Resume Items That Make Me Ask Questions

If the first two posts in this series weren’t enough, here is the next installment in my “UX interview” series.  The first two posts (My Favorite UX Interview Questions Part 1 and Part 2) continue to be my most visited pages on this blog so hopefully you will find this equally as useful.

Here are some things I see on resumes that make me ask questions:

1. Gaps in employment – It is OK to have gaps in employment, but be prepared to explain why and what you were doing. If you are currently in a “gap”, freelancing is a good filler or you can use the time off to create some great portfolio items.

2. Several short contract gigs – Projects do occasionally finish in 3 months, but if I see several short contract roles it makes me wonder why your contract wasn’t being extended. It’s OK if it happens, but be prepared to explain what was going on.

3. No online portfolio – If you are a designer in the digital space you need an online portfolio with work samples. You should also bring this with you to the interview and be prepared to speak to the contents of your portfolio. Non negotiable.

4. No metrics – If you claim a project was “successful” you need to provide the supporting metrics.

5. Poorly designed resumes – A resume is a piece of design work that should reflect the candidate. Contractor agencies sometimes reformat resumes for the candidates they are representing. This is a bad idea.  Recruiters are not designers and have a tendency to make the reformatted resume look ugly. Make sure you are proud of your resume and be firm with your agency if they try to muck with it.

What makes you ask questions about the resumes you review?