Re-sue-mays

I'll often come across resumes so far fetched, or just so incredibly unbelievable that my jaw drops. As a matter of fact, these are usually the times when the entire office probably hears me (through a closed office door) say aloud, "Are you kidding me?".

Hiring time usually means bracing yourself for the opening of the massive flood gate, especially when you are looking for an administrative candidate. For example, a job post on Craigslist for a Receptionist or an Assistant will, from my experience, yield about 150 resumes in the course of 2-3 days.

From the 100+ resumes, the ratio usually looks like this:

• 20% qualified, or acceptable
• 15% overqualified
• 20% unstable
• 15% no significant experience
• 5% desperate
• 25% utter morons

Over my time, I have created a fast and easy solution to the "weeding" process. It's so simple really... Here's the process (in addition to the obvious):

1. On the post, request for a significant detail, I usually ask for the resume within the body of the email. This will not only show that your candidate has read the post, it will also show that he/she can follow instructions, not to mention save your computer from viruses.
2. Reviewing the resume, pay attention to the spelling. If someone can't spell, or use spell check on their resume - do you really want that person working for you?
3. Toss any candidates who send emails from vulgar addresses, this means addresses like - sexyhot6969@.....com, angelbabycakes@.....com, toocool69@....com
4. Check Myspace... it may be screwed, but believe me - myspace speaks louder than words!

Given that, I'm closing with a letter I sent as a response to a candidate applying for an administrative asst. position. I required a resume within the email, contact information, and salary requirement. Here's the response I received, notice the bold, italicized, blue sections:

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From: XXXXXXXXXX [mailto:XXXXXXX89@yahoo.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 9:04 AMTo: job-XXXXX@craigslist.orgSubject: INTRESTED

XXXXXXX XXXXXX

310XXXXXXX

1500 DOLLARS A WEEK.

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Yup! That was IT! I just couldn't bare it and I had to respond...

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From: xxxxxxxx [mailto:xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 9:20 AMTo: xxxxxxxxxxx: RE: INTRESTED

XXXXXXXXXXX,

For an asking salary price of $6,000 per month, I’d think an employer should at least see a resume with your qualifications and background. Unfortunately, your contact information and a salary requirement does not proffer much persuasion.

Kindly send a resume to support the $72k salary requirement. Thank you.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXXXX