Interesting Resumes

A few summers ago I was riding the bus (good old reliable public transportation) on my way home from work. I had a very monotonous and unpleasant job which I really hated, and my whole life was in a rut. It was about 2:45 in the afternoon and an unusual thing happened. At a bus stop a group of at least 20 youngsters got on. I would say they were all about nine or ten years old. One sat down in the empty seat beside me and a couple of others sat in the seats behind me. I didn't talk to the kid who I was sitting next to because he probably wasn't supposed to talk to strangers, and I was a stranger. One of the kids sitting behind me, though, was quite the chatter box and talked the whole time while I had the privilege of being in his vicinity. I put it that way because something he said struck like a great hammer of wisdom. After I heard him say it, I turned around in a nonchalant manner so I could get a good look at him. Who was this kid, anyway? He was skinny, had spiky blond hair, and glasses (kind of like that kid on "Meet the Robinsons" come to think of it). The part that I remember of the conversation he had with his friend went something like this:

Kid With Spiky Blond Hair: I went to my friends house and his house was huge! And he had everything! But all we did was watch TV for eight hours.

Kid With Spiky Blond Hair's Friend: Yeah, some kids are like that.

Kid With Spiky Blond Hair: Not me. I want to be interesting.

When he said that I laughed. But then I thought about what he said for the rest of that day. And now, two and a half years later, a week hasn't gone by when I haven't thought about what he said. In fact, it's become part of the driving force behind my life. I want to be interesting, too. So I've tried to do some interesting things in the past couple of years, somethings were more interesting than others, and some may be interesting to no one but me. This brings me to what I was wanting to talk about when I started writing this post: Resumes.

But before I do that, I'd like to pay tribute to that kid with the spiky blond hair. He didn't know it, and I probably wouldn't recognize him if I passed him on the street today, but he changed my life. Have I ever changed anyone's life like that? If I have, then I'm probably as clueless as he is about how he affected mine. But even so, may all who read this, and walk in the street and ride the bus every day have such a chance -- when they least expect it, and don't even know it -- to change someone for the better, and take it.

Ok, back to resumes. When I was first introduced to the concept of resume writing I heard things like: write the resume that stands out above the rest, or, make your resume grab the employer's attention. Naturally when I heard this I thought, I've tried my hardest these past couple of years to be interesting. Of course I could come up with a resume that would stand above the rest and show how interesting I am. I wanted my resume to be interesting, too.

But then I learned about resume scanners, HR departments, and it's no wonder that my incredibly interesting resumes have not gotten me any results. Resume writing is actually an elimination game. The whole point isn't to stand out, but to not get eliminated. It's like the TV show Survivor. Except it's an office person that votes you out, without an island ceremony and flaming torches. And instead of competing for $1 million, you're competing for a job that will only make you $1 million if you work there for 300 years. Well, maybe not so long, hopefully.

So now, trying to be interesting is secondary. I haven't been doing such a good job at that in recent months, anyway. More importantly, I try not to get eliminated.

Before I go back to my job hunt, if any of you out there have come to this blog post looking for resume writing wisdom and are disappointed, but are still reading for reasons unbeknown to me, I thank you for your patience in reading my spontaneous thoughts. For your trouble here's a couple of web sites all about resume writing and job hunting which I found helpful: jobhuntersbible.com and susanireland.com. Good hunting!