Can I laugh and cry at the same time?

[JambaBamba]

I'm looking for a new receptionist since the one I have is always calling in sick (current theories either very bad home situation or looking to get fired to try to claim unemployment). So far over 900 resumes received. Most people that I see where there are misspellings or no dates in the work history I just move on and don't read anymore. Today I came across this gem. This was all that was sent in response to the ad:

hi i am looking for a job as a reciptinist.
i am good multitasking.
i am very poliet and easy to talk to.
im am also really good in MSword,ecell, and out look,
i am really goood wit computers and internet.
please email me back asap.

I really don't know whether to laugh or cry...

[Sheldonrs]

Well it doesn't say that he/she has good language skills.

[morgana]

I really don't know whether to laugh or cry...

I'd be doing both, if I got that in response to an ad.

In fact, I think I'll do both anyway. I've been looking for a new job since February, because my current one is going away. I have near-perfect grammar and a wonderful resume, and I ended up taking a two-year term job doing something I'm gonna hate.

And that one won't have a clue why he/she/it won't get the job. *sigh*

[WhiteRose]

you should respond with:

Please send further proof of education, past employment, community involvement, etc... and four recommendations, two of which must be professional (IE not a friend or relative)...

[Gerrinson]

I noticed you said that you skip any that have a gap in work dates. I just want to point out that I feel sad about that for a couple reasons:

1) Please don't write someone off just because they had the bad luck to get fired and took the advice of the Unemployment Office. I've been there and it sucked. I had a stint on unemployment where they told me to not find a job because they could get me a grant to go back to school for a degree which could be finished in a single semester. After that, I had a very hard time finding work even though I was sending out a ton of resumes highlighting both my past work experience, training, education, and skill sets.

2) I did get a resume sent back to me (prior to my time on unemployment) which detailed the number of 'gaps' in my work history along with a request to fill in the 'gaps'. The problem with this is that I had a job that I worked from 1995 - 1999. In the middle, I worked some second and third jobs, which were part time but imparted valuable experience and skills (the reasons I took those jobs.)

The guy reading the resume couldn't pick up on that fact, even though I did label that they were secondary jobs in addition to my primary employment at the time. So, while there were 'gaps' if one scanned only the start years, there was no gap if he had fully read the time span of my primary job or any of the notes about those secondary jobs. I replied with my explanation and asked him to hire someone else, as I did not wish to work with him as a manager after his letter.


So, anyway, please try not to discount someone just because they've had some time off from work or may have what appear to be gaps in their employment history. Although with over 900 resumes, I can see where that would whittle down the pile. Good luck finding someone reliable!

[JambaBamba]

I didn't say gap in work dates, I said no dates. If you explain gaps in work for x reason, I'm okay with that (either on the resume or in the cover letter). If there are no dates anywhere on the resume I begin to think that something is being hidden. Since I work for a recruiting firm I know from experience that normally people are hiding something when they don't put down any dates.

I normally work on resumes for the recruiters here and it's very hard for me not to send back a personal response to everyone I'm not interested in telling them all the things they could do to make their resume better and be more likely to get a job.

Unfortunately because I do work for a recruiting firm the owner won't let me hire any one who is hoppy (short stints at jobs - multiple jobs for long periods of time are fine, or one long job with other part time jobs happening at the same time are okay too). The only time that rule is flexible is if they are in the first few years of college.