“Common Resume Pitfalls During Hiring – On Both Sides” with Marc Z of Marc Z Legal Staffing

Jeffrey (1s):
Well, hello, everybody out there and radio entrepreneurs land, we continue to flow shows and stories of entrepreneurship and this economy. And if we all thought that things were going to get back to the old way, we warned you. It’s just another new way. Starting in the fall. As we look into our vaccination booster time and a new and a new variant. So everybody’s adapting again. That’s the name of the game for entrepreneurs. And when you’re talking change, who better to talk to than Marc Z president of Marc Z Legal Staffing and having your own Marc Z moment. Hi Marc.

Marc (37s):
Hey Jeff. Great to be here. Thanks for having me on the show.

Jeffrey (40s):
Great Marc. You know, Marc, every day I’m sent resumes from clients and they say to me, what do you think? And my first answer is, I don’t know what to think. I got to talk to them. You know, this whole resume thing. I know you have some thoughts about it for entrepreneurs, right?

Marc (1m 1s):
Right. Jeff, the resume is such a key in terms of the hiring process. And in some ways it’s taken a back seat to the hiring process because employers, number one have a lot of hiring needs right now. And number two, they don’t have a lot of people to evaluate resumes and they have to make sometimes split decisions. But resumes are really, really important as a guide to employers. And they’re really important to represent potential employees. And that’s really taken a step back because with, with the intranet, with having resumes on your laptop, it’s a quick process to send a resume unlike before you and I go back a little bit.

Marc (1m 50s):
When you used to go to copy cup, you would get your resume. You would have it laid out. You would send it to different employers and you’d be strategic today. Employees are less strategic in terms of sending out their resumes or changing their resumes or adapting their skillset to the specific skillset that our employers are asking. And they’re not really looking at when they’re preparing their resumes, looking at pitfalls that would come. And that’s, I think it’s important because these are pitfalls that employers still look at and utilize. So for example, you should have a resume that is not more than two pages.

Marc (2m 33s):
That’s why you do not a resume is an overview of your background. That’s been true since the whole hiring by resume, by resume usage has begun. The second thing is you want to make sure your resume is a true representative of the work you can do. So for example, make sure your resume is properly. If an employer, particularly if you’re representing yourself as an attorney that does very good drafting and accuracy and editing, and you have typos in your resume. What’s the first thing the employer is going to think.

Jeffrey (3m 14s):
My partner throws out at least 40% of all resumes because of typos and grammatical errors. Right? Right. And it says to me, they can’t take the time to get their resume, right. What’s going to happen when they have a job, correct.

Marc (3m 28s):
That’s what the employer thinks. So what we always say to candidates after you’ve done your resume, after you’ve completed all types of proofing, then have an independent set of eyes. Look at that resume one more time. And then he ended back from you for one more time, because you’re totally right. If a resume goes out as your work product, that’s the first thing the employer is going to think about. The next thing is you do not need to have a resume that goes back 30 years. If you’ve been in the workforce. Now, if you’ve been in the workforce a short time, any experience you have from internships to even routine jobs.

Marc (4m 13s):
We had a situation years ago during the recession where somebody had worked as a, a senior paralegal for a major firm, but didn’t have a lot of experience. And then the recession hit. So what would happen? They were driving a truck because there were no positions in that specific area. So the employer asked, what was the candidate doing during the two years? And we went back to the CA we had spoken to the candidate and the candidate said, well, and then he had told us he had driven a truck. And we had said to him, you should put this on your resume. And the candidate said, well, it has nothing to do with my experience.

Marc (4m 55s):
And we said, it may have nothing to do with your experience, but it shows that you didn’t collect unemployment for two years, that you were doing something until things changed. So it’s a balance between bringing in experience, but being conscious of the point in time for experience. That’s another thing. The other, the other thing that we suggest is be specific and be strategic with resumes. So for example, if an employer has four different jobs that you could be qualified for, make sure when you submit that resume, that you’re, that you’re going for and presenting yourself for the job that you have the most qualifications for.

Marc (5m 42s):
And

Jeffrey (5m 43s):
I want to jump in, I want to jump in on that because so many times I’ll see a resume and I’ll go, did, did you notice that they were applying for another job and they just sent you the same resume,

Marc (5m 53s):
Correct? Correct. Or you might’ve had, which you’ve had multiple jobs in your company and there’s, they send the resume first to one job second for another. So choose it. And so you really want what we suggest to candidates have a base resume and then maybe tweak it for that specific job, because then it shows, you’ve read the job description. You care about that job description. You have confidence that you have that skillset for the job description and you’re on points. And you’ve read that job description. A lot of candidates, a lot of time, just send their resumes out.

Marc (6m 34s):
Cause it’s easy to do. So. And the employers notice at one, they’ve gotten multiple resumes from you, two that resumes the same and three, you’re not strategic in terms of what position you have for.

Jeffrey (6m 47s):
Well, I think all practical things, but you’re really saying if you’re going to do a resume, think about it, think about it and put the thought into it and do it right. Which is, I think what you’re really saying. But I also think just to add before we finish, make sure you get someone who knows what they’re doing to proof it before you send it out. You need to have it proof because, you know, I know with my work, if I’m not getting approved, it’s not right. And everybody needs a second set of eyes. I see the same mistakes over and over again. And I’m accustomed to them and we all make that mistake. So Marc Z, you know, I know you’re a busy person. Everybody’s trying to get hold of you. People talk about Marc Z in business networking groups that I’m in. They, I, it’s funny when I’m sitting in networking groups, especially my Thursday one, when people say, do you know Marc Z to people?

Jeffrey (7m 32s):
And I’m like, yeah, I, I do. So if somebody doesn’t know Marc Z and they want to talk to them, how do they find him?

Marc (7m 40s):
Well, first of all, Jeff, thank you for having me on today. And thank you for your, your thoughtful words. If they just Google dizzy, MIRC, and then the letter Z, we come right up or Marc Z legal.com, M a R C Z L E G a l.com or 6 1 7 3 3 8 1 300.

Jeffrey (7m 60s):
And for those who don’t know, Marc Z, I know he’s private is, has been on the DL for the last couple of months. You wouldn’t know it. If you watched that big, positive, happy face soon to be back in the, in athletic gear again, right? Marc.

Marc (8m 12s):
I love your positive thinking. Hopefully one day soon, Jeff, thank you.

Jeffrey (8m 17s):
Running around a tennis court with the Marc Z laugh. Alright. We’re hoping it’s going to happen. We know it. And my name is Jeffrey Davis and you know, you always have to cherish those special Marc Z moments.