Because when you start with 0, and you add 3 people, you’re growin’ fast 🔥
Saturday, February 17, 2018 (hangover edition)
By Colin McIntosh, Sheets & Giggles CEO / former head hunter turned bedding mogul
December 2022 edit: You're probably coming here from Part 1 of my reddit resume advice. With the new round of layoffs hitting the economy (time is a flat circle), I also want to highlight Part 2 of my reddit job hunting advice, which has my top 12 job seeker FAQs. Beyond my free template below and reddit advice linked above, by popular demand I have finally set up SheetsResume.com for people who need an affordable professional resume review service. And of course, code RESUME always saves 20% extra on any order of our Eucalyptus bedding. Good luck out there!
04/05/2020 edit: I've been getting more emails and PMs on Reddit about this post lately, possibly from the historic layoffs in the US due to COVID–19. Whether or not that's the case for you, I sincerely hope this resume helps you find a better job than you had going into this mess. In addition to having S&G help how we can, I'm going to do my best to answer Reddit PMs and emails that come in re: job hunting during April as people face this crisis. All my best to you and yours, and I hope you're all staying safe out there.
Original Feb. 2018 Edit: This blog post is now the #1-all-time post on /r/jobs, is the #1 result on Google for "resume advice reddit," and has been read millions of times. What the sheet...
More importantly, thousands of people have messaged me and S&G that we helped them find a job, which is amazing, and we're sure there are tons more who haven't taken the time to message us. Helping others feels... good? Plus, all that sweet sweet reddit karma.
If you're coming from that post, learn about the bedding behind the resume (/r/brandnewsentence). And if you land a new job with my help, maybe celebrate with a new set of Eucalyptus sheets, our adjustable pillow, or a natural mattress – code RESUME saves 20% at checkout!
Ok here's the original post...
Stop sending us your resumes.
Since Sheets & Giggles announced our business plans a month ago, we’ve been inundated with tens of thousands of resumes and cover letters. More or less.
In any case, they’re all just... awful. (In format, not content ;p)
So, we figured you could all use some help with your resume formatting.
In an interview, if you'd say your greatest weakness is your attention span, skip reading the rest and download the editable MS Word version of our recruiter-approved resume by clicking here. Plug in your info, and away you go.
Unfortunately, we can't do anything about job applications that ask you to upload your resume, only to immediately force you to painstakingly type in everything anyway. Sorry. You should probably just avoid those companies.
If you want to get all the tips of the trade, make sure you read to the end of this quick post – there's a fun surprise waiting for you down there.
“Why is S&G writing about resume formats?”
There was a recent post on Reddit where someone was lamenting that they had sent out dozens of applications, but hadn't heard back from anyone. I commented and told them they probably had a bad resume format and to PM me with it so I could review it for them, and about 50 other redditors ended up sending me their resumes to review. I don't have time to do all of them, especially not for free, so I'd rather irresponsibly use valuable company time to write this post in the hope that it fulfills my personal obligations.
If you'd rather read a post about “Why Thread Counts Don’t Matter," ok. Noted. (We'll probably write about thread counts eventually at the urging of our investors to do something normal, but not today.)
In a past life, I was a tech recruiter for banks, hedge funds, and tech startups. You're lucky – I usually charge for this, but I like you.
General resume advice:
- Use a gmail email address. Delete your hotmail with extreme prejudice.
- Don't put an objective section or summary. It'll be skipped, and it's space that can be used better.
- Unless you have 20+ years' experience, make it 1 page. You can do it.
- Don't put your full address. "City, State" is enough.
- Name your resume "FirstName LastName Resume" and that's it. Never submit it with "(Project Management)" or "Final" or "2018" or literally anything else in the file name.
- Always submit it as a PDF, never as a Word doc. You never know how wonky a Word doc will look on someone else's machine.
- Try to read it in 10 seconds or less and see what you take away from it. That's about the initial screen time before someone makes an initial up/down decision, so you'll want to examine it from that perspective.
- Interests are important because it gives the interviewer something to connect with you on, and it makes you more than just a faceless resume. If you put Seinfeld, I promise someone will ask you what your favorite episode of Seinfeld is (mine's the Soup Nazi).
That's the most important stuff. Here's that resume template download link again. If you have more questions about job hunting, resumes, or career advice in general, just post a comment below (I'll reply to you via email), or email colin@sheetsgiggles.com and I'll try to get back to you before long.
You’re still reading. Nice 🍕
You’re now one of the few to know that this Thursday (2/22), we’ll start our first #FreePizzaFriday contest at 4pm ET on our Instagram and Facebook. Whatever pic we post, just like it and tag someone who may also want free pizza. At midnight, we’ll pick one of the commenters and deliver 2 free pizzas to them that weekend! We might even throw in cheesy bread if we're feeling magnanimous.
Keep an eye out; nobody knows about this yet except for you... and anyone else reading this. So just you.
Now get out there and nail that interview. Maybe one day you'll even realize your dream of working at S&G in an unpaid entry-level role (10+ years' experience required, must work on weekends, no benefits). Wouldn't that be something? Your mom would be so proud.
ICYMI: our last blog on how to start a business
Or travel into the future and read about S&G's benevolence.
Click here to download this format. Good luck, don't blow it.
2023 edit: if you need a personalized professional review, I don’t have time to do so myself, but after many years of being asked, I set up a way to help further. I recently enlisted the help of a former recruiting colleague (who taught me everything I know) to assist those in need of a good, fast, cheap 1:1 resume review.
If that’s you, email your resume as a Google Doc and/or Word Doc (G-doc preferable) to sheetsresume@gmail.com with a few sentences about your situation and job hunt, and you’ll hear back shortly.