Who Wrote Your Resume?

It is not at all uncommon for us recruiters to see resumes from the same people that are different. There are reasons for this:

1. The person honestly doesn't recall their work history and is taking a stab in the dark.

2. The person is lying about his/her work history and, having been previously told that their work history sucks, bullshit various dates of employment to give the illusion of longevity in previous jobs.

3. The person is tailoring his/her resume to a specific job/industry and leaves out certain things. Then they screw it up and send the wrong resume to a job posting.

4. They don't know how to save a file, so they re-write it every time and it never comes out the same.

5. Someone else wrote their resume.

Well, cue number 5.

An applicant applied for a warehouse position, and his resume summary indicated 2+ years of warehouse and inventory management experience. Additional work experience listed included a variety of other industries showing some semi-decent longevity. Ergo, I gave him a call.

Me: Your resume indicates you worked at XX store as a cashier for a year and a half. Why did you end up leaving that position?

Resume Issues (RI): I moved, and the commute became too far.

Me: (after going through a couple of other positions, some about which the candidate seems a bit confused) Your resume indicates you have 2+ years of warehouse experience, but there's nothing listed in your work history. Where did you get your warehouse experience?

RI: It does?

Me: Yes. (reads summary blurb from resume). So, with which company did you get your warehouse experience?

RI: It shouldn't say that.

Me: (blinks in surprise) Welllll, it does.

RI: Well, it shouldn't.

Me: So you don't have any warehouse experience?

RI: No. And my resume shouldn't say I do.

Me: Well, the resume, with your name and contact information at the top, mind you, that was sent in with the application does, in fact, list 2+ years of warehouse and inventory management experience. Based on your obvious confusion, I suggest you find your real resume with an accurate reflection of your work history and experience before you apply for another position. It doesn't look good when you don't even know what's listed on your resume.

Needless to say, he didn't get hired.