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“HR putzes don’t read resumes these days. They filter them for keywords.”

I don’t let HR use their Taleo product to filter resumes for me. If I am posting a position, I ask for every resume, even if there are 100 of them for one position.

Here are my simple rules:

1- Be truthful. If you are not, I will know and play “stump the chump” with you.
2- Spell every word correctly. DON’T use spellcheck. Confusing “There and Their” will eliminate you from contention.
3- And finally, your resume is a reflection of you. Make every word count. If you write a sentence that is 25-30 words, see how you can cut it to 15-20. Use the real estate on the page wisely.

How about the Taleo personality test? What do you think of those?

I always groan when I see a personality test in the hiring process because it means I won’t get an interview. Never once have I gotten an interview after taking a personality test.

The worst was flunking a computerized personality test at Value Village and not being allowed to continue with the hiring process. That was some years ago and they’ve stopped doing it.

According to Gavin deBecker, the original reason for these damn personality tests was to screen out people who who might go postal. And I realize that stealing is a big problem and they have to screen out people who steal, well, steal a lot, anyway. Pardon my bitterness—Ive really been put through the wringer by some of these people.