Mumford Recruiting - Advice for your job search from Mumford and Sons

Ok, it had been a little while since I did one of my musical posts and this one will be a little different.  It’s a pretty new album and it’s decidedly NOT metal.  If you look on wikipedia Mumford and Sons are described as a “British Folk Rock Band”...whatever that means.   Regardless, they totally rock and I’d highly recommend if you are looking for something cool.  This post is dedicated to them and will hopefully share a few recruiting/job search advice from their album “Sigh No More”.

Love that will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, - Sigh No More

I’m not really sure the recruiting hook here but I love this line and this song.  I’m sure you could make some snarky joke about Corporate America or who companies will always dismay or enslave you but I’m trying to start this on a positive note.


And I'll find strength in pain
And I will change my ways
I'll know my name as it's called again - The Cave

This song pretty much rules, check the video here.  I really like this line for people who are having a hard time finding a job.  Interviewing sucks, and it’s very difficult.  The trick, is to take all these interviewing experiences good and bad...and get better.  Next time your name is called for an interview, be ready and kill it.

And my head told my heart
"Let love grow"
But my heart told my head
"This time no
This time no" - Winter Winds

Another quote that aligns perfectly with my recruiting thoughts..trust your heart.  Doesn’t matter if you are a hiring manager or a job seeker.  If something tells you “this is off” it probably is.  Now, I’m not sure you’re head should ever tell you to “let love grow” in a work setting but we’ll leave that to the HR folks....for now, trust your heart when looking at a new job.

It seems that all my bridges have been burned - Roll Away Your Stone

Have you burned bridges?  Not sure?  Think about it.  The second to last thing you want to do is burn bridges....the LAST thing you want to do is burn bridges and not realize it.  Take time every now and again to think about your networking and former coworkers and if you’ve burnt bridges try to repair them.  If you can’t repair them....that’s fine, just make sure you don’t ask them to be references!

Lead me to the truth and I will follow you with my whole life - White Blank Page

This quote makes me think of mentors and people I’ve looked up to in my career.  Mentors are hugely important.  A mentor is with you for life and if you are a mentor to someone...be there for them when they need you.

I really fucked it up this time - Little Lion Man

Little Lion Man is probably Mumford and Sons most popular song...it’s awesome.  The recruiting link?  Well, we all f it up sometimes....it’s inevitable.  So, when you f it up....don’t avoid it.  Embrace the experience and grow from it.

And you have your choices
And these are what make man great
His ladder to the stars - Timshel

I REALLY like this quote for people looking to do great things.  There are times in your career when you have choices and those choices will make your career.  Some of them are HUGE and some might not be as big.  But the fact is, the choices you make in your career will be your ladder to the stars.  Are you up for the challenge?

My weakness I feel I must finally show - Awake my soul

If you honestly, truly want to grow as an employee...you have to expose your weaknesses and grow.  In order to become great, you have to focus on those things and turn them into strengths. Find a mentor, talk to them about your weaknesses and grow.

That’s it for this one, I’m on the road this week for work so I’ll try to post again but it might be a busy week.  Good luck out there this week, more soon.

How long should your resume be?

Writing a resume is tough stuff, really difficult and it feels like a life/death kind of exercise.  One of the biggest decisions...how long should my resume be?  Now, you’ll hear a million different opinions on this topic and honestly no one is right.  That’s not true...I’m right on this topic.

In order to make this easy, I’m going to break it down by “Years of Experience” so if you fit into a certain group...you can just read that and ignore my other comments.

Less than Five Years of Experience - This covers new graduates, interns and people generally about ~5 years out of school.  Generally speaking you want your resume to be one page. Standard career center advice here.  However and this is important!  If you have unique experience or have done really amazing work (think contribute to a cool startup or open source project or solved world hunger) then you should add a second page and show off your experience.  Under almost no circumstance should your resume be longer than two pages.

Five to Fifteen Years of Experience - Your resume should be two pages.  By now you’ve done enough to justify the second page (easily??) so you should use it.  Now, this does not mean you MUST use two pages.  If you have a career that’s pretty easy to explain, feel free to keep your resume one page.  Short and Sweet.  Additionally, you could add a third page if you needed it too...especially if you have a lot of publications or have done some truly remarkable work.  

Fifteen Plus - As a general resume rule, I’d recommend keeping your resume at two pages if possible regardless of your experience at this point.  If you’ve done a lot or really feel like you’ve got the experience to justify three pages by all means go for it.  Don’t go to four pages unless you are creating a CV and have a bunch of articles/publications to add.

I hope this makes sense, for the most part your resume should be around two pages. Quick True Story - I once got a thirty-four page resume from a guy....I laughed and rejected him.  Thanks dude, save a tree.  As a rule the shorter the better, and if you find yourself going long just beware as you don’t want recruiters throwing your resume in the trash before you have a chance to prove your great!


Would love to hear your comments!