What is wrong with people ?

[ewrn]

I am a new grad who has had trouble finding a job so my husband said he would talk to a friend of his that has connections to see if he could get me a job. I was optimistic about the idea and emailed the man my resume to pass along. Today he sends me an email back about how I need to tweak my resume to get better results so I made changes but I didn't agree with listing all the skills I performed during clinicals because I have not performed them enough to be proficient which is understandable as a new grad. He sends me another email back saying ...

This resume is not different than the one you sent me. I have a question: how has this resume been working successfully for you? How many jobs and interviews has it gotten you?

Okay I can understand what he means but then he sends this to me ...

I sent out again without finishing and editing. Oh well, remember the resume is only a ticket to entice the employer to give you an interview. Once we tweak your resume, my nursing friend and I will give you a mock interview.

- on your objective: "Seeking RN position, preferably nights and weekends. Willing to work flexible hours and overtime as needed by my employer. My husband and I are childless, supportive of each others career, and he will be dependent on my income for several years so he may start his own mechanic business."

That will definitely put you in the interview pile. At the interview, tell them you cannot have children and you are not looking to adopt or explore alternatives. Remember, you can always change your mind. Maternity is always a concern with younger workers. They cannot ask, but you can tell them.

If you do not drink alcohol, put it down. If you do not smoke, only put it down if you also do not drink alcohol. Otherwise, never mention it.

I thought this was inappropriate and I was upset that he thought it okay to put my personal business out there like that. My husband must have told him a have a condition that can cause infertility but I would never tell an employer that. Do you think I'm overreacting?

[jrodrig2]

psycho! move on boss, this is totally not cool advice. good advice would be check out the total potential for a job in your area, consider a move if you think it will help, incrase your number of credentials like pals, acals, bls instructor, cen, that sort of thing. you have a BSN that is pretty nice. you passed the boards. it's just a matter of time before you get a good job offer, if you are thinking you need to improve your interview skills that can be done with the help of GOOD experienced nurse that preferably does hiring or has done it. credentials are fairly easy to get and look great. you could add a nice medical mission to a poor country that looks great too. this is some of the things i have done to bump up my game. and dont forget, stay out of trouble!! happens to the best of us.

[natalia13]

maybe just send him what hes asking for and go back to what you had after.

get more input.. try your teachers even though you graduated.

check online or locations around you to get professional input..

what i noticed to help is keep it short and right to the point. good luck.

[thehipcrip]

The way he went about it is abhorrent, but the info he suggested does make you a more attractive candidate in this tight economy.

Stating on your resume that you don't smoke is very savvy advice. Employers are deeply concerned about keeping their health and disability insurance costs down. Those who smoke and drink tend to be less healthy, so in addition to being most costly to insure, they also take more sick days on average than those who don't. Not being a smoker also means you won't be taking smoke breaks during your shift.

Saying you don't have children and aren't planning on having a family addresses employer's concerns that a new grad will only work for a year before starting a family -- which then means filling that position during a parental leave and that you will be less available to work overtime or come in on short notice once you have a new child.

Ditto with the info about your spouse being dependent on your income. It implies you'd be more willing to work overtime and take extra shifts. Any time an employer can get hours out of an existing employee instead of having to hire a new one, that employer saves money.

[Nccity2002, MSN, RN]

Well, the way I see it, in his way...he was trying to help....:thankya:

Say thanks, and find someone who can help you improve your resume (Most community colleges offer career assistances)

good luck

[ckh23, BSN, RN]

The way he went about it is abhorrent, but the info he suggested does make you a more attractive candidate in this tight economy.

Stating on your resume that you don't smoke is very savvy advice. Employers are deeply concerned about keeping their health and disability insurance costs down. Those who smoke and drink tend to be less healthy, so in addition to being most costly to insure, they also take more sick days on average than those who don't. Not being a smoker also means you won't be taking smoke breaks during your shift.

Saying you don't have children and aren't planning on having a family addresses employer's concerns that a new grad will only work for a year before starting a family -- which then means filling that position during a parental leave and that you will be less available to work overtime or come in on short notice once you have a new child.

Ditto with the info about your spouse being dependent on your income. It implies you'd be more willing to work overtime and take extra shifts. Any time an employer can get hours out of an existing employee instead of having to hire a new one, that employer saves money.

Is this post serious? This information does nothing to improve the resume. If you truly think that you are no better than the person the OP is dealing with. None of that info belongs in a professional resume. I personally think that info makes a person come across desperate and willing to do anything for a job.

[Teacher Sue]

The way he went about it is abhorrent, but the info he suggested does make you a more attractive candidate in this tight economy.

Stating on your resume that you don't smoke is very savvy advice. Employers are deeply concerned about keeping their health and disability insurance costs down. Those who smoke and drink tend to be less healthy, so in addition to being most costly to insure, they also take more sick days on average than those who don't. Not being a smoker also means you won't be taking smoke breaks during your shift.

Saying you don't have children and aren't planning on having a family addresses employer's concerns that a new grad will only work for a year before starting a family -- which then means filling that position during a parental leave and that you will be less available to work overtime or come in on short notice once you have a new child.

Ditto with the info about your spouse being dependent on your income. It implies you'd be more willing to work overtime and take extra shifts. Any time an employer can get hours out of an existing employee instead of having to hire a new one, that employer saves money.

Are you serious? A resume like this would not even get passed on by Human Resources. And IF it did, I would not read past the objective. Beyond the fact that it is illegal to ask about these kinds of things, I would expect that someone who put this much personal information on a resume would be someone who would be bringing all of their personal issues to work and creating drama. OP, your instincts were right in the first place. Don't even deal with this person

[mazy]

The way he went about it is abhorrent, but the info he suggested does make you a more attractive candidate in this tight economy.

Stating on your resume that you don't smoke is very savvy advice. Employers are deeply concerned about keeping their health and disability insurance costs down. Those who smoke and drink tend to be less healthy, so in addition to being most costly to insure, they also take more sick days on average than those who don't. Not being a smoker also means you won't be taking smoke breaks during your shift.

Saying you don't have children and aren't planning on having a family addresses employer's concerns that a new grad will only work for a year before starting a family -- which then means filling that position during a parental leave and that you will be less available to work overtime or come in on short notice once you have a new child.

Ditto with the info about your spouse being dependent on your income. It implies you'd be more willing to work overtime and take extra shifts. Any time an employer can get hours out of an existing employee instead of having to hire a new one, that employer saves money.

Resumes need to be able to present job related qualifications in a way that is short, concise, effective and that will make the OP stand out from other applicants. Putting in all this personal information means that the OP will not be able to make use of that space for job related information. OP needs to get in for the interview, then sell herself as an individual once she gets to sit down with the interviewer and have a conversation.

Although, even then bringing this level of personal information to the table is ridiculous. All it says to the interviewer is that the applicant is too focused on the personal and not focused enough on the professional. You don't bring your personal life in to work. This advice is completely kookoo for cocoa pufs.

[RNCCMMS, RN]

Try out this:

http://www.udel.edu/CSC/pdfs/NurseResumes.pdf

[Genie1]

If that man is hiring people, wow, that is cause for concern. He is not sophisticated or professional. No one has the privilege to know any personal information unless you choose to tell, and on a resume?? Very bizarre and it shows that he may have made hiring mistakes in the past and he is looking for control. All managers should really get advice or get mentored by Human Resources to learn a few things to avoid legal trouble.

[RNCCMMS, RN]

Also check out career builder and monster-they have sections on how to write a resume.

Good luck with your job search!

[nursel56]

To me it isn't so much that this guy is a jerk as it is another example of what happens when non-nurses advise nurses on anything regarding hiring, firing, interviews, disability claims etc etc etc

It irritates me, to be honest -- because people who have an outside in viewpoint may make some serious blunders following a good deal of it. Usually, someone in nursing who is involved in the specific hiring and firing of nurses will come along and correct the misinformation.

The man is actually a representation of a philosophy of screw the means to the ends considerations, ethics bereft, me first - if that takes a sharp elbow to the teeth of the other guy, justify it by saying "if I did not do that to that person, he would've done it to me". It is entirely repulsive.

There are huge numbers of places where the right people can critique a resumé, even many on this board who would be willing to do so.

edit: changed my mind.. he is a jerk. Because he chose that line of business.

[GM2RN]

This guy has no clue what he is talking about IMO. Don't mention aspects of your personal life. In my opinion, do not even let the employer know you are married, and especially don't mention kids, whether you have them or not. That is none of their business. As for the drinking and smoking, WOW....Why the HECK would you put that on your resume???? If I was an employer, I'd think you were insane putting that on there! They do their own drug tests for the drugs they think are important. Ditch those guys....please.

I completely agree that personal information of this nature is inappropriate for your resume.

However, I do understand the idea behind including if you smoke or not, since some hospitals are instituting a policy to not hire anyone who smokes. I'm sure he is thinking that this information will help land you in the "to be interviewed" pile.

ETA: Upon further consideration, if I knew for certain that a facility had a policy to not hire smokers, I might consider including this information in a cover letter. I'm not entirely certain since this is a relatively new policy for most hospitals who have it, and I have no idea how recruiters are handling this information, but I would consider including it if I thought it would help me land an interview.