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Resume humor
NickTheNewbie
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm going to a job fair tomorrow. Do you think employers would be intrigued/entertained if I put "Time Person of the Year 2006" (it was a mirror that said "you" for youtube) nestled in the "awards/recognition" section on my resume, or do you think it's inappropriate humor for the situation?
NickTheNewbie on
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Now imagine what the people who didn't get the reference would thing...
Hopefully it's a good idea?
edit: and I currently have a part-time job and they saw my resume when they hired me and did not run screaming.
edit #2: Sentry asks us "Now imagine what the people who didn't get the reference would thing..." My guess is that they would thing you're lying and check up on it, discover the joke, and chuckle.
So I guess as long as you have a solid resume, it wouldn't hurt to throw it in.
Some people are very results focused. When they have a stack of 50 resumes in front of them they want to plow through it quickly. Anything they read on a resume which is a waste of their time may get a rise out of them and disqualify you because there are 49 other resumes which didn't waste their time.
I am one of these results focussed people and I only have 8 hours in a day to get results down. Time is my most important resource from a work perspective. If a person is wasting my time on their resume I would expect they'll waste even more of my time if they were my employee. If I had 50 resumes in front of me and read that on a resume I would immediately throw it out if I got the reference. If I didn't get the reference and looked it up, I would throw it out and call all my friends and let them know they shouldn't hire a person by the name of so and so.
Some people will be fine with it. Others will HATE it. I doubt anyone will hire you because of it, and some people won't hire you because of it. Because of the potential to create a losing situation and the lack of creating a winning situation I think you should leave it off.
On the other hand, some people might appreciate an attempt to break up the monotony of going through a stack of nearly identical resumes.
Personally, I'd think it would depend on the position that you where applying for. A customer service job may appreciate a person with a good sense of humor more then say, an IT position where you'll be working on $Texas servers processing millions of dollars in transactions in a day.
I've worked in HR and I can tell you that I'd find this stupid and would put your resume in the no pile right away. Unless I was hirer a clown, but I've never worked for a circus.
Many people in this thread have heard/seen this used on a resume before.
Hence, it is not a particularly effective method to make your resume stick out in such a way.
I did, however, make sure all the text was indented to make the shape of a dick.
Thanks for the sound advice.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
LOL
Now it will just be confusing.
Drop it.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
If you're going to put a joke on a CV - you'd better make damn sure that everyone will find it funny. Because I dont like reading CV's. And depending on my mood, you might make my day, or you might make my job easier.
I know someone that went for a marketing job, and attached their CV to a chocolate bar and a tea bag with a note (referring to one of the company's marketing slogans) about taking a break and reading the CV over a cup of tea and a chockie.
That was a good idea. A joke hidden in the text just isn't clever enough. It's not worth the risk.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Most employers won't spend more than a couple seconds looking at each resume, let alone the minutes it would take to check up some random fact you included in your awards.
If you want to add a few 'lulz' do so in measure at the interview, not on your resumé.
Wow, a whole part-time job? Impressive.
Also a kick ass business card is a great way to add the flash you can't put in a resume. While usually used when you have a business to sell things, consider your business selling yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YBxeDN4tbk
Steam | Live
If you want to get more creative, do it in your cover letter.
Unless you're going for a boring, common job, writing a boring cover letter that just follows the tired usual structure everyone uses is a good way of not getting noticed. As long as you're not lying, making inappropriate or obscure jokes (consider that your CV might get read by HR people before it even gets into the hands of someone who might get your geeky jokes) being funny in your cover letter looks a lot better than being funny in your CV.
Being funny on your CV is like being funny on your tax return: chances are the people who will first read your funny won't be in the mood for something like that.
Also, while it's OK to tailor your CV for each job, it's mostly just a question of choosing what to leave in and what to leave out, whereas it's generally a good idea to write a completely new cover letter for each job you're postulating for. That forces you to think directly about the people who will read the letter, and it also forces you to think about what you need to highlight the most about you that that particular employer might be looking for.
Also, it's always a good idea to learn the skill of putting yourself in someone else's shoes. Once you can actually see your cover letter and CV from an HR person's point of view, or from a particular department head's point of view, it becomes easier to write what they need and want to read.
Check out my new blog: http://50wordstories.ca
Also check out my old game design blog: http://stealmygamedesigns.blogspot.com
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if not: resumes are not the place for your rapier wit
Jesus christ you're an asshole. I'm glad I don't work for you.
Interesting CVs get interesting jobs. On average (if you applied to every job in the world), your hit rate will probably go down, but putting some humor (if it's *actually* funny) and unconventional formatting into your CV can make a big difference with the cool, interesting people that you actually want to hire you.
This probably only applies for jobs in Silicon Valley and other technology-heavy areas, but it's worked for a bunch of people I know - and they've gotten great jobs that they're happy with.
I would fire someone who wasted my time that way and would tell my friends about it. Why should it be any different whether they were actually working for me or just wasted my time with a resume? Either way it showcases someone who doesn't understand the value of time.
I've never had one of my directs quit and I've never fired anyone. I treat my directs like gold. I also pick direct who don't waste time and know how to work.
a lot of sites that do resumes and advice will tell you to be creative and wacky or whatever
usually a bad idea
yes it's a smart idea to stand out from the crowd
but resumes are not the place for jokes
nor are they the place for anything except arial or courier or a similar font
don't put fucking fancy ass borders on it
don't color it
don't misspell ANYTHING. Proofread that fucker
do NOT think you are the smartest dude ever and hand deliver it to the CEO while he's at lunch, being forward at the right time is a good move. Going directly to the fucking boss for an entry level position is a good way to never be considered
Use a professional folder
for the LOVE OF GOD do not put STICKERS on your RESUME
Rane is right, we live in the digital age.
Blingee that shit up.
That's pretty funny. Is that a clip from the American version of The Office or something?
Someone once came into my work to hand in a resume, and the cover letter started:
"Jeremiah... Feels good doesn't it? A little bit sexy, a little bit biblical..." and went on to say how he's the greatest person in the world, without giving details to anything he's actually done. And sure, it was kind of funny to read, but more in a "Wow this guys pathetic" way.
One or two small jokes? Sure, as long as they aren't offensive and would be got by most people. If its an overused one (personally I'd never heard of this one yet and got a chuckle out of it) it probably won't be effective.
This is perfect advice.
Its legit shit apparently.
I don't buy it. The whole thing reeks of satire. And that business card is just utter dogshit.
Some good examples here http://creativebits.org/cool_business_card_designs
Steam | Live
Yep, padding. Anything that you add to a resume that doesn't describe why you're qualified is instantly seen as padding.
Padding isn't always bad, but it never gets you a job. If I do a job description like this:
Customer Service Representative
- Received phone calls in support of the IT department
- Provided assistance for IT problems
- Represented the technical team to outside clients
- Recognized as first responder for external problems
- Nicknamed B A Baracus by supervisor
Yeah it's pretty hilarious because you spent 5 lines saying you answered the phone. I would laugh if I saw that on a resume, so the humor indeed worked.
But you wouldn't get the job. I'd hire the person who most likely spend 3 lines explaining how they did a hell of a lot more work than you did.
I thought the same thing. Although I did enjoy the School of Hard Knocks one.
If you're going for humor you have to really knock it out, because if you fall flat you're going to either get tossed aside or marked down.