Resumes From Hell has been building upon its initial success since November of 2004 when it was first released. Its authors, Jon Reed and Rachel Meyers, two former commission-based recruiters, compiled their hellacious resumes into this hilarious and poignant memoir after keeping a joke drawer filled with the missteps of unfortunate job seekers. As part of our Preparing for the Job Search Series, Jon and Rachel were kind enough to grant me the following interview to share with our job seeker readers.

Christopher: At what point during your 10 years as commission-based recruiters did you get the inspiration to write Resumes From Hell?

Rachel: Back in 1996, I joined a company as an Administrative Assistant where Jon was a specialty writer and recruiter. Our company's platform for recruiting was a web site where we posted jobs and career newsletters for niche software professionals. We received a couple hundred resumes every day. As Administrative Assistant, my job was to screen all of the incoming resumes and route them to the appropriate specialty recruiters like Jon. I was given very strict instructions: if I came across a cover letter or resume that was funny for any reason, I was to immediately print a copy and turn it over to Jon. Jon was building an impressive collection of these bad resumes; in fact, he had a "wall of shame" to display the funniest ones. Standing around and laughing at bad resumes was our office's version of gossiping at the water cooler.

It wasn't until after the dot-com bubble burst in our faces that we came up with the book idea. We were unemployed, but we knew that the hundreds of funny resumes were a comedic windfall, and we were determined to make something out of them. I began the process of categorizing the bad resumes - categories like "Too Much Information," "Alpha Dogs," and "Questionable References." I remember my apartment was covered in stacks of resumes with yellow sticky notes on each pile. From there, Resumes from Hell was born!

Christopher: What do you think makes a resume memorable?

Rachel: Well, that depends - do you mean good memorable or bad memorable? A resume that is good memorable shows the hiring manager that you did your homework. Even though they've never met you, the hiring manager feels connected to you because you've thoughtfully applied to their position. You do this by customizing a cover letter, connecting the dots between the hiring manager's needs and your skills, and displaying your accomplishments clearly and concisely. A resume that is bad memorable may violate any or all of these principles. A bad resume may be memorable because it irritates the hiring manager (i.e. "I can't believe she sent a 12 page resume!"), or because you've inadvertently made yourself the butt of a joke (i.e. "I can't believe she listed her Mother as a reference!"). Either way, you're bad memorable. That's the thing about a bad resume - it may or may not be funny, but you definitely won't get you the interview.

Christopher: You talk a lot about personal expression in Resumes From Hell. When does personal expression in a resume become too much?

Jon: Resumes have very little tolerance for personal expression. They are a formal document with formal rules. You could think of a resume as a piece of classical music. Everything is structured within a conservative musical context. A cover letter might be more akin to a pop song. A pop song still has structure but there is room for a bit more creative expression there - it's a slightly more flexible format. I have a saying about personal expression and job searches: "roll out your idiosyncrasies gradually - after you get the job." A good resume is focused on detailing your qualifications in a structured way. I don't really see how personal expression comes into play at all. Resumes are not meant to be creatively satisfying. As a rule, the more fun you had making your resume "expressive," the less chance it will actually land you a job. So, to get back to your question, the idea is to avoid personal expression on a resume and wait for the interview to reveal more of your personality, keeping the most outlandish parts under wraps until the paychecks start flowing.

Christopher: How can the job seeker personalize their resumes without making them too informal or becoming a parody of themselves?

Rachel: The only type of personal information a hiring manager wants to see on your resume is information that demonstrates how your skills will impact their bottom line.

Different hiring managers have different bottom lines - they may be interested in making money, saving time, or implementing a new strategy. As the job seeker, it's up to you to convey how you will do that. Your personal professional accomplishments are relevant; your personal hobbies are not.

Jon: I agree. Like I said, I think people need to let go of the resume as an opportunity to "express themselves." Every resume is personalized because every person is different. But beyond that, the focus on a resume is presenting your experience in the best possible light. There is a level of creativity in that, but a resume is not meant to be as much fun as writing a poem or playing a guitar solo. The best resumes are written by people who accept that there are rules of the job search that are to be adhered to. The worst resumes are written by people who want to reinvent the rules of the job search because they feel they are especially creative or special in some way. Those kinds of resumes wind up in our book. When I see a resume that tries too hard to stand out, for example by using multi-color fonts, or by super-imposing a photo of that person in front of their car (both real life examples), my first assumption is that they are too insecure about their experience to use a standard format. The goal is to get the job. What you do in your free time is up to you.

Christopher: One of my personal favorite chapters was "Actually, I'm Not As Qualified As You Think I Am." What really stood out to me was, "Also, I have one or two ideas for screenplays, but you are not advertising for that." This comes back to personal expression in a way - when is it appropriate to discuss admirable traits or skills that don't necessarily add to the job being applied for, but may shed light on creativity and achievements outside of your field?

Rachel: "Actually, I'm Not As Qualified As You Think I Am" is one of my favorite chapters, too! I love people who point out tests that they failed or projects they didn't complete. I mean, why even bring it up? My favorite entry in that chapter is the self-questionnaire guy. Basically, he quizzed himself via essay questions and grids that reflected his training and experience with various software modules. The kicker is that he didn't have any relevant training or experience, so the grids were all blank and the answers to the essays questions were "Unfortunately, no" and "Unfortunately, I don't have any experience in this area." For whatever reason, he felt compelled to reveal in painstaking detail how utterly disqualified he was for the job he was applying for. Brilliant!

As for introducing skills or traits that are not relevant to the job you're applying for... If you feel you must include a personal interest or hobby, be sure to put it in a context relevant to the hiring company. Perhaps you have a leadership role in a charity organization, or you teach at the community college, or you are a Toastmaster. These could all be relevant skills to the position you're applying for.

But be careful: the hiring manager may view your hobbies as too weird (building steam-powered bicycles), too time consuming (having a "Second Life"), too dangerous (skydiving), or downright offensive (volunteering at a Planned Parenthood Clinic). Remember, the hiring manager is thinking about their bottom line, and doesn't want to imagine you missing work because of a broken arm, or annoying your colleagues by proselytizing at the water cooler.

Christopher: Another great chapter was "Yes, But How Do You Really Feel?". How do you recommend dealing with "friction" or "creative differences" between the job seeker and management (or coworkers) on paper?

Rachel: Again, this is a case of "Why bring it up?" If you feel the need to explain why you're changing jobs in your cover letter or interview, there are certainly better ways to frame it than saying you're current boss is a megalomaniac or your co-workers are incompetent. It's much wiser to stay positive: your current position doesn't afford you the opportunity to meet your next career goals, whether that's manage a team, work with a specific technology, or gain experience in a particular industry. The message this sends the hiring manager is that you're positive, career-driven, and thoughtful. Insulting current colleagues just makes you look like you don't get along well with others. Not to mention that the hiring manager may know the people you're insulting!

Christopher: What is the biggest mistake you find with resumes? My guess is simple spelling and grammar issues, like the ones you covered in Chapter 13, "Language Gaffes".

Jon: The biggest mistakes tend to be the kinds we referred to previously, in terms of over-personalizing a resume or cover letter. For example, if someone inserts some trash talk about their former employer into their cover letter, they have ruined their chances with me, even if the rest of their letter is fine and their resume is perfect. If they misspelled a word in their cover letter or made a spelling mistake, I might not rule them out if everything else looks good. But repeated grammatical and spelling mistakes are likely to be a deal breaker for most positions. So yes, I would agree that those types of mistakes are high on the list as to how people rule themselves out through obvious mistakes.

Christopher: How do you think the job seeker can best sell themselves on paper?

Jon: We have touched on this before a little bit, but the key is to take the experience you have and figure out a way to present it in the most positive light. Work experience looks very different based on how you describe it. Were you flipping burgers, or were you part of the best customer service team in your industry? Another crucial aspect of selling yourself is to customize the resume and cover letter for a particular employer and job opening. As a rule, doing homework on the employers you are going after and integrating information from that legwork into your application is a huge positive step. It's not as much fun as playing around with your resume fonts, but it reaps a much bigger reward.

Christopher: We here at The Employment Guide® really enjoyed Resumes From Hell. Do you have any plans for a follow up book?

As a matter of fact, we do! We received quite a bit of press when Resumes from Hell came out. Of course, everyone wanted to talk about the funny resumes from the book. But after the laughter stopped, the inevitable question was, "Well, what makes a good resume?" So now we're writing the "how to write a resume" book we never intended to write: Resumes from Heaven. Resumes from Heaven is going to include 12 Do's and 12 Don'ts for resume writing. Resumes from Hell is a humorous look at bad resumes. Resumes from Heaven takes the lessons learned and puts them to work for job seekers.

Of course, if the bad resumes keep coming, Resumes from Hell II may be inevitable.

Christopher: Finally, do you have any other advice for our job seeker readers?

Jon: One thing that is very important is taking into account how the "Internet Age" affects the job search. It's neat to be able to send out a bunch of resumes and cover letters quickly, which you can certainly do via email or even automatic resume submittal services, but be careful. If I had to choose between the option of sending out ten resumes with carefully customized cover letters, versus one hundred generic resumes with no cover letter, I'd go with the first option every time.

The other thing to keep in mind is that in the Internet Age, your total correspondence defines you, not just your resume itself. For example, if we were to receive a resume that looked terrific, but was sent from the email address ilovecalzones@freemail.com (similar to a real example), we'd perceive that person differently. I've also had cases where a resume and cover letter looked good, but a follow up email to that cover letter was rude, the way emails can be when we are in a hurry. So, in the Internet Age, we are judged by the totality of our correspondence. And we can also be "Googled," so keep those MySpace pages rated G or PG at worst.

Resumes From Hell is available in most major retail book establishments, as well as online at Amazon.com and www.ResumesFromHell.com. On behalf of The Employment Guide® I'd like to thank Jon and Rachel for taking time out of their schedules, and stepping away from their next project, Resumes From Heaven, to give us this insight into their fantastic book. Be sure to pick up a copy of both books for your job search!