RE: Resume inflation (was Re: [SAGE] Tests for Systems Administratorinterviews.)

[Scott.Link@edwardjones.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: chaos [mailto:chaos@glassonion.org]
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 10:22 AM
To: sage-members
Subject: Re: Resume inflation (was Re: [SAGE] Tests for Systems
Administrator interviews.)

--(snip)--
So, i think the real question is, how do you exert some downward
pressure to balance out the upward pressure?  It seems like attaching
some real stigma to lying on your resume would do the trick, but
i'm not convinced that that's within the power of the sage-members
mailing list.

-Chaos
------

The firm I work for fires people for lying on their resume. Sometimes it 
is so egregious they can be shown the door immediately, other times it 
was subtle enough to require documentation, performance plans, etc. 
before they were shown the door.

On the networking front, I heartily offer a "me too!" to the power and 
rewards of networking. When the economy was tough, that's how I got my 
job. I was layed off in '02 and received access to "outplacement 
resources" as a parting gift. It was a week-long class at Right 
Management (www.right.com) where we worked on a "personal commercial" as 
a tool to facilitate networking--essentially, a verbal ice-breaker to 
use when meeting someone who may or may not be able to help you--as well 
as resume and interviewing workshops, and other assessments to help in 
career development. Very different approach from job-seeking, btw. It 
was a good experience and wouldn't hesitate recommending using such a 
service. Mind you, you're only going to get out of something like this, 
what you put into it. If you go in thinking "this is pants", then your 
experience isn't going to be very positive.

Which, I suppose, could lead into another off-topic 
discussion--attitude. Very important to have a positive one. Don't be a 
polyanna, but figuring out ways to keep looking up and feeling up-beat 
is important. People can pick up attitude and if someone is layed-off or 
out of work, but they are still positive, that speaks volumes about how 
that person handles stress and adversity.

I could ramble on and on, so I better bail now...

Good luck to all the job seekers, keep your chin up!

-Scott