Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?: A Crash Course in Finding, Landing, and Keeping Your First Real Job (12 page)

One candidate included the fact that she had worked at her father’s regionally famous reptile zoo. Although her work there had nothing to do with the job she was applying for, the interviewer was intrigued, they had a great conversation, and she was hired. Think about it: How many résumés have you seen containing the word “reptile”?

While a “hook” is designed to grab the reader’s attention, a “marker” is an item or word that intentionally or unintentionally gives away
some aspect of your background and identity. You need to understand how every word on your résumé comes across—I don’t want you to include any unintentional markers.

You may want to use markers intentionally, for a particular purpose. I’m frequently asked if—and how—one should indicate things like race, socioeconomic status, religion, sense of humor, sexual or political orientation, health, and marital status. If you wish to define yourself in some particular way, it’s easiest to do it in the Activities and Interests section of your résumé: Gay Students’ Association, Church Choir, Campus Hillel, African-American Students’ Association, Young Republicans Club, and so on. Markers can work for or against you, depending on your reader’s
personality and politics. Usually it’s worth the risk: By showing your true colors, you can find like-minded colleagues, increasing the chances of a comfortable work environment.

SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO SPELL IT OUT

Beware of marking yourself incorrectly. When I saw a résumé featuring the Democratic National Convention, I assumed the candidate was a Democrat. I asked her about it, and it turned out that she was a staunch Republican but had worked on a nonpartisan welcoming committee. We added the nonpartisan line. Whatever your personal or political beliefs, be aware of how the items on your résumé might stereotype you in the mind of the reader.

People often ask about expressing their sense of humor. The best way to introduce the subject is by including markers that allude to your sense of humor—you might mention that you wrote for the campus satire magazine, or list comedy or improv in the Interests and Activities section. The real thing is best left for an interview or thank-you note, or for your references to address. If you’re really funny, an original turn of phrase or tone may attract a reader—but humor that falls flat will absolutely work against you.

So will overembellishing your hooks. I’ve seen people write “Extensive
travel” under Activities and Interests. This means different things to different people. If you include Sweden on your travel list and it turns out the interviewer is Swedish, a barrage of questions might follow. What did you like best about Sweden? How long were you there? When did you go? If you spent a couple of weeks there and can’t even remember where you were, you’re in trouble. If you lived there or have relatives there, visit frequently, and know the culture, then you have something to talk about. (If the job relates to travel, or to that particular region, you’ll have a lot to talk about.)

Conveying a sense of time on a résumé can be tricky. If you’ve taken breaks between jobs or held a particular job for only a brief amount of time, you may feel that specifying dates will work against you.

Don’t worry. No matter what your track record, dates should be as discreet as possible. Set them in a smaller font than the rest of the text and/or in italics and parentheses. Consolidate. Instead of writing “Summers, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004,” try “Summers 2001–2004.” You never need to note specific days (“January 28, 2004, to March 4, 2005”); bracket your time using months or seasons, as in “January 2003” or “spring semester, 2001.” (Using seasons is a great way to get around a short stay at a job—though you can’t lie if you’re asked exactly how long you stuck it out.)

If you’re still at a position, the copy should read “2007–present.” What’s more, any job you currently hold should be described in the present tense. Past jobs should be described in the past tense.

Yes, you want every item on your résumé to help you stand out. But keep in mind that you own your résumé and thus are responsible for everything on it. Sometimes the line between self-promotion and dishonesty can be a fine one, so ask yourself: Is there anyone from whom you would wish to hide your résumé because you’ve exaggerated your responsibilities, inflated your title, or lengthened your stay at a job?

Assume that everyone you’ve ever known and everyone you’ve ever worked with will see your résumé. Let’s say you send it to the head of a company. It turns out her assistant is someone you went to school with. You don’t want the assistant telling her boss, “I can’t believe he said he ran the tutoring program on campus—because I did that, and he was one of my tutors!” The world is very small. You never know who will see your résumé, so put your best foot forward, but don’t make things up!

Q. I spent my post-graduation summer traveling in Europe. How do I indicate that?

A.
I would advise you to leave it off, unless you’re applying for a job that requires language skills or an interest in travel. In spite of what you may have heard elsewhere, you don’t have to be a slave to chronology. If someone asks you about that time period in an interview, feel free to tell him. If you earned the money for this trip yourself or were awarded a traveling fellowship, by all means mention it. But if you didn’t, be careful how you present the subject. It is not a college graduate’s inherent right to travel the world—although the tone of many privileged students would lead you to believe otherwise.

Q. Is it all right to use abbreviations?

A.
With the exception of state names, try to avoid abbreviations. Rather than saying you worked somewhere “Jan–Feb 2002,” just say “Winter 2002.” If you must abbreviate, do so consistently and correctly—though if you’re that short on space, you may not be adequately consolidating your information.

Abbreviations may be necessary to avoid orphans—a publishing term that refers to a single word left dangling on a line at the end of a paragraph. Never, ever leave a word or part of a word alone on a line of your résumé. Every line is sacred. Cut or rewrite to fill as much of each line as possible.

Q. I am not an American citizen. Do I need to indicate that somewhere on my résumé?

A.
Yes. Don’t get an employer all excited about hiring you and then tell him at the last minute that you’re not legally able to work in this country—or that you can only work if the company procures your visa. I’ve been on the hiring end of what I consider a bait-and-switch situation and I didn’t like it.

So that you can’t be accused of pulling any punches, I recommend centering your status on the bottom of your résumé in italics. For example: “French National. J-1 Visa Pending” or “Irish Citizen; Eligible for Company-Sponsored Visa.” Not sure whether you have the proper documentation? It’s your responsibility, not the employer’s, to investigate your employment status. Save yourself some time and disappointment by applying only to companies that you know sponsor foreign nationals.

You want your résumé to look professional and neat; you also want it to be legible. It’s supposed to be about your accomplishments and experience, so you don’t want to be remembered as “the one who sent in her résumé on purple paper.” Likewise, avoid all seals, embossing, logos, designs, drawings, and postage-stamp-size photographs (unless you are an actor or performer of some kind). Note: If you are looking at jobs in a design realm, different rules apply, as your résumé doubles as a showcase for your work.

Separate your entries (Education, Experience, and so on) and give your résumé visual clarity by using horizontal lines or space breaks. Category headings should be left-justified or centered.

Use a hierarchy of fonts and styles throughout: bold capitals for your name, capital letters for your categories, bold for company names, italics for job titles, and so on. Dates should be right-justified on the company name line.

These basic guidelines should have you covered:

Paper size:
8½ by 11 inches

Paper quality:
The paper should be good-quality, sturdy stock that’s not flimsy or see-through; neither should it be as thick as cardboard. If you can see a watermark (the seal or pattern on good-quality paper identifying the manufacturer) when you hold the paper up to the light, make sure you print so that the mark is upright and reads in the right direction. Use envelopes from the same paper stock. (Buy them with the paper to make sure they’re a true match.)

Paper color:
Use a conservative white, off-white, cream, or ivory.

Ink color:
Black