understand that benefits and such are not included, but it still makes me wonder if the recruiter is pricing me out of jobs.

Rule of thumb is that it costs ~40-50% more than your salary to employ you in terms of benefits, payroll taxes, and overhead.

# ¿ May 21, 2015 23:09

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

GobiasIndustries posted:

Even though I've gone by my middle name since birth (if I were named Mark Alexander Smith, for example, people would call me Alex), I've always used my legal first name with middle initial on my resume, LinkedIn profile, etc; I should continue to do this instead of using just my middle name, correct? My old boss wrote me a letter of recommendation and used my middle name instead of my proper first name which brought this up.

Use first initial, middle name, last name. I have colleagues in your boat and they both do that. So M. Alex Smith.

# ¿ May 22, 2015 03:51

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

iroc.dis posted:

Question about an entry on my resume. I have about a 2.5 year period where I was between jobs. I'm sure it looks questionable when I don't account for it but I'm not sure how to because I was helping with several family emergencies. Stuff like day to day care for my elderly grandma, helping my parents retire and move cross country, helping both my military brothers move cross country. Any thoughts on if/how I should account for it?

I don't think gaps like that are as big of a deal as they were pre-Great Recession. You can throw a sentence or two in about being a care giver for family in you cover letter. I had a similar gap and that's what I did.

# ¿ May 29, 2015 22:34

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Toriori posted:

....I do want some honest opinions about asking her.

Xandu posted:

Don't tell your boss you're applying for a new job, tell her when you get an offer and give reasonable notice.

This is the only answer. There is no good reason to tell your employer you're looking for a job before you have an offer in hand. And there are a ton of bad ones. Don't overthink it.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2015 01:22

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

GobiasIndustries posted:

This week is my first of not having a job (laid off, company is closing) and I had a really good interview yesterday with a decision expected by the end of the week. Even though they know I'm unemployed, if they call on Friday and offer me the job will I look like an rear end in a top hat if I say I'd prefer to start on the 17th as opposed to the 8th? I've got a few appointments scheduled already for next week (dentist and vision) and I honestly need a little bit of personal time to get some stuff done around the house and get ahead in the masters courses I'm taking; having those extra days would be a huge help as far as starting my new position with a totally clear head.

You won't look like an rear end in a top hat if you tell them you're available on the 17th. It's common to take a couple weeks off between jobs. And honestly, I think it makes you look good to say you're using your time productively even though you just got laid off.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2015 22:19

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Saint Fu posted:

I'm currently working with a professional recruiter (3rd party) who seems to have good connections and was recommended by several former colleagues. Today he asked me to add my college GPA to my resume (graduated in 2008) because apparently "a 3.45 is very interesting for a number of employers out there". Just wanted to throw my experience on the collective pile of goon resume advice. Might be field-specific (chemical engineering) or maybe he has no idea what he's talking about.

Depends on your school and yes, it is field specific. A 3.45 from a good school in ChemE is a significant achievement that reflects positively on you. I'd put it on. Note: I've hired several ChemE's, and my boss is a ChemE.

# ¿ Jun 6, 2015 14:03

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Susical posted:

e: Also, they asked me the "where do you see yourself in 5 years" question - I loving hate that question. What do you goons think is a good answer that isn't generic BS?

That question is a sign of a lazy interviewer. It's almost as bad as the "What's your biggest weakness?" question. Just spout generic BS, because it's a sign that the interviewer doesn't know poo poo about interviewing.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2015 00:12

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Vulture Culture posted:

There's a big difference between "what did this person make?" and "did this person make the $X that they claimed?" Most employers would never, ever answer the former (but are under no specific legal obligation not to). Your income is really trivial information to get from a credit check, by the way.

This is why you should never lie on your salary history.

Your income is not on your credit history.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2015 14:58

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

C-Euro posted:

A while back I spoke with a recruiter who had a couple of positions open at a prominent company in my area. We had a bit of back-and-forth, and last I heard from her (at least a week ago, maybe two) the company was reviewing my resume along with those of other candidates. Today she finally gets back to me and they want to do a 30-minute phone interview with me next week! Except I'm starting my new job on Monday Obviously I'm not going to bail on my new employer for a chance to get hired with this new company, but I'd like them to at least have some record of my existence if in a few years I decide to look for another job and I like to practice my interview skills whenever I can. Would it be weird if I took the phone interview anyway, and then if they follow up with me later say "Oh jeez, I just accepted another offer, but thanks for your time", or am I just going to look like a douche? The other problem is that they want to interview me during the day next week when I'll be at work, think I can talk them into a 5 PM call?

Don't waste their time. Especially don't waste their off-work time. If someone did that to me, I wouldn't be happy about it. However, if they e-mailed me and said the job looked good, but they had already accepted another job offer, I'd keep their resume around in case they didn't like the new job.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2015 13:18

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Alder posted:

Thanks, fixed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_cmfqGXkblVZnlvRXBzMTdTb2c/view?usp=sharing

Instead of saying "Responsible for managing.....", it should be Managed. Lead with an action verb. Same with "Oversaw the sale of....". It should be "Sold...."

Also, like Esposito was saying, "frequently exceeded....." sounds a lot like "frequently didn't meet sales quotas". If your boss gave you a mention, you could list it as "Recognized for exceptional sales 5 times." Concrete numbers are always better than frequently, often, and such.

Tighten up your punctuation also. Either put periods at the end of every sentence/fragment or none. Don't do only half of them. It doesn't matter which way you go, it just has to be consistent throughout the document. Also, what's up with logo(s). Did you do more than one or not, or do you not know what the plural of logo is?

Your technical skills sections sucks. Of course you're proficient in English. Your resume should show that. Put an action verb in front of your android device. Did you program in that language, or do you just own one? I can't tell from your resume. Instead of "Latest PC hardware and building from scratch", put down what exactly you built. It'll have more impact if you put "Built 3 custom desktops using 64-bit Intel chipsets and incorporated them onto our network" (or whatever) rather than your current generic statement.

Also, with your mention of Photoshop. It'd have more impact if you showed your expertise rather than told. For example, rather than listing "Designed printed flyers and coupons", you could say "Created 5 full-page advertising flyers and 12 coupons using Adobe Photoshop CS5"

Sorry for being a bit harsh, but I mean well. Honest.

# ¿ Jun 28, 2015 02:56

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Tony_Montana posted:

Ok, it's time to ask for help...

I haven't had much luck with my resume, after finishing my Master degree abroad and coming back to my country. I have had a few unsuccessful interviews and a low reply rate to my applications. The main problem I have, I think is the fact that my work experience is too focused on being a certain type of professional services consultant, despite having a broad education. No one seems to be able to see past that and imagine me in a different position, even my Master degree hasn't helped with that. I think in the past I was too passive and indecisive and know I've cornered myself against a wall.

It also doesn't help that in this country almost all of the positions above entry level are about Sales / biz development or Financial analysis, which I have studied but have no experience in. Many jobs that I apply to are kind of an enigma to me, because I simply have never worked in those environments. Therefore it's hard for me to assert and sell myself well in some interviews, it's hard to think of transferable skills.

Any feedback / very specific interview tips are welcome.

http://s0.docspal.com/files/processed/46/7984446-tbubgotn/CV_-eng%20SA.doc

Your resume is so incredibly vague that I can't tell what you contributed to the projects you worked on. For example, saying "Worked with Project Managers to ensure the success of assigned projects." could describe anyone from the cleaning crew to the CEO. Likewise, what does "Ensured that projects met quality standards and helped with routine and advanced operational tasks." actually mean? What exactly did you do?

# ¿ Jul 2, 2015 22:12

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Vulture Culture posted:

Cards are cornball as poo poo. Send an email if you want to follow up.

I disagree. An e-mail is perfectly fine, but a nice card is always a positive. It can't hurt.

# ¿ Jul 17, 2015 23:30

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Eschatos posted:

I appreciate the advice all around. I should have clarified that I'm not seeking these IT jobs to help with starting a coding career, mostly just to pay the bills while I expand my portfolio and increase my skills on my own time. Your other points are definitely good ideas, though I'll admit I'm not too fond of Stack Overflow.

Anyways, here's the latest resume revision, complete with proper formatting. I've decided to leave in the Office mention, just because most of the postings I'm looking at lately explicitly list skill with Office in their requirements. Might as well check off that box. I figure I can add and remove from the other skills I listed based on job posting requirements. I'm not too sure what other improvements are possible without a full rewrite, maybe put in a little fluff for soft skills or the various work experience descriptions.

Link

You put copy editing as a job responsibility, so I intentionally read your resume looking for gotchas. You have a well-formatted, easy to read resume. I don't think it's holding you back at all. The only thing I noticed is that you sometimes use the Oxford comma and sometimes don't. It's a style choice, but should be consistent.

I agree with leaving the Office proficiencies on the resume. It's assumed that people know that at this point, but it does build confidence in your competency when you show that you know it is important.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2015 01:30

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Julie And Candy posted:

Should I just keep it short and sweet and just thank him for his time, or should I treat it as if he's the one deciding to hire me or not?

I'd write it like I intended to work with him every day, and wanted to make a good impression. Professional and succinct.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2015 18:52

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Hashtag Banterzone posted:

Resume formatting question - does this look like I took a demotion instead of got a promotion?

I'm at a bank and the job levels are Nothing<Assoc<VP<Exec Dir<Managing Dir.

If I just saw that titles, I would assume a demotion. That's because in my industry, Chemistry, Associate Chemist is always lower than a Chemist title. Your industry may be different. But you can clearly show your increased responsibilities in the bullet points to clarify that yes, it was a promotion.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2015 23:46

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Vulture Culture posted:

Most companies don't like to waste time interviewing people who turn down an offer at the eleventh hour due to compensation, though, so do be aware that this works best at companies who aren't getting a lot of talent applying for the position. (Supply and demand.)

If you get a compensation package offer at all, they've already decided they want to hire you. So, you never have more power for negotiation on salary than at the eleventh hour. Sure they may not like it. But it's better to close on you than start over from square one. That's why you should never throw out the first number. Because once you do, you cap out your potential. If you're willing to walk away at the eleventh hour, you hold the power.

And like we've already pointed out in this thread, if you negotiate for more money up front, your employers are more likely to perceive you as valuable and deserving of future raises.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2015 03:33

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

FogHelmut posted:

I'm having trouble getting callbacks applying for jobs in California while I live in New Jersey. Should I use a California address? I do state in my cover letter that I am in fact moving to California regardless, which is scary because holy poo poo I don't have a job, but I'm feeling they're just passing me over based on my current location.

It depends on the job level. For entry level, if you're not local, they're probably not even going to read your resume.

# ¿ Jul 30, 2015 22:34

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

GobiasIndustries posted:

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone in the thread again for the advice you've given; I was offered a position today after being laid off two months ago. It's a 25% pay increase from my previous employer, I'll have the option to telecommute, and the verbal offer was given at the end of the interview, which considering this isn't an entry-level position was pretty awesome

Congrats!

I wish someone would crawl this thread and the negotiation thread to tally up the amount of money goons have earned in part due to the advice in these threads. I'd bet it's at least a couple million at this point.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2015 01:27

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Star War Sex Parrot posted:

For the one you're gonna send out: lose the internships, lose some bullet points under the two main employers (focus on accomplishments over responsibilities, and quantify as much as possible), bump the font size a little, and lose a few of the generic proficiencies. Also move the location of the employer over to the right side, and move the date down a line to be on the same line as the title. The bolded employer name and then location separated by just a comma looks awkward.

One person's opinion.

I'd leave the internships on, because it establishes the narrative that you were actively working on your career as an undergrad. I do agree that you need to focus on accomplishments and quantify.

I'd lose the proficiencies section completely for targeted resumes. If you're applying to a specific position, select the most relevant proficiencies for the job you're applying to, and show that you are proficient by putting a good action-verb bullet point in a job block. And then highlight it in your cover letter too. If you're just throwing resumes at aggregator sites or posting them on-line, leave the proficiencies block in so it's searchable. Also, include your GPA if it's > 3.0.

Again, just one opinion. I don't think your resume will hold you back any.

edit: Also, good job fitting >10 years of experience onto a single page resume.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2015 18:35

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

FogHelmut posted:

Should I lie about my current salary? I feel like I'm paid normally for where I live and what I'm expected to do. But salaries a quite a bit higher in the region I am applying. Are the thinking I'm not making enough and am therefore bad?

Don't lie, simply because lies during recruitment are grounds for termination at any point in your employment. But you have no obligation to tell them your salary, so don't. If the insist, or pressure you, make excuses or tell them your target number. The only reason for them to know your current salary is so they can lowball the gently caress out of you.

# ¿ Aug 6, 2015 23:33

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

FogHelmut posted:

Is there any stigma against taking 6-month contract/temporary positions?

If you're an entry-level employee, it's expected. If you're established, there would be a stigma. But if you're hard-up for a job, take it and start looking for a full-time job.

# ¿ Aug 8, 2015 02:40

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Hawkeye posted:

Would you accept a job offer after just Skype interviews and no in-person interviews?

I am a U.S. Citizen, in the U.S. but have been actively interviewing for jobs in the UK. Mostly because my wife and I would really liked try the living overseas thing and I'm in a field that has that opportunity (biotech, PHD level).

After three Skype interviews with a company in the UK they have made me an offer. The salary is 5,000 pounds lower than the salary I've been told I would be offered at UK company #2 if I was hired (stuck in bureaucracy right now before they can fly me out for a final round interview). Also company #2 has a 4,000 pound cash bonus vs unknown bonus at this offer.

My plan is to email them back and discuss salary/relocation that I would be comfortable with, but is it unreasonable to say I can't accept without first being flown out to meet and see if it is a good fit in person? Because it seems sketchy to me that they don't want to have me meet them in person first. To be fair, they are a smaller company than #2.

Edit: I'm currently employed for at least a few months so it's not like I need this to live.

I don't have personal experience with that exactly, but I would think that it's hard enough to get a PhD level job in the UK as a US citizen so beggars can't be choosers. Plus PhD biotechy people are used to dealing with difficult personality types, so both you and they should be able to work with anyone, right?

But on a bigger level, you're living abroad to learn a new culture and meet new people. Dive in and do it.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2015 22:59

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

SLICK GOKU BABY posted:

Ok, So I'm working on putting a resume together because it's time to think about moving up in the world and am kind of stumped on what to put for an employer... Basically I work for a franchise for a major hotel brand and I kind of torn between putting the franchise company that's technically my employer (but unknown) or just using the major hotel brand that I am working at.

Edit - Didn't want to triple post so going to put this here. Went ahead and put together a quick resume and asking for where I can improve it. I'm going to take a shot at a management position for a movie theater that is opening in the next couple of months.

Thanks for the help!

Make all your verb tenses match.

Don't start a bullet point with "Responsible for..." Go with an action verb like: "Balanced and audited hotel charges at the close of each business day" or something like that. In stead of "Respond to....", I'd go with "Resolved guest concerns efficiently, while providing courteous customer service." For the trained item, I'd throw in a count of how many people you trained.

For your theater server jobs, what the gently caress is up with your use of the word 'strong'? Are the skills you don't list 'strong' for 'weak'? Drop it. Show, don't tell. Instead of "Provided strong leadership....", Go with something like: "Lead a team of 2 bartenders and 3 runners at the service bar during dinner service, achieving average ticket times of less than 5 minutes."

Rather than your guest service skills section, which isn't worth addressing, I'd suggest putting in any certifications you have. Like Safe Serv or IT certificates from your degree. You probably had to have some sort of background check or something to manage the night shift at the hotel, right?

# ¿ Aug 14, 2015 18:03

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

SLICK GOKU BABY posted:

I see I mixed some tenses up for the current job, I started doing it all in past tense before realizing it made sense to put my current job in present tense, missed some in trying to switch that. Will take everything else into consideration as I work on improving the resume.

As for certifications, I really don't have too many, Serv Safe sure, but that's pretty much it, never really went after IT after I graduated, realized I didn't like it at all. Also you'd probably be surprised/scared how little of checks they actually do for a hotel job (it's just a regular old background check).

Also while I'll improve it, I like having some sort of basic skills section as it's something that can easily be tailored a little bit to specific job postings, although I'm only planning on sending to one place at the moment.

Put out your best product before asking for help and you'll get better help.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2015 22:28

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Vulture Culture posted:

Ask the recruiter if you should wear a suit. They won't lie to you.

Don't necessarily listen to the recruiter because their incentives may not be aligned with yours. That being said, wear the suit. Nobody has ever said, "I was going to hire him, but he wore a suit to the interview."

# ¿ Aug 18, 2015 03:02

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Mexican Radio posted:

Anyone have experience with juggling multiple companies offerring to fly you in for an interview? It seems unethical to have Company A pay for a flight only to have to me secretly stop by Company B on the way back to the airport. In this case their offices are 10 miles apart and I live 1,000 miles away. I'd really like to avoid making two trips and taking more time off my current gig.

My gut tells me to disclose that I'm speaking with more than one company and assume I'll pay for the trip myself (which is okay with me), so that if either company offers to foot the bill they're doing so knowing the full situation.

I interviewed a guy that was interviewing with us and another company on the same trip. He just gave a heads up to HR with both companies and they handled it professionally. He wound up joining us, and both HRs reimbursed him. It's just normal business operations for hiring. Don't overthink it. Just be open and honest with both HRs, and if one gives you poo poo, it just tells you that you didn't want to work for them anyway.

# ¿ Aug 18, 2015 03:25

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Bicuspid posted:

Yep. Plus if they already told you to go business casual AND you're interviewing for an administrative assistant position where you'll never wear a suit on the job AND you STILL wear a suit ... I'd actual feel like you're hurting yourself by coming off as unable to or unwilling to follow instructions. Which is like the one thing you want out of your administrative assistant.

The only upside is you look so adorable in your little suit that they go awww and laugh at you afterwards. Is that an upside you want?

If you're given direct instructions, obviously follow them. And if you look like a high-schooler in a prom tux, you should probably learn how to wear a well-tailored suit. But, its completely possible to wear a suit, look good, and not look like an out-of-date dinosaur.

If you're unsure about what to wear, wear a suit. If you're one of the 5 people this year who is applying to hip young start-up in San Francisco, didn't receive instructions on what to wear, and can't read social clues well enough to know when to follow internet advice and when not to, then you should probably wear khakis, a Hawaiian party shirt, and Tevas. And own it.

# ¿ Aug 19, 2015 01:45

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

ShadowedFlames posted:

Ok, so I had my second interview on Monday (another hour of behavioral questions) with the company. I was told to expect a phone call late last week to early this week from them to let me know if I was hired.

Had not heard from them by 10 am local time this morning so I called the company as a follow up. Both interviewers were out today (one on vacation) and I was told to expect a call from a recruiter by close of business instead.

No phone call came. This is a fairly reputable payroll management company (over 540K clients) so I'm not expecting a bait and switch or anything of the like here.

Am I right to start writing this off as a lost cause at this point, or should I give them until midday Friday or so before calling again to get an answer? This is the best lead for a job that fits my skills pretty drat well that I've had in over a year and with my getting less than zero interest with 95% of my apps/cover letters, this is one I don't want to get away due to a lack of diligence on my end.

You've done all you can for now. Keep pursuing other offer, though.

# ¿ Aug 27, 2015 02:06

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

The Lord of Hats posted:

I'm in a similar situation--phone interview, promise that HR would contact me, and then nothing. I did send a follow-up email, and got a response reiterating that HR would contact me, but I still haven't heard anything. Should I email again to get the contact information for the HR person, or should I call the person I did the phone interview with?

Call HR.

# ¿ Aug 31, 2015 00:01

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

KernelSlanders posted:

I have two fairly unrelated questions. What is the rule-of-thumb for at what point in a career one's resume can bump up to two pages? In an interview, how do you answer, "why are you looking for a new job?" Obviously, you don't want to say anything negative about your current employer, but "I don't have as many opportunities for advancement as I'd like" seems a little disingenuous if I'm applying for a parallel position.

I disagree with others on the first point. My rule of thumb is never. Nobody has ever read the first page of a resume, been undecided, and then hired someone because they read the second page. A one-page tailored resume sends a strong message that you know how to communicate well. If you're applying for a job that requests a CV, that's different obviously.

As for the second, just give a weasel answer. Everyone knows you're looking for more money.

# ¿ Sep 1, 2015 22:59

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Downs Duck posted:

3,140 applications for me, over four years now. Giving up isn't an alternative. Keep strong and keep it up.

wtf. If you send out more than 20 and don't hear back you're doing something wrong. >3000, you obviously need to change something up.

# ¿ Sep 3, 2015 02:30

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Dream Attack posted:

I've got a question about having realistic prospects! I recently graduated with a B.Sc. in cellular biology, and I've been looking for all kinds of lab technician positions (chemical and biological labs). However during my bachelor's I didn't work in any labs over the summers, so my only real technical experience is from the coursework I've completed.

Would this lack of summer lab positions (etc) significantly bar me from entry level positions as a basic lab tech? I've put out many applications already but haven't received any call backs - I understand that this could be for a million reasons, but I'm suspecting that many employers would rather take a new graduate that already has experience and some professor references. Is this totally off base in your experience?

Also I've been submitting resumes for the positions and not CVs - all the positions I've seen have asked for resumes, but I'm not sure if I should put together a CV instead and try that way. Thanks for any insight!

You screwed up by not working in a lab while in college. For anyone reading this who's still in school getting a BS, you need to work in a lab as much as possible to get a job or get into a good grad school. It should be your number two focus after GPA while in school.

That being said, check out temp agencies. Anything you can do to get your first scraps of experience. Companies like Lab Support and Aerotek are always looking for people. Do you live in an area with a lot of biotech? If not, move. Take anything you can get. You can move back to where you actually want to live when you have experience.

What's your GPA like? If you got good grades, you could always talk to professors you were close with at college and see if they need lab techs. It's unlikely, but it might work.

As for a CV, if you haven't done any lab work, you don't have anything to put on it. You don't need a CV for entry level positions anyway. Did you do any sort of senior design project? You can possibly talk that up as experience. I know it works, because I hired a guy with no lab experience who could talk intelligently about a senior design project in ChemE that incorporated the skillset I was looking for.

# ¿ Sep 5, 2015 12:39

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Youth Decay posted:

I'm growing increasingly frustrated with my job search. I graduated in May with my bachelor's and have been primarily applying to entry-level lab tech type positions, both in university labs and in biotech/pharma companies. My problem hasn't really been getting to the interview (I've had 15 out of ~80 applications), but I seem to be failing every interview and I have no idea why. This latest one I was 99% sure I did awesome on, the company has high turnover, is rapidly growing and is desperate for new employees and I thought they really liked me...but I got a rejection email a few days after. I can't tell what I'm doing wrong. The rejection letters always say something like "We got a lot of applicants and you were not chosen" without really saying why. The only thing I can think of is that something is wrong with my body language or speech. Or one of my references is loving me over but I can't imagine they'd do that. Anybody know how to go about "troubleshooting" interviews?

Yeah, something's definitely wrong. 15 interviews from 80 applications is very good, but no jobs from 15 interviews is very bad. Is your resume accurate? Maybe call your references and ask if they've gotten any feedback about you, or if they have any advice for interviews. It should give you confidence that they're actually giving good references. Do you have a mentor of some sort? Like a university professor whose lab you worked in or class you did well in?

Other than that, unless you can be more specific, I don't know how much help we can be.

# ¿ Sep 20, 2015 14:16

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 21:27

Dik Hz: Feb 22, 2004; Fun with Science

Youth Decay posted:

Well here is the generic version of my resume (I try to tailor it somewhat to each position but it generally looks like this)

I've had interviews both in academic lab tech positions for specific projects and entry-level tech interviews at companies. The interviews typically ask about the research ("It was a three-semester honors thesis in which I used molecular techniques to study the regulation of bacterial virulence factors") and then the lab assistant position ("I worked with the lab manager to support the activities of my college's biology department and keep the labaratory running smoothly" and then sort of restate my resume/cover letter.
My answers to their "soft" questions:
Q: "Where do you see yourself in 5 years/what is your career goal?"
A: "I eventually would like to pursue a PhD in microbiology to move forward in my career as a scientist, but I would like to gain several years additional work experience, learn more methods and broaden my skills before I go into such a degree program.
Q: "Where else have you applied?"
A: "I have been applying to a variety of positions in academia and industry where I think I can use my knowledge and skills."
Q: "What is your greatest strength?"
A: "I am a very organized and efficient person and this shows in my work. I can complete tasks quickly but still maintain accuracy."
Q: "What is your greatest weakness?" (god I hate this question)
A: "I am more of a mathematical-analytical minded person than artistic, so I sometimes lack creativity."
And the typical questions I ask are "What is a usual day on the job?" "What is the biggest challenge in this position?" "What is the training process like?" "What are my opportunities for advancement?"

This most recent interview that I mentioned was kind of unusual in that I had 4 mini interviews with 7 people total, all manager-lead tech types and then the HR person. The interview itself set off a zillion alarm bells in my head about the company (i.e. many comments from the leads about being overworked, HR person saying that they had recently hired a corporate psychologist to figure out ways of increasing employee motivation, the management being very very young) so that might have affected the way I sounded to them? Plus having to repeat myself so many times to different people...

My references are a professor who I took a bunch of courses with and I know really liked me as a student, the PI for my research (who also spoke highly of me) and my supervisor for that lab assistant job (who gave me superior reviews every year).

The other thing that might be hurting me is that I have a mild speech impediment that doesn't normally pop up in conversation but if I'm talking too fast or trying to say things like lipopolysaccharide or spectrophotometry then I stumble over my words. I don't know how much that would hurt me for a technical interview though.

On another note, this is the format for another interview I have on Tuesday. It's for a desk job as a "biomedical support specialist" (consultant). Has anyone ever had this kind of format? I've been reviewing the math and my old biology textbook but I don't know how much they're expecting me to dig out of my brain.

Your resume looks excellent, and I can see why you've gotten so many interviews. 4 years as a lab tech, winning multiple grants (even if they're small), and presenting your research is the holy trifecta every fresh out of college entry level applicant should have. Even if it is just a small grant and a regional undergraduate conference, the fact that you sought out these experiences and were successful in them is a big deal. Don't make self-defeating comments about winning money and being able to present your research.

First off, don't mention wanting to go for a PhD. When you say that, even if it's years in the future, what the employer hears is that you already have a plan for leaving and will bolt at the first opportunity. What you should say instead is that you plan on improving your skills and using those skills to benefit Company X by getting promoted to Scientist.

Also, with the speech impediment. Many people wrongly substitute language ability for intelligence overall. People in science, particularly, are very rigid in this area. I hate to say this, because in an ideal world you wouldn't have to say anything. But maybe a self-effacing comment acknowledging that you have a minor stutter or tic or whatever would help your interviewers see past it.

That interview posting is setting off alarms in my head. People don't set up interviews like that for science positions. Post it in the Lab Chat thread here and maybe someone else can give you more info.

Also, if you're set on going to get your PhD in the near future, why not now? With your resume, you should be able to get in pretty much anywhere, provided you can knowledgeably talk about your research. Just don't go to a soft-money institute and never work for anyone less than a full professor, no matter how energetic and excited they sound.

# ¿ Sep 22, 2015 00:12

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > The Resume and Interview ULTRATHREAD: they saw Amazonian attributes

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