I am constantly amazed at the skills people exhibit when looking for a job. Now, I understand that it’s not something you do every week and maybe I should be more sympathetic, since I haven’t done it but once in my life when I got a job as a bag boy in high school.. I get at least two requests per month from friends who are looking, or know someone that is, that want to know if I can help. Email is a powerful tool. When I get a good lead from these sources (and good leads are hard to find), I circulate the resume, along with instructions to forward to their friends. I have never done this when a job offer didn’t appear. The list of friends I distribute it to is a few hundred people. Just think, remember all the jokes and crap you get that was forwarded numerous times, and how much exposure a good resume could get in adjusts a few hours. It’s easy to see how such a resume could get noticed in a busy world!

 But, on to the story! About half of the job hunters don’t have a resume! Another quarter have horrible resumes. There are lots of tools on the internet to help prepare a resume and we published an article on this topic a few months ago (you can find it at www.autosalvageconsultant.com). There simply isn’t any excuse for not having one. Many applicants are younger, or seeking blue collar jobs, and don’t think it’s important. They are so wrong. Just think about it: Let’s say you are hiring a parts puller, or wrecker driver, paying, say, $10 per hour. You will get a number of applicants I suspect. I would wager that only a small minority will have a resume. Who will get the most attention, or even a glance, in such a busy world? Of course, the applicant with the resume. I could actually see my receptionist calling me, or attaching a note to an application and resume, having received 14 applications and no resumes. The note would say something like, “This one looked good and as unbelievable as it sounds, actually had a resume.” Also, visit our web site to see a prior story on the importance of the cover sheet that goes with the resume. Remember, it’s a busy world, and it’s hard to get noticed.

 Some things seem so obvious. But then, those without resumes will likely blame the corporate world for not getting a job. It would never be their fault; they don’t want to be culpable or accountable. Just as well, we didn’t want to hire them anyway.