If an employer is only looking over your résumé for about 30 seconds, you can bet that if what catches his eye in that time period is an error, your résumé is going in the trash. Same with your cover letter — why waste time reading something that you can barely understand?

To shed some light on this important topic, we have a guest blogger today. Nanci Lamborn is a 20-year veteran of human resources and recruiting, and a writer and blogger for BrightMove. BrightMove is a  leading provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applicant tracking and talent management solutions for staffing, enterprise, mid-market and outsourcing areas of recruiting software. As a recruiter who has seen it all, her blogs are always insightful, informative and make me chuckle a time or two.

Here’s what she says about  the importance of résumé and cover letter accuracy:

Do Mistakes on Résumés and Cover Letters Really Matter?

By Nanci Lamborn, BrightMove Team Blogger/Writer

I am unashamed to admit it; I am a grammar freak. Maybe it can be blamed upon genetics (my mother used to diagram complex sentences for fun) or upon my authoritarian yet somehow endearing English professor, Mrs. Stolpe (may she rest in peace). I am also, rather proudly, always able to properly distinguish between there, they’re, and their,  and I will not be affected by the effect of an improper homonym selection. I can spot a typo a mile away.

My own quirkiness aside, it seems I am certainly not alone in my bid for the Grammar Police Deputy of the Year award. The fervently like-minded Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson have taken their correction quest nationwide http://bit.ly/144CzC , and MSN has joined in reporting on the trend, with mixed feedback http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28900351/.

If my cringes were limited to the lovely hand-addressed letters from my sweet Aunt Mary who fails to remember I’ve remarried and have a new last name (for six years now), the muscles that control my high and mighty eye-rolls would not be so well developed. But how can I not find myself reacting with a vigorous eye-roll head-shake combo move when I receive the following opening line from a candidate? “I seen you’re add on line heres my résumé.”

You just rolled your eyes too.

Please allow me to share a few more noteworthy errors observed on real applicant résumés. Space does not permit me to even scratch the surface of the number of these grammar bombs that I see in one weeks’ time. And since my italicized editorial garnered such feedback in last week’s posting, my snide comments are provided herein.

Experrienced clerrical proffesional (Iss yourr keyyboarrd sstickkinngg?)
I am bright and maybe valuable to the workspace. (Maybe I am a desk lamp.)
Researches And resolves Customer needs For the Area (I Like random Capitals.)
Cashing handling (I’m thinking you’re liking adding ing to wording.)
Assisting manager in creating promoting. (Are you copying from Cashing Handling guy?)

All humor aside, receiving administrative candidate correspondence such as this really does put me in a quandary. Do I overlook the seven separate typos and horrid cover letter grammar to get to the meat of the relevant work experience, giving the poor candidate and my own peeves a break? What if by doing so, I uncover the precise job history that I’ve been unable to find in any candidate so far? How important are spelling and grammar really? If they did not matter, this question may have appeared as “How impotent are spelling and grammar really?”  Important / Impotent… both are grammatically correct, and ironically even the sentence with the mistake poses a valid question.

The worst offenders may chalk it up to nervous haste, or they may claim that grammar and spelling are not their strengths. Perhaps. But the fact that some candidates apparently have not learned how to use the “Spellchecker” function or taken the effort to have colleagues proofread their résumé sends me the message that these candidates are either grossly lacking in basic skills or they are simply lazy. I have even seen candidates misspell their own names. Can my company overlook the results of these traits?

It also makes it very difficult for me to provide honest feedback when one of these applicants inquires as to why they were not considered. I am unsure if it is more heartless to just ignore their inquiry altogether, to generalize about better qualified candidates, or to point out all of their mistakes. Heartless as it may seem to screen out administrative candidates who fail in the basics, if it means that the written communication produced out of my office to the public has a much better chance of being professional and correct, then I must believe I have made the right decision.

Nanci Lamborn is a 20-year veteran of human resources and recruiting. She   currently recruits in the Atlanta area for the insurance industry and recently obtained her SPHR designation.

What do you think?

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Oh, salary questions. It’s the issue that arises with every job search. The first thing you have to decide if it you want to actually list your salary requirements in an application. Opinions vary…Most people say that, no, you shouldn’t list any salary information on the application. Common advice says to ignore the salary request until you’re actually in the interview or to simply write on the cover letter or résumé, “Salary negotiable.” More on that later–first to answer your question…

However, if you’ve decided to give your salary history, most employers want to see your most recent salary, which might be what you’re earning now, depending on your situation. Sometimes they even make a point to ask what your starting salary was and what your current salary is, which gives them an idea of what increases you earned and what salary trajectory you’re on. Sometimes that’s all they want, but if they’ve indicated they want a more thorough history, then work your way backwards. You’re most likely earning more now than you did in your first job, so this build a narrative for your income. You should also list the job title and company with each salary. Because this information will line up with your résumé’s job history, it makes the most sense.

But back to whether or not you want to offer this information early in the application process…

Now, if an employer is really strict and they are demanding salary information at this stage, you have to realize that you  might be removing yourself from consideration for the job. That is a risk you take, and if you’re not willing to make the move, then go ahead and list the salary information.

Why do so many people suggest you don’t give salary information, then? Salary information can take you out of the running for a job, too. For example, if you say your last salary was $50,000 per year, the hiring manager might think you’re not going to take the job if it only pays $40,000–so she passes on your application. Or maybe they’re prepared to pay $75,000 and your low salary makes you appear cheap, as if you’re not worth much. Or you could be locking yourself into that salary. If they’re willing to pay more but they see that you’re making $25,000 less than they were going to offer, they think they can offer a similar amount to your current wage and still woo you. You get a tiny pay bump; they save thousands of dollars. All the power goes to them when you put the salary information on the page. (To be fair, at this stage in the job search process, they are the decision makers–regardless of what you do.)

When you push the topic away until you’re at a good stage in the interview (most likely when you’ve been offered the position), you can have an actual conversation where you give your requirements and they offer theirs. It’s easier to find a common ground verbally than via text.

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Anyway, while sifting through Tweets this afternoon, I came across a link to a great blog posted on BrightMove, a provider of Software-as-a-Service applicant tracking and talent management solutions.

Nanci Lamborn, the blog’s author, wrote about an applicant who effectively ruined his chances of getting hired, despite his impressive qualifications. It touched on some things we’ve talked about recently, like employers getting back to you, the “resume black hole” and the things employers consider before deciding to go forward with an interview.

Lamborn talks about how she was sorting through hundreds of applications and sending out a quick reply that basically said, “We got your resume; don’t call us, we’ll call you.” (Much more professionally, obviously.) She assumed this was better than hearing nothing at all, but it seemed that one applicant did not agree.

The subject line of his e-mail was one word, which I can’t republish in its entirety, but I’ll give you hint: “BS!” Lamborn paraphrases his e-mail nicely:

“Please allow me to paraphrase the flipper’s dissertation (my editorial commentary in italics for your amusement): I know your position isn’t real (then why did you email me?). You posted it to cover your arse. And schmucks like me trying to support a family waste allllll this time and energy responding to the job, only to get a BS reply like this (so writing this reply isn’t wasteful?). Why don’t you have the decency to call and tell me if I’m seriously a candidate or not? (Maybe since I’m not Superman I cannot effectively screen 528 resumes in 36 hours?) I am sorry for being so unprofessional (Oh, um, thanks?), but I am perfect for this job (Sure you are! Why ever did I not see it before?). I keep getting responses like this, and you high and mighty HR jerk offs deserve a piece of my mind. (…crickets… I got nothin’…). You better hope this Karma doesn’t catch up with you (Why, did he apply too?). Best Regards, Mr. Nicely Wonderful, Managing Partner. (Managing Partner of what, Psychotic Inc?). There was more, quite a bit of it. But his point is made.”

The worst part is, Lamborn notes that this person was actually pretty qualified for the position, but due to his less-than-appropriate bedside manner, she decided against moving forward with his candidacy.

The way some people behave in their job search never ceases to amaze me. Read Lamborn’s full blog here to learn a few lessons and see how she responded to the situation.

What would you have done?

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Mark

Oy, the dreaded moment when reality meets the rules. Guidelines are great, as we’re proponents of them ourselves, but they don’t lend themselves to all situations. For example, sometimes you shouldn’t wear a suit to an interview. You know, the exceptions to the rule.

Mark’s dilemma with his résumé is one many professionals face once they’ve gathered substantial experience over the course of their careers. In short, you can exceed the one-page rule. There are pros and cons to doing so, and I’ll break down each side:

When you should go beyond one page:

• The position demands a wide skill set.
  If you’re applying for a position that requires a variety of experience and expertise in several fields, of course you want to include all relevant information. Don’t leave off important parts of your work history that could seal the deal just because you want to keep it to one page.
• You have the right experience.
  I don’t care how important you think your childhood lemonade stand was, it doesn’t qualify as an entrepreneurial characteristic. If you’re going to make the hiring manager turn the page, make it worth his or her while. Your experience must be relevant to the position, not just any experience will do. If you’ve been in the work force for 20 years, your high school job is probably not worth mentioning. That means relevant experience that began 10 years ago is still worth  mentioning. The rule with keeping experience only to the last five years is often to remind applicants to keep their information fresh and updated. Sometimes that works, but other times it’s worth expanding.
• Everything’s digital anyway.
  This is a generalization, so keep that in mind: With so many employers only wanting online applications, concern about reading more than one page of writing isn’t as important. You just keep scrolling on an online application. The rules about relevant content don’t change, but the stigma toward turning the page is dwindling.
• Lengthy résumés are the norm for my industry.
  I know people who have been in management and sales for decades and their résumés are two pages. On the other hand, I know people in education who have been working for a decade and have four pages. Their résumés, or more commonly CVs, tend to be longer for a number of reasons. It’s the industry norm and getting everything to one page would probably not be a good career move. Know your audience.

When you should keep it short:

• You’re just starting out.
  I’m not saying young people don’t have experience, but most graduates straight out of college don’t have a strong enough work history to warrant two or three pages. At that age, the bulk of your résumé concerns your course work and maybe internships. It’s not uncommon for new graduates to have a tough time filling a full page.
• Most of the space is taken up by wide margins and borders.
  You want to present yourself as a professional, not as someone trying to pad the page and force multiple pages. If you have colorful borders (BALLOONS! SOCCER BALLS!) and absurdly wide margins (like the one you used to meet the 5-page minimum on that history report), edit yourself. Get rid of the clutter and see how much actual content is left.
• The experience doesn’t match up.
  This is the flip side to that second bullet point at the top of the page. Who cares about experience if it doesn’t have any relevant to the job posting? It’s great that you were a line cook, but it doesn’t have much to do with your desire to teach a communications class at a community college, does it? (If you can draw a compelling connection between the two, then be my guest.)

Don’t forget that there are also different types of résumés. You’re probably most familiar with the chronological type, which lists your experience from most recent to oldest. You can also use functional, which means you group experience by skill set rather than in a timeline.

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• Job seeker or not, you should always know what kinds of resume formats are out there.
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I’ve repeatedly told readers to update your résumé frequently, whether or not you are in the market for a new job. And by frequently, I mean at least every few months. Why? Because you’ll likely forget key details of the things you are most proud.

That’s the situation I’m in now. I’m trying to retrace my professional steps, piece together my key accomplishments and find the data to back them up. I did rewrite my résumé about two years ago (following my own advice, thank you very much) but a lot has happened in those two years. Thus my task is becoming a bit daunting and taking longer than I would like.

If you are like me and need to refresh your résumé, or just haven’t taken a look at it in several years, here are some quick tips for revising that document that is your No. 1 marketing tool:

Focus on quantifiable accomplishments. Use specifics when detailing your past accomplishments — the amount of money you saved the company, the number of employees you managed, etc. Rather than saying you saved the company millions, state precisely that you “saved the company $2.4 million.” Actual numbers and percentages sound much more credible.

Avoid half-truths and gross exaggerations. Most hiring managers and recruitment professionals have had their share of résumés pass across their desks during their career. So they are usually adept at deciphering embellishments in a résumé. They know that spending the last 10 years as a “domestic engineer” means you simply were home with your kids.

Use keywords. Rather than embellish your titles and accomplishments, use recognizable industry keywords that will jump out at hiring managers reading your résumé and communicate exactly where your expertise lies. Keywords also help your résumé get flagged if you’re submitting it electronically or posting it on a job site.

Change titles only if it clarifies your position. If your title uses little known, company-specific jargon, such as being called an “office contact,” when you performed duties consistent with an “administrative assistant,” then go ahead and use the better suited title. You could list your title on your résumé as “office contact/administrative assistant.” Of course that doesn’t give you the latitude to promote yourself to “vice president of administration.”

Address gaps in your résumé. Instead of fudging the dates of your past jobs to cover an employment gap, address the lapse in your résumé or cover letter to maintain chronological clarity. Hiring managers understand, especially in this economic climate, that workers sometimes encounter extended periods of unemployment for a number reasons.

Half-finished degrees should not be listed. If you “almost” completed your degree, you cannot list it as an earned degree on your résumé. Nevertheless, no education is ever wasted. Be sure to give yourself credit and list any completed coursework in a particular major or concentration.

Discard irrelevant information. It  keeps the reader from seeing your selling points. Weigh each portion of your experience from the hiring company’s perspective to decide what to include and what to emphasize. If you’re applying for an engineering position, for example, don’t devote a whole paragraph to your job as a camp counselor unless the position has elements that are transferable to the engineering job. And never include information about your marital status, personal situation, hobbies or interests unless they are relevant to the job for which you’re applying.

Still not sure about your résumé? Click here to get a free critique from CareerBuilder.

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Whether you watched it or not, Stephanie Pratt — Spencer’s sister — showed the world the best example of a “bad interview” I have seen in a long time.

In this episode, Lauren’s boss at People’s Revolution, Kelly Cutrone, is looking for an intern. She asks Lauren if she knows anyone at fashion school who might be interested. Of course, Lauren mentions the opportunity to Stephanie, a fellow classmate, and Stephanie gets an interview at People’s Revolution.

Here’s where it gets good.

Stephanie shows up for the interview and is clearly very nervous ; she basically shoves her résumé — which is in an envelope (?) — in Kelly’s hands.

She blurts out that her “objective in life is to have my own handbag line so I really wanted to work here just to see, um, you have a lot of really great designers here and the PR that you guys do is really awesome and (gulp) I just wanna like see how I could brand my bags.” Catch that? Me either.

Kelly’s response was appropriate: “So you basically want to use my experience and my clients and their inside knowledge to ultimately leave here and go make your own handbag line?” Stephanie insists that this is not the goal for right now, but in “like, a decade.” Again, Kelly laughs and says, “You should be able to move quicker than that, honey!”

The horrendous interview — dubbed “a folly” by Kelly — continued, and included Stephanie lying about being fluent in French and staring blankly when asked if she knew how to print out labels.

So, what do Stephanie’s multiple flubs teach us about job searching? Well, a lot.

• Tailor your résumé to every job. Stephanie showed up to an interview at a PR company with an objective to own her own handbag line? I don’t think so. She should have had an objective regarding her intentions within the public relations world, and at People’s Revolution.
• Don’t talk about what the company will do for you. Stephanie immediately jumped in with what she was looking for from the job and what working there would do for her. The right move would have been to talk about what YOU can do for the company and the value you bring to the table.
• Don’t lie on your résumé. Stephanie’s résumé boasted that she was fluent in French. But when Kelly started speaking the language during the interview, Stephanie’s only response was to smile, nod and stare blankly – again.
• Have goals. Don’t get me wrong – it wasn’t Stephanie saying that she strived to have her own handbag line that was wrong — it was listing it as her objective in a position that wasn’t relevant to that goal. Not only that, but she said her goal was “in like a decade.” Everyone should have goals – for now, in five years and in 10 years. Make sure you can state what your goals are within the company where you are applying as well as down the line.

Click here to see Kelly’s reaction to Stephanie’s interview.

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With that type of competition you better make sure your résumé stands out among the masses. The question is, how?

Crafting an outstanding résumé is no easy feat,  so you should be utilizing every possible outlet to ensure your résumé lands at the top of every potential employer’s stack.

Lucky for you, CareerBuilder.com has the just the resources to help you.

Here are four helpful tools that will help your résumé stand out to employers:

cbRésumé
How it helps: Job seekers can get a free résumé critique online. If desired, they can sign up to work with a professional résumé writer who specializes in their field and job level.

Snapshots
How it helps: Helps your résumé stand out to employers searching CareerBuilder.com’s résumé database by attaching icons designating everything from academic degree to skills and certifications.

Résumé Upgrade
How it helps: Job seekers can move their résumé toward the top of employer searches to increase their visibility.

Résumé Direct
How it helps: Sends your résumé directly to targeted recruiters nationwide.

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In a recent nationwide survey, CareerBuilder.com found that nearly one-in-four human resources managers said they receive, on average, more than 75 resumes for each open position; 42 percent receive more than 50 resumes. This survey was conducted online among 252 human resources professionals and 8,038 U.S. employees.

Other key findings:

• The vast majority of human resources managers (78 percent) reported at least half of the resumes they receive from various recruitment resources are from unqualified candidates.
• Thirty-eight percent of human resources managers report they spend one to two minutes reviewing a new application; 17 percent spend less than one minute.

Executive Quotes and Tips

Advice from Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com:

• “Human resources managers serve on the front lines of a company’s recruitment efforts and are often the gatekeepers of the interview process. Because they can receive a large volume of applications, you may only have a matter of seconds to make a lasting impression. Make sure to include a career summary at the top, which provides a quick snapshot of your skills and accomplishments.”
• “Half of workers we surveyed said their resumes are not up to date. You should always have a current resume and portfolio ready to go because you never know what the next day will bring whether it’s a weak or healthy economy.”
• “Fifty-one percent of human resources managers reported they use an applicant tracking systems to screen and manage their resumes. It’s important to incorporate keywords from the job posting into your resume because it will increase your chances of appearing near the top of the employer’s ranking of the most relevant candidates.”
• “Many workers, especially those operating in industries that have experienced mass layoffs, are looking to new industries and professions to find opportunities. In these cases, your best option may be a functional resume, which lists experience by skill categories rather than chronologically.”
• “If you’re a recent college graduate, make sure to include volunteer work on your resume as most employers consider this to be relevant experience.”

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