How to impress a recruiter...

I do some recruiting at work. For the most part, I meet awesome, smart people looking for jobs. Potential hirees are typically students, but occasionally they are working professionals. While the majority of the folks I meet are great, there's always a few that could use a little extra help.

Perhaps they never made it to the career center or missed that resume writing workshop. I doubt they will ever visit this blog in search of resume/interview skills, but it should be a little entertaining for everyone else.

1. Pick a decent email to use for job searches. No matter how many times people are told, a few still slip through the cracks. I just received an email from "StraighJacket..." wanting to provide me a cover letter to add to the resume she just submitted. My email is "brynashley" or "bmiyaha" at work. My email is nothing exciting. His/her email says "I might be crazy."

2. Resume = 1 sheet. It CAN be front and back - if you are a MS or PhD who has published a ton of papers or if you're 45 and have held 5 - 10 jobs. If you are a freshman/sophomore and hand me an 8 page resume, I'm going to be just as nice to you as everyone else, but I may question your judgement. (I'm actually not joking, I received a resume that was 8 pages long and it was paper clipped together - seriously? Use a stapler!)

3. Put your GPA on the resume - especially if you are a student. Unfortunately, that's one of the few metrics we can use to evaluate performance. You might be bad at taking tests, but I still want to know. If you don't put it on, I'll ask for it.

4. Don't act or be crazy. I once had a guy walk up to me and ask if I knew how flying saucers flew. He asked with a straight face and then proceeded to drill me about flying saucers. He concluded the conversation by asking, "If I come up with a design for a flying saucer, should I bring it to your or Boeing?" At this point, I don't care if you come up with a magic potion that makes people live forever - you're creepin' me out.

5. Give a firm handshake. I have 2 handshake pet peeves. The first, and most obvious, is the limp noodle. Come on. Shake it like you mean it. My other pet peeve is the "I'm gonna squeeze harder than you - handshake." You know the one. I shake the dudes hand - firmly - he realizes it was firm and adds a little extra kicker at the end. Hand = broken. I'd honestly prefer the handshake to be unmemorable - don't be a limp noodle and don't break my hand.

6. Interviews. Luckily, I've never sat through a particularly bad interview. Most people are very prepared and professional. But here are a few tips. If I make a joke and it's even a tiny bit funny, a courtesy laugh would be great. I courtesy laugh all the time. It just helps break the ice and tension (if any exists). You can turn almost anything into a positive - think about it before coming to the interview.

Here's a link to a funny cartoon about the different interview types. Thankfully, I haven't met any...yet :-)

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/interviewees