While you have a handful of kids a.k.a bastards who don’t need to go through the whole resume and interview process to get a job because their parents are well connected, there are the rest of us who need to go through the traditional channels to get the job. And many of us just don’t have impressive resumes. After all, how glamorous is that job at the Body Shop where you just acted as a cashier?
When your work experience doesn’t cut it, you have to take some liberties with your resume. After all, everyone does it. Now, there is a difference between fudging and flat out lying. I don’t recommend the latter because that will eventually bite you in the butt. As for the former, well. Fudging is an art form. I want to give a disclaimer. At any point during your possible tenure with the firm, the employer can fire you if he/she finds out that you lied on your resume. That being said, there are ways to improve your resume.
First, don’t think that your job was just a simple and meaningless task for you to make money. Let’s take the simplest job that you may think is unimpressive. Suppose that you were a movie theater attendant. Now, anyone can get that job. However, you want to emphasize that you learned how to manage attendants and provided customer service to ensure that people received full-value for their entertainment dollars. That is not entirely untrue. Also, you are stating your value: you want the best for your clients. Now what employer wouldn’t like that trait? Second, you probably had to clean up the gum under the chairs and stains. Rather than say that you cleaned the theater, you can say that you were in charge of maintaining a clean and friendly theater environment including overseeing the removal of waste, developing an inventory of refreshments (soda and candy), and safekeeping valuables (lost items).
Now, I wouldn’t go saying that your brief stint at Burger King was comparable to someone who spent 10 years in finance but you do want to show to your prospective employers that you are earnest, hard-working, and willing to do whatever it takes to complete your tasks. Also, your willingness to fudge your resume slightly shows to your employers that you may have a rosy outlook to the jobs that you take. You know that your job as a toilet cleaner was…uhh…crappy. Your prospective employer knows that too. But if he/she thinks that you had a pleasant outlook on it (as stated on your resume), he/she might assume that you would be fantastic for the new job that you will be doing.
