Maybe two days after saying ‘Ditto’ and somewhat more writing a response to a LinkedIn piece about restrictive/unimaginative cookie cutter formats 95%-plus of sites use taking resumes, I found the glory of NASCAR’s site while applying for a multi-talent and demanding EA role in a digital arena. Seems I was one of 93 Linked applicants checking it out, but what impressed me hugely was **2000 word, not characters** boxes to describe past experiences in.
Any idea how liberating that becomes after chiseling a pretty widely varied set of experiences down to barely more than bullets on a page and a half because HR people only seem to stay focused (according to a number of widely quoted studies) somewhere around 6-12 seconds?
Few counselors admit you juuuust might need more than one page, even if hardly anyone does ‘The Twenty’ these days. I love laying multiple positives out on LinkedIn, and seeing how others present themselves has value as well, but trying to upload to many company sites, lets say its not always WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). After years of road rep sales I did long-term contract work for six years before landing a permanent executive assistant at Meineke, and that 1994-2000 heading in the middle of things jerks all other information to hell on most sites.
HEAD COACH BROCKPORT ST. WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY CLUB
Getting to put that as a substantial part of my background, it was pretty cool. True, the Community Development VP entry with the Albany Jaycees showed another layer of expertise to ‘gettin’ it done’ that might be expected in a major venue like NASCAR, but hockey coach, that was absolutely pure Goodness.
I can’t forget ol’ Joe Kurtzman, a Canuck who possessed a hollow leg during beer drinking strategy meetings at Casey’s, and was dinosaur dumb about dealing with teenage female athletes of the late ’70s. That’s what made me Head Coach, being able to talk with-recruit those freshmen from late night boyfriends games and over foosball tables.
A ‘Dirty Dozen’
We began with barely a ‘Dirty Dozen’ and immediately lost two, one tough talker after getting bounced off the boards herself. The second, Kitty, who would’ve been captain, seperated vetebrae in her back doing some extra skating.
After losing to Ithaca College at Brockport 3-1 (including an empty netter with :02 to go) we pounded them 8-2 at Cornell’s Lynah Arena. I didn’t put all that into the box, or that my folks and three cousins came with brother Steve before his JV hoops game, but that feeling and everything about driving back in below zero weather wrapped in army blankets, is something that ties for first with winning an Upstate (NY) Rugby championship among my athletic achievements.
I’ve been hunkered down in retail for over five years now, but I’m feeling much better about the economy, or at least knowing my odds on something. Realistically, the odds probably grow longer for a plum job like NASCAR described. Damn, I forgot to mention getting ITS SPORTS! magazine to invest in uniforms and entry fee for a basketball team I formed around the idea of giving my buddy Ivan Marquez someplace to coach, but getting the hockey in again, that did feel righteous.
Glenn Shorkey
CDTalent Enterprises 