The Art of Resume Writing

Having rewritten my CV a few times over, I lent what little expertise I have to my husband to help him revamp his resume as he prepares to enter the job market once again. And then it hit me--the true essence of crafting a CV. Resume writing: "How to Toot Your Own Horn without Being Ridiculously Obvious About It."

Resumes are humorous to me. Useful, clearly, but also humorous. Of course prospective employers want to know all about my fabulous skills, experiences, awards, degrees, blah blah blah. In Latin America, it's even customary to put a personal objective and colorful, positive adjectives that describe you. Obviously resumes are necessary in this day in age, and it's reasonable to expect that they be accompanied by an interview--after all, CVs are just a piece of paper. Still, sometimes I can't help feeling like resumes are a bit of a joke. Who wouldn't paint a stunning picture of themselves on their CV (while still sticking to the truth, of course)? One CV I came in contact with for some research I was doing was a whopping 62 pages! That's academia for ya. Some people don't even bother adhering to their actual work experience, although I don't happen to know any of those people personally.

While a CV will certainly highlight skills that one has developed over time, or critical work experience for a particular position, who's to say that the person produces quality work? Will they work well with the rest of their coworkers? What idiosyncrasies do they possess? What "weaknesses" will hold them back in their day-to-day activities and overall productivity?

While it's ever so fun to focus on everyone's positive qualities that they bring to the table, it's often essential to understand people's weaker points or areas that need improvement to identify a truly strong candidate for a job and a particular work environment. This is where interviews do come in handy, admittedly, but let's keep in mind that those are only a total of a couple of hours at most, even if there are multiple rounds of interviews. I suppose first impressions, instincts, vibes, and the like come into play here, in addition to how the job candidate performed overall in the interview. I recall that in my job interview for my current position, the HR worker interviewing me did ask me directly to name a few of my strengths and weaknesses. Even that's a mind game--you have to avoid the "I work too hard" suck-up weaknesses, as well as the other extreme of admitting the "I'm impatient and make tons careless mistakes" or the "I drink on the job" types of glaring flaws.

In the end, resumes will continue to be a collection of everyone's best qualities and every single skill ever cultivated in the teeniest tiniest way, and I will continue to snicker at all of us singing our own praise. Hey, maybe we even deserve it!