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If you’re looking for your next IT job work on your resume. Personally I quit updating my resume on Monster and Dice regularly because every time I made a change two weeks or more of phone calls would follow. A lot are from Indian call centers for staffing agencies. I do not respond to these at all because they are pure opportunity chasers taking chances on big returns for a small percentage of candidates placed.

Lately I’ve been doing the hiring again. Soon I’ll be taking on another desktop support person and Sys. Admin in Raleigh. I’m reminded why only a small percentage of the IT resumes out there get noticed and others get passed over. These problems could negatively affect a resume in any industry, not just IT. They are mostly unintentional oversights or problems caused by lack of attention to detail. Some are blatant fact manipulation. Here’s the basics of what draws or detracts my attention to or from a resume. Some of these will might increase your resumes visibility on job boards.

1. Spelling – Use the spell check. The English one.
2. Grammar – I will hire a foreigner, but not one that obviously can’t communicate in good English because they can’t write it.
3. Simplicity – Good formatting makes all the difference. Personally I don’t look at a resume that isn’t formatted with some thought using proper chronological order. I don’t want to see the first job you ever had bagging groceries listed first or certifications glorified before experience.
4. Present an index or bullet points of your skill set under your objective. This will really help on job boards because most headhunters are searching by keyword and the more matches you get the more communication you will receive.
5. Don’t submit your resume for jobs you’re not qualified for after making quick modifications to fit the posted requirements. This is usually obvious to the hiring manager and it will only come back to haunt you at interview time.
6. Don’t try to emphasis or supplement corporate or industry certifications for experience. Certifications are generally considered to be a plus these days, not a requirement like professional licenses.
7. Narrow down your resume to a specialization if possible. I always thought my resume was too broad in terms of technologies I’ve administered when I was applying for a jobs with titles like “Exchange Administrator”. Now that I’m in Management I feel a little better about presenting a spectrum of experience. Starting out I would suggest getting your foot in the door with a specialization. If you genuinely have experience in more than one area of an industry keep multiple resumes highlighting accomplishments in each discipline and field them to opportunities accordingly.
8. Know what you’re really worth. Decide and post your salary requirement ahead of time. This could save everyone a lot of time. If you’re too high you won’t get called and you can’t eat the cost of living decrease anyway. If you’re low a recruiter will question the authenticity of your experience or smell desperation. Get in the right range and you’ll get a call. Believe it or not I’ve learned that most headhunter’s really do know what a position is worth, not just what their client’s willing to pay. You should too.

I’m sure I’ll think of other things I could add to this list over time. All I can say is that these are some of the rules I follow and it works for me. But I am a headhunter’s worst nightmare – a waste of their time. I receive as many as 70 headhunter communications a month and respond to less than one a year with genuine interest. At this point I even have recruiters leaving job descriptions on my Contact page.

A Huffington Post commentor posted the following recommendation in response to an article regarding the possible opportunities for criminal action against Rush Limbaugh for election tampering.  Althoughthe post is very senstational I actually agree with most if not all of this idea:

“Election tampering Laws will only be enforced if it helps disenfranchise minority voters.

ABOLISH this government! Patriots Day April 19th, Philadelphia Independence Hall 9am:
State and Territorial Governors will assume authority over all Federal Agencies pending Ratification and Amendments to the Constitution including but not limited to: Ban on ALL forms of Torture, Publicly funded elections only, Mandated media contributions of equal time for all qualified campaigns, Ban on any form of Bribery of any nature to all public servants, Establishment of Citizen Media Integrity Board with Mandate to ban Campaigns from media for false or misleading adds and revoke broadcasting licenses from any broadcaster misusing the public airways and cable networks for false or misleading commentary or propaganda.

The seat of Authority in our Nation was forcibly removed from the hands of Tyrants and secured By The People For The People. And it Shall Not Perish From This Earth.”

Breaking news on the Castleton Saga.  Let’s just hope he outs Suzanne Clifton.  I’m sure she’d love to have this completely covered by her scapegoat.  Maybe she didn’t do anything that qualifies as “illegal”?  There’s only two ways to look at her actions and if they were not malicious then she’s grossly incompetent and should be removed from every single business organization she’s involved with.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2814409/

The more I think about this I want more answers.   What motive would Jay McLamb have for not paying the payroll taxes to the Feds if the money was kept “by the company” as the N&O reports?  Incentive had to come from somewhere.  Suzanne Clifton is the “sole shareholder” so it’s not like Jay was boosting his share value and he probably wasn’t out writing company checks for personal purchases.    And I doubt we will learn that he just liked living on the edge by cheating the Feds as a work related hobby.  There had to be a kick back for him to perform this fraud.  The incentive could have only come from one place.  I would imagine the words were something to the effect of “fix the revenue so my company won’t go under or your don’t have a job”.  But that’s just intuitive speculation.  Personally I hope he cuts a deal and rolls on this bitch.

First, I should elaborate that I have not been hit with this.  I was informed of it by a supporter of House Resolution 946: The Consumer Overdraft Protection Fair Practices Act.

Apparently Bank of America is one of the first bank’s to implement a new process of charging overdraft fees to punish their customers yet again.  As of March 1, 2008 customers will no longer be charged a $35 overdraft fee when a transaction clears their account without available funds.  Now a “pending transaction” or one that has not posted to the account can automatically invoke the $35 fee if it puts the acount in the red.  So what’s this mean?  An example will explain it best:

Lets say you have $425.00 in your checking account.  You go to dinner with your significant other and spend $45 at Applebee’s or another affordable restaurant.   When the check comes you provide the waitstaff with you BOA debit card.  Through a complete accident the waiter types $450.00 into the keypad instead of $45.00 and receives an approval code. Prior to this new fee processing schedule by BOA this would be no major ordeal.  Many consumer have been told by cashiers “don’t worry that transaction won’t be settled and the hold will come off your account in 3-5 days” which it does.  And the waiter swipes the card again and enters a transaction for the correct amount $45.00 which Bank of America, by their own policy, approves even though the account is now “overdrawn”.

The next day you check your BOA account on line.  It’s negative (-$140.00).  Wait a minute.  What the ****?  You only spent $45.00.  Here’s how BOA’s systems now process transactions and fees:

Beginning Balance: $425

Accidental Pending: $450

Balance: (-$25.00)

Over the limit fee: (-35.00)

Pending: $45.00

Over the limit fee: (-35.00)

New Balance (-$140.00)

Eventually the accidental transaction of $450 will not be settled and it will drop off.  But instead of paying $45.00 for dinner you have spent $115.00 through no fault of your own (the original $45.00 plus the two $35.00 overdraft fees).  In an investigative converstation with a Bank of America Employee I was told these overdraft charges for pending transactions would not be refunded under any circumstances.

I can’t believe this is not getting more attention than it is.  This is the first time those who argue “don’t spend more than you have” and preach “personal financial responsibility” in defense of the banks have no ground to stand on.  This is stealing, plain and simple.  It is evidence that the banking industry has elevated itself above the laws and morals we claim to have founded this country on.   Now more than ever we need support for House Resolution 946 because once the other major banks conclude that BOA has punished their customers for profit, yet again, they will follow suit.

The media will not cover this topic because the major media outlets fear the loss of advertising dollars.   The banking industries crimes against consumers must be made known through viral propagation on the Internet.  Consumers must be given the option to remove their accounts from “overdraft protection” policies and the banks must be made to refund a percentage of those fees lawmakers consider excessive.