Less is More Unless More Tends to Impress Without Overwhelming

Dearies, dearies. I cannot tell you how many hours I have spent mourning the loss of brevity. In my world, which involves a fair bit of resume writing, Frump here has encountered more than one verbose individual keen on impressing employers with the heaviest resume by sheer weight. One dear fellow has provided Frumpie with 17 pages of content that must appear, without substantial editing, onto three pages (including cover letter). It is so predictable in my years of doing this that the client who supplies this much irrelevant information is the same soul who won’t provide an updated address or contact number.

Frumpie can also tell you this:

–Marketing people nitpick every syllable.

–Women expect too little.

–Men expect too much.

–Those who wax on the most about how special they are will be the first one sniping at you when you forget to mention they also write e-mails or use MS Word.

–If the experience does not fit the job sought, they still want it listed and will fuss to almighty heaven if you drop their high-school caddy job at the country club.

–Those who argue most are most insecure about their skills. Frumpie was accosted verbally by a woman who said “I never did that!” When Frumpie sent back to her the very same description that she’d supplied, she paid the bill without another word.

–Honesty is tested every day. There are a few clients who have amended their job titles or descriptions.

I have had clients go ballistic because I didn’t mention their Spelling Bee awards or their golf scores. I have had them argue length (too short!), content (not detailed enough!), and even the little hyperlink that appears under the e-mail address (remove it!). Yet they seek to load that resume down with jargon and buzz words that, well, make one’s head spin and makes the message disappear in the fluff. Despite my years of knowing what works and what doesn’t, I still have these experts right there buzzing in my ear, directing me on how to do my job properly.

Yet they wonder why on earth no one will hire them.

How to Rid Oneself of a Repeated Favor-Asker

In our Internet networking travels we have connected with some absolutely darling people, some of whom we have done business with. One particular fellow put together Frumpie’s original web site design. We love him because he listens and responds with exactly what we ask for. We also traded services; Frumpie provided the copy (and later additions/revisions) for his own web site. We have managed this enjoyable exchange of skills for the last three years.

Most recently the dear soul came to me about six months ago, cyber-hat in hand, asking for some marketing advice. As a Frump who likes to respond with thorough help and encouragement, I put together a step-by-step marketing plan that he himself could easily manage solo. He was so happy that he asked if there was anything he could do for me. After thinking for a moment, I said, “As a matter of fact, yes.” I wanted some changes to my web site. Just colors, nothing more. Take out this, plop in that.

Perhaps Frumpie overestimated the value of what she provided this gentleman. Perhaps she underestimated the amount of work she was asking him to do. He never responded. Frumpie even included the disclaimer, “If this is asking too much, just say so. I’ll understand and we can add a price tag to what I’m wanting.”

Repeated attempts to reach him have failed. It has distressed me only slightly, for I really do want these changes, and soon and I don’t want to have to find another person and hope that designer will understand me as this dear soul has.  Yet in another sense it is almost a relief, for the favors and trade-offs were becoming more and more detailed and frequent. While I am quite happy to help in return for in-kind services, I am not wild about wasting my time on someone who balked at the marketing plan (“I can’t talk to people in person!”) and has vanished without reciprocation or even acknowledgement of Frumpie’s request.