Liz, thanks for your comment

hrwench — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:49:57 -0500

In my experience, any recruiter or hiring manager worth their salt is not going to let an applicant tracking system trump "eye-balling" a resume for a creative position. If they do? It's their loss. ;)

Jenn Barnes

Blog: HR Wench

Twitter: hrwench

online job search

Liz Rizzo — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:33:20 -0500

In 2008 though, I worry about the electronic systems many companies use when you apply online. Surely they could be automatically excluding all resumes without the specific degrees they prefer and therefore never even seeing hers?

Liz Rizzo

I blog at Everyday Goddess.

Ghost of the College Major - Ask HR Wench

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:36:59 -0500

Does your college major haunt you for the rest of your career? A reader wants to know,

We met at BlogHer 08 and I've been reading your blog ever since. [ed note: YAY!] I've been job hunting for five months, so getting insight into the way HR works has been both helpful and interesting.

I was laid off in April, and since then, I've had a grand total of three interviews. My lack of success has led me to second-guess every aspect of my applications. I'm a writer/editor, and many of the listings I see require a degree in English, journalism, or communications. My degree is in history.

I've taken a significant number of non-degree classes in journalism at a respected program (which is included on my resume), and I have years of experience writing and editing for a living, so it's not like I need that English degree to teach me how to do the jobs in question. Also, I graduated from college nearly a decade ago--these are not entry-level jobs I'm trying for. But could my major still be excluding me?

Maybe I'm grasping at straws here, but from a hiring perspective, how important is the college major? Will HR rule out otherwise qualified candidates based on it? If so, is there a way you'd recommend I adjust my resume to make up for that? I don't want to lie, but I don't want to lose out on jobs because of it, either.

Full disclosure: I've been seriously looking for a job since March and haven't had any offers. I have had a lot of interviews though. I feel a little weird giving people career advice when my own is in the toilet. At the same time, I do have some "side projects" in the works. I'm not completely pathetic, yo.

I don't care if you have a degree in underwater basket weaving, if you have only had three interviews in five months (of seriously looking), you are doing something wrong. Either that or the availability of jobs in your field or geographic area is completely nil.

While a degree in English, journalism or communications certainly helps a writer secure a position, I don't think a degree in history hinders it. This HR pro would be more interested in your years of experience & portfolio than your college major.

However, if you really think this could be a problem, list your degree on your resume as "Bachelor of Science, University of Whatever" instead of "Bachelor of Science, History from University of Whatever." And for the love of Pete, do not list the year you graduated. It's irrelevant and detracts from what should be the hiring manager's focus: your relevant qualifications.

There are thousands of things you could be doing better in your job search. What I suggest you do is take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are giving 110% to this search. If you're giving less than that, that is where your first problem lies (lays? I need an editor...).

Here are some other areas to look at:

Are you focusing on a specific type of position? If not, time to narrow things down. I could be going for a generalist, recruiter, benefits or management position. But I'm not. I'm going for a benefits specialist or generalist focused on benefits and one other area of HR. A focused search nets more results than an unfocused search.

Are you networking like crazy cakes? If not, get some cheap business cards made up and start going to in person events like free conferences/seminars, job fairs, job hunting groups, etc. Pass those cards out and talk to people about your job search. Get on LinkedIn, join Yahoo, Ning, Facebook and Google groups for writers & job seekers. Talk to people. Answer their questions & contribute to online discussions.

Readers, help a girl out & hit the comments.

Jenn Barnes has worked in human resources since 2001 and loves to hate it. She blogs at HR Wench & HRM Today. Follow her on Twitter and email your HR questions to hrwench at gmail dot com.

BlogHer - Ghost of the College Major - Ask HR Wench - Comments

Liz, thanks for your comment

online job search

Ghost of the College Major - Ask HR Wench