Don’t Laugh, You’re Guilty Too!
By Soozy G. Miller, CPRW, CDCC, CDP
In a previous column, I suggested that you not use AI tools to build your executive resume.
So, for fun, I asked ChatGPT for a sarcastic list of good executive resume requirements. Here’s what it gave me:
“A good executive resume is one that is completely irrelevant to the position, has typos and grammatical errors, is several pages long, and is filled with irrelevant information, like your passion for knitting or your collection of rare feathers.”
“Use a non-professional email address, like partyanimal@gmail.com.”
“Include your political views, even if they are completely irrelevant to the job.”
“Use a generic template, because clearly you want to blend in with all the other candidates.”
“Include every single job you've ever had, even if it's unrelated to the executive position you're applying for, like that time you worked at the ice cream shop in high school.”
“Don't bother proofreading or getting a second opinion, because who needs that kind of hassle?”
Now, you are giggling and probably thinking, That’s so silly! I would never do this. Silly ChatGPT! And yet all of you do these silly things.
Have you ever sent your resume to apply to a position that you’re not sure is right for you? Have you ever considered a leadership position that included a task that you hate doing or at a location where you don’t want to live? Have you ever given your resume to an executive recruiter who said that they’re not sure about a position, but they’re going to send your resume in anyway, to see if it “sticks?” Then you’re guilty of #1.
Do you use an AOL email address? Do you use an email address that is a nickname like BigSue@hotmail or that represents an opinion like lovemydog@yahoo? Then you’ve committed #2.
Have you ever assumed the political slant of a company in an email or a cover letter? For example, “I see that you want someone who has experience supporting DE&I. I would love to join such a liberal company!” Then you have committed #3.
Have you ever used one resume to apply to every position? How many? 30? 50? 150? 300? 500? I know for a fact that everyone who is reading this has, because this is a very popular methodology. It’s so much easier! Just one resume can cover multiple jobs, right? A financial executive applied to 150 jobs the weekend before he contacted me. Not surprisingly, he heard back from zero. Maybe you’ll be luckier. But you are guilty of #4.
How far back does your resume go? High school? Your first job as a salesperson at the Gap? (I was actually guilty of that one years ago.) If you include jobs older than 15 years ago, chances are your resume is longer than 2 pages. Then you’re guilty of #1 and #5.
If your resume contains a typo—I’ve seen typos in the job title, in the name of a company, even in the executive’s own name—I think this one speaks for itself, but you’re guilty of #6. Take the time to do this, it’s worth the hassle. I think we can agree that it’s better to have no typos in anything you send.
I saw a video (posted by a random man) that demonstrated how to copy and paste an entire job description into an AI program to create a resume and cover letter. Forget that he reminded people to "check your work." Forget that hundreds of people commented how awesome this is. Forget that the resulting resume and cover letter were total junk. The funniest part of this for me is the fact that people who do this actually think that the hiring team can't tell. We can.
So, the two big takeaways here? Don’t use AI programs to build your resume and don’t giggle at others’ mistakes because you’re probably making the exact same ones.
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