Review: On the Job Hunt

Lensmaster Review Board
Lens: David E. Bowman

For the Lensmaster Review Board's inaugural lens commentary, we wanted to choose a lens that practically anyone can make. We decided to select a personal lens -- specifically, a resume lens.

Many new lensmasters begin here, either with a general lens about their personal interests, or a professional resume lens to hang out as their Squidoo shingle. We can't help everyone with their resume lenses -- which would be like agreeing to help all of you find jobs -- but we can take an opening look at what makes a resume lens work well.

Here's who weighed in:

And here's what they had to say:

First Impressions

Cyndi Lavin: Not only have I been self-employed for so long that I wouldn't know a good resume if it bit me, but my area of interest doesn't lend itself to "typical" business style resumes.

The resume page link is the first thing I'd want to see, but it's too small to read. The references page is really good, though, and quite readable.

Ray Daly: I'm big on first impressions, especially on resumes.

Is this really a resume? I know that long copy is supposed to work, but I would recommend an opening headline like "For Hire: Ohio Marketer." In fact, "passionate marketing professional" is buried in the copy. Most resumes are scanned, not read. How do I know what type of position he is looking for?

Linda Moran: I think his intro is too short. He doesn't say what he does for a living, what he'd like to do, what his skills are, or anything I can really sink my teeth into.

Dave Pye: I like that the lens has a voice -- being totally in the first person, confident and cheeky -- but this may be a turn off to some. He comes off a bit like that annoying guy we all know who constantly refers to himself in the third person. "David E. Bowman is hungry. David E. Bowman wants to date you."

Make Your Modules Matter

Linda: I was excited to finally get to the module titled, "What kind of job are you looking for," which really should be way at the top -- but then was disappointed to see that the link was to a recent blog post. Not only does that make it less professional, but when you read the blog, it's too general.

Dave: His extensive resume, going back to childhood, is a nice touch. It might be borderline cutesy, but if I were a potential employer, I would like the fact that he was industrious from a young age. He's also held his professional jobs for long periods of time -- which people also look for in a new hire.

Linda: If he's been such a successful sales and marketing rep, why write all that earlier stuff, such as busboy and short order cook? It's not clear just how long he has been in sales and marketing. The subtitle "looking back, way back" makes it sound like he doesn't want to talk much about the more recent past. Who cares about a decade ago, unless he did something related to what he's looking for now?

Ray: Since resumes are scanned, does reading the "Lens Content" tell you much? Remember that module titles -- the headlines -- are used in two different locations on a lens, so take advantage of the few words you have to tell your story.

Cyndi: I find some of the modules unnecessary. "Voice" (personal blog), "Thumbstack" and "Technorati" leave me wondering why they're there.

Heather Harris: The Thumbstack is an interesting tool, but I'm not sure it adds a lot.

Ray: Unfortunately, I gave up trying to read the resumes David links to. On one, the type was too small to read. Then I had to wait for a PDF. In the lens under "Experience," there was too much old detail and not enough new detail. Is Flying Pizza experience equivalent to marketing manager?

Dave: I don't know, but I think the lens is almost too perfect. Great, you're an agent for change and all that good stuff -- but what's your favorite movie? Do you ski? Have you traveled a lot, positive energy personified? I know very little about this person personally. His blog mentions he likes the Tarheels, but it's 90% commentary on marketing stuff. Let's get more personality and skin in there.

Linda: I'd remove the RSS feed to the personal blog. There should be nothing personal on a resume.

Preach What You Practice

Heather: That's an interesting point. Looking at the introduction and Why Hire Me? -- I just don't believe the "passionate" and "remarkable" part.

Dave: I cringe every time I see the word "passionate" on a resume. It could do with a little more originality in the copy. Make it less obligatory. I can read this stuff on a million resumes.

Linda: Convince me that you're creative -- don't just tell me that you are. Definitely don't tell me you're remarkable, but do tell me some remarkable things you've done. Let me decide if they're remarkable.

Heather: I agree. Something outstanding needs to go into one of these spaces. For instance, what's this "Zooming" thing he does? I think the "More reasons to hire me" are much more interesting and maybe should be combined with (if not replace) the list at the top -- especially since the introduction covers most of the "Why Hire Me" reasons.

Linda: Once I'm done with the "Why Hire Me?" module, I'm not convinced of why I should hire him.

Cyndi: Even though it's probably not necessary, I like the "Experience" section, which goes all the way back to childhood. It offers a glimpse into Dave's sense of humor. But the problem is that it takes up a really big block of the lens, whereas the most important piece -- the resume itself -- is on an outside link. Doesn't that seem a little backwards? But maybe I'm not up on what's being done with resumes these days.

Heather: I think he should remove his experience at fast food restaurants. It's nice to know he's paid his dues, but that's for chatting about around the water cooler once he's gotten his job.

Ray: In my years of reading resumes, the best ones had hard facts. "Sales increased 25% in two months." "Clickthrough rate doubled." Energy, enthusiasm and effort are great, but the bottom line is numbers.

Finishing Touches

Ray: I did like the occasional light or humorous comments. Humor may have a place in this "interactive" medium.

Cyndi: If the lens were mine, I'd get rid of some of the repetition, put the most salient points right on the lens itself, keep the links but move them further down the page, and keep the humor but lose some of the bulk. And I'd completely drop the modules that were just added because they could be.

Dave: This guy is serious and doing a lot of things right. I may not have a beer with him, but I'd definitely get him in for an interview based on this lens, site, references and resume. A good effort.

Cyndi: I like Dave. I hope he gets his dream job.

Zonks!

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