If you say you have excellent communication skills, you’re demonstrating that you don’t. Communication skills are self evident, not self described.
Yet many hiring managers persistently write “strong communication skills” as a requirement in job descriptions. Sadly, savvy job hunters must include the vile term “excellent communication skills” in their résumés …or risk being rejected by an automated résumé keyword scanner.
The automated résumé keyword scanner is a nasty robot that scans your résumé before humans get a chance to review it. If your résumé fails to include all the requirements in the posted job description, you’ll get an automated rejection letter. A human being who has the power to hire you may never even see your résumé.
Therefore, in order to prove that you possess excellent communication skills, your résumé must demonstrate poor written communication skills. Blind to the finer nuances of communication (sentence structure, word choice, posture, tone of voice, etc.), an adroitly programmed robot will systematically reject the most exceptional candidates.
How Orwellian and twisted has job hunting become in 2012? And how might an excellent communicator get around the robot?
The fault lies squarely with hiring managers. Why put “excellent communication skills” in a job description at all? It’s not like “an absence of communication skills” would ever be desirable. And when HR departments use robots to eliminate people, don’t be surprised when résumés include spammy, meta keyword-loaded sections titled “FOR AUTOMATED KEYWORD SCANNING ROBOTS ONLY”. You asked for it!
After all, ‘audience identification & analysis’ is one of the first tasks a skilled communicator will perform!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Laura:
What’s sad about ads asking for excellent communication skills is that their position titles often display poor communication skills, like Principle Engineer. They really were looking for a Principal Engineer (lead dude). A principle engineer would need to be a physicist!
There also may be hilariously misspelled titles in the position descriptions. When I typed “conslutant” into the search box at Indeed.com, I found there were openings for “automotive sales conslutants / sales professionals.”
Richard
Thanks for bringing this up, Laura — we are living in a world where automated software robots control much more than they should!
Interesting description of job descriptions, Laura.
Thanks for the Post!
At a “resume editing workshop” recently, one of the other attendees reviewing my resume thought I should add “soft skills” such as excellent communicator, excellent presentation skills, and team player.
My response was as gentle as I could make it, but translated to “no” (with explanations of why not).
To be fair, this is her first time writing a resume in 25 years, poor dear.
> don’t be surprised when résumés include spammy, meta keyword-loaded sections titled “FOR AUTOMATED KEYWORD SCANNING ROBOTS ONLY”.
Can we do them in 6-point white on white text the way websites have taken to doing?
This is funny/sad stuff. Misspellings, talking to robots, spamming — it strikes me that relationships trump resumes in the job hunt process!
I haven’t looked for a job since 1999 — but I have empathy for my colleagues who are on the hunt. Maybe more Huxley than Orwell — it’s a brave new world out there…