Reading Response
In the resume readings I thought it was interesting how often it was noted that employers do not spend hardly any time at all going over resumes. The times that they said were just around thirty seconds. This does not seem like a lot of time for an employer to evaluate someone, so it just shows how important it is to do a good job on your resume. You must make sure that you get to the point and also use keywords that they will be looking for. It is also important to make sure that it is presentable and looks well developed.
After reading over the readings on e-mail I agreed that many times e-mail seems less formal so we write in a more informal way, but at times it is important that we still use proper writing. I have never really heard of e-mail discussion lists so I thought it was interesting to read about them in The Thompson Handbook and the different guidelines that you should follow if you participate in one.
In the text it emphasized that e-mails are often times seen by others even if they are not intended for them. I thought that the example of the chief executive sending the e-mail to some of his staff at Cerner Corporation just proved how easily e-mails can get out and that you must be careful about what you write in them, because you never know who may get a hold of them. It is very important in a professional setting because many times the company can view e-mails that are being sent in their company. You must also be careful not to e-mail to someone unintentionally, because you could be just a button away from sending it to the wrong person. I know I’ve done this before when I was just in a hurry and not paying close enough attention to what I was doing. This could also be dangerous if you have personal information enclosed or something that you do not want someone else to read.
Comments
Reading response Week 2
In response to the article about the CEO who sent out an "angry" email to all of his employees accusing them of not working to their full potential, I felt that this was a ludicrous method in trying to motivate his workers. First off, why would a man of his power send out an email of that nature to everyone in the company? I think it would be best to figure our areas that were not working to their full potential and then send the email to those few individuals. It is childish for him to cry to his company and then expect grown humans to just shape up because someone sent out and email whining about not working hard enough. I understand the fact that he wanted to motivate or create a little fear to get his workers to work harder, but this was not the right method to do so.
Resume Time
It is scary how quickly resumes are read, but it's also understandable considered from a recruiter's point of view. They get tired of reading these, and learn quickly how to isolate what they're looking for (in his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell calls this practice "thin-slicing," which means looking at something very quickly and making a complex and usually accurate evaluation.) The resume extravaganza activity is designed to show you how tiring reading resumes can be and how quickly you develop strategies for reading shortcuts. That should help you survive the quick glance of the recruiter, though it's extra tricky because you must also pass the more extended re-read.
Resumes
I agree with your point that it is scary just how quickly recruiters and employers sort through resumes. I would like to think that after I put a lot of time into my resume that they would take a resonable amount of time to review it. I know that is not the case so I am trying to make my resume better. Does anyone have any good ideas of what they have to make their resume stand out from the crowd. I would love to hear any comments. Thanks Bryce
response
It really is kind of upsetting knowing that you put all the work into forming the best possible resume for yourself just for the potential employer to give you thirty seconds of his time. Depending on the employer, he may over look the section that you would think is your strongest. Each employer seems to have his own favorite section of the resume, so for us, we may be at a disadvantage if their favorite part is work experience. As college students, I'm sure we don't really have a whole lot of solid work experience. Some of us are fortunate enough to have had an internship, but most probably have to use their summer job as past work experience. For me, my summer job really has nothing to do with what I want to do for my work, so most of my time spent on the work experience section of my resume was trying to figure out what skills I learned on my summer job that I could use towards my potential career. It would seem I would have a greater chance at landing a job if the employer looked at my education, but it really is a gamble either way, that is why it is so hard.
Having a shot with our resume...
I completely agree with you. I also find it hard to believe we put so much time and effort into our resumes and employers’ barley give them a glance. We try to sum up our entire lives and all the experiences we have ever had into no more then one sheet of paper. At some companies, they even have to sort through resumes but scanning everything into a computer then only looking for “key” words. I will have to see exactly how this works before I stop being skeptical. Until time slows down and everyone gets an interview, we will all have to take your advice and make sure our resumes are presentable and look well developed to have a fighting chance at the jobs we want.
Reading Response Comment
I agree that email was not the best solution to the angry man's problem. Email is not formal enough for a problem of that size. I believe that problem needed more attention, maybe a staff meeting or a meeting with team leaders so that the staff could get back on track. Also, email is a easy way out most of the time. Maybe the "angry man" is non confrontational and does not like conflict, but I think that comes with the territory he is in. He is supposed to be a leader and able to confront people with ease, and emailing in this case was not an appropriate way to go about the problem. I know that probably his future is not very bright now after that email got all over the internet, and I am sure many people were discouraged from applying to that particular company because of one email.
Alayna Willis
I could not agree with you
I could not agree with you more on these points. It is very wearing to know that most employers only spend about 30 seconds reviewing a resume. It just can't be emphasized enough how important your resume should look and sound. You only have one opportunity to make a good first impression.
As far as writing emails, I believe that an individual needs to be extra careful in how they word their letter and tone in which they are presenting it. Emails are definitely here to stay and is beneficial for mass communication, but is not a means of solving issues or spreading gossip.
reading response week 2
I hate that employers do not spend as much time of resumes as I believe that they should