Brutal brevity

Filipinos, who are the backbone of the Commonwealth’s English-speaking labor and skilled worker pool, are in a real squeeze. Saipan has sunk under the dead weight of patronage and incompetence (which is to be remedied by more patronage and incompetence), federalization issues create additional uncertainty for the alien work force (it’s a real nail-biter now), and yet alternatives like the Philippine economy (always lousy) and the U.S. economy (in a historic decline and fall that would give even Gibbons nightmares) are mighty bleak as well.

Well, Filipinos don’t have the luxury of wishful thinking, so they’ve got to start tossing irons into fires.

So if there’s any good news to be had, it’s this: Your humble scribe has spent some time screening resumes from the Philippines lately, and it occurs to me that this is the perfect time to highlight a glaring fact: Philippine resume protocol and U.S. resume protocol are very different.

So, for those of you considering taking a leap into the (plunging) U.S. job market, let’s concentrate on this practical issue.

So, some observations:
[B] 1. Length[/B]

Many resumes I’ve seen from the Philippines are often three, four, or even more pages long, on par with what seems to be (but I don’t really know) the more extensive “Curriculum Vitae” which is used in nations that eat with their forks upside down.

By contrast, most American managers I’ve known have strongly preferred one-page resumes. I’m not saying a two-pager will get tossed into the shredder, but no matter how you slice it, a U.S. style resume is usually an exercise in brutal brevity. It’s more of a teaser with choice highlights than a comprehensive autobiography.
[B] 2. Personal data[/B]

I know that listing date of birth, religion, and marital status is common in some places, and, in fact, this information is often put right at the top. My experience in U.S. circles, by contrast, is that this information isn’t considered appropriate.
[B] 3. References[/B]

These apparently are often listed on Philippine resumes. However, on U.S. resumes, from my experience, they are not; the U.S. convention is that you’ll be expected to cough up references at a job interview (which means you should have a page of references to ready to present at the appropriate time).

Of course, like everything else in the resume realm, none of this is cast in stone. One of my old bosses lists all of his references on his resume. His theory is he builds instant credibly by enabling the resume reader to pick the up the phone and verify his competence and character right away. He always seems to have a good job.
[B] 4. Mug shots[/B]

Fairly common, from what I’ve seen, on Philippine resumes. Fairly uncommon, from what I’ve seen, stateside.

This seems to be universal now. Everybody is a “Proactive, dynamic individual” who “desires career enhancement by obtaining a long-term entrepreneurial opportunity with a progressive firm.”

Yuck. Doesn’t anybody just want a job anymore?
[B] 6. Delusions[/B]

The resumes I’ve seen from the Philippines have all avoided the bizarre flights of fancy that I’ve seen on many U.S. resumes. A solid 25 percent of U.S. resumes seem to emanate from lifetime office workers who (listing “hobbies” or “interests”) also happen to be SEAL-class SCUBA divers, and Olympic-class cyclists, and Special Forces-grade mountaineers. I don’t know how other readers react to those tangents. As for me, I think a lot of people are bored with their lives and want to spice up their resumes with dramatic and non-pertinent flair, which indicates to me they are not fulfilled with their careers.

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