Teebox Resume Talk

I like the Teebox non-golf segments.  Always something of interest there.  Yesterday they discussed the awful resumes they were getting and the inexplicable cluelessness of job applicants for their expanding operation.

I sympathize.  I'm not in management or an HR guy, but my employer asks me to look over resumes and other materials submitted by prosective employees from time to time.  It's astounding how bad some of them are.  Like Rick and Craig, I'm amazed that in this economy persons seeking work aren't more careful about what they throw out there.   Especially since there is lots of free online help for persons creating resumes and trying to make a good impression.

(BTW:  I'm on the side of those who want to see cover letters.  Unless it's a commodity-type job were personal impressions and communications skills are of no importance, I want all the evidence I can get on the way a person presents himself or herself.  You can even learn something about an applicant by judging whether they have taken care to ensure that their cover letter leaves an overall pleasant visual impression, quite aside from its prose.)

It is a symptom of a larger problem, which is the poor work attitude of persons in their twenties these days.   The children of yuppies, they carry with them a sense of entitlement.  They emit the vibe that upon their arrival they have nothing to prove, that they're too talented to be given the scut work that they were hired to do.  They've been overpraised throughout their childhood and academic careers, have never developed any realistic self-awareness, and are unprepared for the reality that by the time they score a top job they're average or worse among their peers.

In addition, I question the education that some of them are receiving.   Even those from supposedly reputable schools arrive for their first responsible job with poor habits of thought.  They are not thorough, they are not imaginative, they lack initiative, and they struggle to express themselves.  Whenever I hear some progressive educator criticizing the "back to basics" movement, I wish he or she had to deal with some of the poorly-trained prima donnas I've seen over the past decade or so.  No surprise that their resumes suck, too.

There was one absolutely precious moment in the show.  Craig Rosengarden (who else?) was talking about the crappy resumes he'd been reviewing, and he said:  They even spelt my name wrong."