Jimmy Dean Country Sausage?

When I am in hiring mode, I often find myself chuckling as I read resumes. The staff can usually figure out when we are in hiring mode because of the giggles coming from my office.

Sometimes laughter is more out of sad disbelief than anything else. Why would a job searcher want to announce in a cover letter that they were just released from a rehab center? Or prison? Some cover letters explain in gory detail how hard it is to re-enter the workforce after spending 20 years raising kids. Others make weak attempts at humor as they threaten to show up in my office in a gorilla suit if they don’t get a call back from me. And then I find resumes that may as well have been printed on red flags and delivered to me waving from wooden dowels. Spotty work histories dating back to 1977 are quite common. Then there are resumes that list a whole bunch of random details that have absolutely nothing to do with the job I have posted.

Most recently, I got the biggest tickle from a candidate who was the proud winner of the Jimmy Dean Country Sausage singing contest. Yee Haw! Okay, all kidding aside. How does this relate to one’s abilities as a systems engineer?

I don’t mind if you want to add something personal or unique to your resume. Just make sure that it is not the only memorable thing about you. Include solid accomplishments that relate to the job. It is okay to make me smile and want to know you more. It is not okay to crack me up.

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