NotJobs: How Not to Get a Planning Job

Over on the Cyberia forums, where urban planners discuss our future cities, the Cyburbian Cardinal reports about the resumes he’s been reviewing. The problems he sees are not limited to his field. In the sample below, the original resume verbiage is in italics.

Post of the Day | Careers How not to get a job

Energetic young planner seeks exciting position in big city
Turn-ons include new urbanism and long moonlit walks on the beach. No. This is not on online dating service, and drop the adjectives. Highlight your experience and skills.

Graduate student seeking mid-level position
You are under-qualified for a mid-level position. People in mid-level positions got there by having years of experience, not a degree. A graduate degree with less than 2-4 years of experience is still an entry-level position just about anywhere.

Check out the original for the Cardinal’s other observations, and some great comments.

Back from the Pinewood Derby!

Wow! We survived our Pinewood Derby last Saturday, and all-in-all it went smoothly. 29 boys raced, and the final rankings were decided by less than .12 seconds.

I’m getting a lot of Google search hits on “pinewood+ derby”, which must frustrate folks looking for tips. To help these customers, here are a few of my favorite Pinewood Derby links:

• The US Scouting Project’s Pinewood Page
  
• The Ultimate Pinewood Site
• Young and Pope “Partial Perfect-N Chart Generator”
• HowStuffWorks “How do I make a pinewood derby car go faster?”

Finally: You’re welcome to review the notes from Pack 216’s Pinewood design seminar.
My 2005 Design Clinic Presentation. [Powerpoint, pps=4,624KB] I suggest a “Save As…”

Click the Ferrari above for a great example of Pinewood Art.

Let me know if these are useful, or if you have others.

Break: Pinewood Derby Time

Friends – Saturday is the Pinewood Derby. Between helping my Cub Scouts (and my son) with cars, coordinating the snack bar, working on the pack meeting and advising the Race Chair on how it all works, I’ve not had a spare minute for blogging. Please forgive me and come back next week!

Mind the Gap: Late Boomer America

Over on Atlantic.com, economics blogress Megan McArdle has an interesting analysis of some economic factors related to the Great Boomer Retirement.

The Baby Boomers’ retirement will change the texture of society in ways we’ve scarcely begun to contemplate. A dispatch from America’s coming silver age

No Country for Young Men
by Megan McArdle

Start with the stuff America makes, and the people who make it. Young people buy goods, like cars, houses, and iPods. Old people need services, like transportation, meal preparation, and health care. We have made great strides in enabling the elderly to get around—the scooters you see advertised on daytime television, for example. My grandmother, who is blind and physically frail, was able to live at home much longer than she otherwise could have because she had Meals on Wheels, a home health aide, and a Life Alert-type necklace to call for help in case she fell.

But these services require a lot of labor. According to an analysis by McKinsey Global Institute, the number of hours required to produce an automobile in North America fell by 1.7 percent annually from 1987 to 2002, to an average of about 100 hours. Meanwhile, it still takes about the same amount of time as it always did to drive a senior to a doctor’s appointment, or to help an older patient bathe and dress. Productivity growth is faster in the things that kids consume than in the things that the elderly need.

As the Boomers age, they will consume fewer of the things that we produce efficiently, and more of the things that we provide relatively inefficiently. Productivity is notoriously difficult to pro­ject, but many forces will be pushing it downward as the Baby Boomers age.

This does not look good.

LinkedIn – Best Tips

Scott Allen has a great blog called Linked Intelligence. He specializes in the Smart Ways to Used LinkedIn. I’ll admit, I’ve sampled the LinkedIn Kool-aid, and I’ve found it to be a useful tool. (See my other LinkedIn posts here, here and here.)

Scott compiled his 2007 top tips into one Linked Intelligence post, and this one post is worth reading:
Best of Linked Intelligence 2007

Check it out, especially his Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn.

The LinkedIn editors got in the act too, promoting an article about Using 8 Tips in Under 8 Minutes.

Tip: How Not to Reply to a "Job Filled" Notice

Right before New Year’s, we had a flurry of hiring activity. When our top candidate for our web postion accepted our offer, I sent my standard “Job Filled” notice out to the other candidates on New Years Eve.

I found these two responses in my e-mail box when I got back to the office. They were sent within hours, but that’s the only thing that is similar. I’ve reproduced them here (minus deleting the contact info to protect the innocent.)

Which one of these candidates shows best How Not to Reply to a “Job Filled” Notice?

---

From: nisha
Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 6:45 PM

Hi

Thanks For your email but I was not remember when I was apply this job.

But may be long back so don’t to sorry for me.

I m already in project full time

Nisha

---

From: John
Sent: Monday, December 31, 2007 9:30 PM

Dear Mr. Troy,

Thank you for your kind response. Would you put me on your interested list if the hired candidate backs out? I would love to work for your organization as I am seeking a long term company to work and retire from.

Happy New Year!!!

Regards,

John

For some reason, I’d rather consider John if I need another web person.

Note: According to my records, Nisha applied Wednesday, 28 November 2007 at 10:37 PM.

LinkedIn: What is the funniest (or worst) resume gaffe you’ve seen in 2007?

Over on the LinkedIn Questions pages, recruiters are sharing their hilarious examples of What is the funniest (or worst) resume gaffe you’ve seen in 2007?

A few shining examples:

• “I like to use a hot glue gun as a hobby.”
• “Great oral skills”
• “Experienced Writter Available”

Go see – more examples are added every hour.

NotJobs: The Best of 2007 (or not)

I can’t say that the following posts are the best of my writing on this blog, but they are the posts that seem to attract the most attention. These five postings (in no particular order) have been showing up in many Internet searches, and therefore got most of the traffic in 2007.

How Not to Get a Job at Wieden + Kennedy
http://notjobs.wordpress.com/2007/04/22/how-not-to-get-a-job-at-wieden-kennedy/

How Not to Get a Job: Fake Your Credentials
http://notjobs.wordpress.com/2007/05/18/faking-your-credentials-and-disparate-impact/

Myths – Headhunters get jobs for candidates
http://notjobs.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/myths-headhunters-get-jobs-for-candidates/

Tips: Longhorn cover letters-bad, better, best
http://notjobs.wordpress.com/2007/10/28/tips-longhorn-cover-letters-bad-better-best/

Man fired for posting ‘Dilbert’ comparing boss to drunken lemur
http://notjobs.wordpress.com/2007/12/23/man-fired-for-posting-dilbert-comparing-boss-to-drunken-lemur/

On to a great 2008!