Resume mills flog their putrid services online from Joondalup in WA to the Gold Coast. They call themselves Adelaide CV or Resume Adelaide or a similar combination, to trick Google in to ranking them. I hate them and report them to job seekers and recruiters. One appears to be a front for a WA labour hire organisation.
The money these shonks earn from the poor buggers who use them, is spent on extensive online marketing campaigns. Their client’s career goals are the least of their concerns. They exist to line their pockets with cash. That’s why they cut and paste generic pre-written text.
The reason they are called ‘Copy and Pasters’ (see last blog) is they use blocks of the same text over and over again. Adelaide’s recruiters and employers get the dubious pleasure of reading the same crap, over and over again.
The Executive Summary is the most important part of a resume. It’s where you summate your recent career, skills and capabilities and sell yourself to the employer for the specific job you are targeting. Below is a real life example of resume mill rubbish. Think like a recruiter and ask yourself this – ‘what does this person do?’
Executive Summary
“A highly qualified and experienced professional known for a combination of focused technical and mechanical skills; leadership, analytical and planning capabilities, and interpersonal strengths. Strong background in Maintenance and Mechanical Operations, Technical Leadership, Stakeholder Engagement, Staff Management, Safety Management and Compliance gained from numerous years of employment history within the mining and trades sector. Possessing highly developed management skills, strong technical aptitude, determination, capabilities and the ability to maintain a safe job site based on legal and company guidelines. Recognised for successfully delivering maintenance operations utilising a results-oriented approach. Holds a solid record of leadership, subject matter expertise and decision-making.”
This waffle hits the recruiter’s spike in about five seconds. Known? By who? Why are the terms capitalised? How many years are ‘numerous years’? Exactly what sort of trade? There’s a redundancy in the first and second sentence with technical and mechanical skills (repeated twice). Recognised by who?
There’s a big difference between resume mills and professional writers. The latter create unique resumes which will get you short-listed for work.
This blog is widely read. If you have any Adelaide-based resume or cover letter horror stories, please email me some examples with your experience. I will do a story for The Advertiser.