On Thu, Mar 8, 2018 at 8:35 AM, Michelle Zupan <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>
> 7) If the applicant has never actually held a paying job (which is
> generally a deal breaker for me) there ought to be a statement as to WHY.
> (read)
>

Defending students who haven't had paying jobs - the hard truth is that in
many places, there aren't any jobs for high school and college students.
Many of us earned money in the summer by working retail, food service,
paper routes, mowing lawns, and other minimum wage jobs. Those jobs are now
going to adults who work them year round because they don't have any other
job choices. High school kids are also pressured to do "enrichment
programs" so many kids are going to academic camps or programs instead of
working jobs. Granted, some kids get "jobs" as "counselors in training" but
even those positions are limited. Many students have internship
requirements that don't pay so they get all the fun and experience of a job
without any of the income. During the school year, students often don't
have time for jobs or think that minimum wage type jobs will hurt their
future employment chances or it's not worth their time to make no money. It
really sucks for kids these days because they are damned if they do and
damned if they don't. I don't know any student who would pass up a paying
job at a reasonable wage if they were offered it. But I also don't blame
them for not wanting to slave away flipping burgers for $7/hour because
that doesn't even pay for groceries these days, let alone rent and other
living expenses.

Also again, I ask HR people and anyone with hiring authority who looks at
resumes to look at what job seeks are told about what goes into a resume
and cover letter. There are MILLIONS of sites out there and just as many
opinions. One site will insist that you HAVE to put your education first.
Others will say put it last. I will vary depending on the job because
outside of the museum field, my museum studies degree counts against me.
Older people will tend not to put years with their degrees because they
don't want to be passed over because of ageism. (You know this happens.)
Museum people tend to have non-traditional career paths so listing jobs in
chronological order doesn't always give a clear picture of our experience,
especially if we've had a bunch of seasonal positions. People will use
skills-based resumes or other formats to highlight their skills and
experience the best way. Don't toss those resumes out because they don't
fit what you think a resume should be.

I've seen articles that advocate for a plain text resume so that it can be
easily read and scanned by HR systems. Other articles will talk about how
you need a visually appealing resume so that you can catch the eye of the
HR manager. Use gerunds or not? Write in present or past-tense? Then look
at the resume templates in Word and no wonder people don't seem to know how
to write a resume. Too many formats!! UGH!!

Remember museum job seekers are applying to HUNDREDS of positions. No joke.
We also aren't mind-readers and don't know what your preferred resume
format is. Please keep an open mind. Other than deal-breakers like not
spellchecking, including pictures, and informal language, resumes should be
about conveying the skills, abilities, and experience of a candidate, not
about figuring out what format the hiring manager wants.

Deb Fuller

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