Resumes from Hell: How (Not) to Write a Resume and Succeed in Your Job Search by Learning from Career-Killing Blunders

by Jon Reed, Rachel Meyers, Rusty Johnson (Illustrator)

Some resumes are good, some are bad, and some are simply from Hell. The all-too-real resumes in this book were no doubt written with the best of intentions, but a job search can be a misadventure. A wacky resume is a sure-fire way to derail your job application and slip from the interview pile into the "joke file." In this illustrated "how not to," former recruiters Jon Reed and Rachel Meyers open up their own joke files, and share highlights from the worst (and funniest) resumes they ever received. From "Questionable References" to "Hostile Email Interactions," Jon and Rachel take the reader through more resume mishaps and job search meltdowns than they ever knew existed, sneaking in a bit of job search wisdom on the fly. The resumes in this book have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent, but Resumes from Hell is proof that truth is still stranger - and funnier - than fiction.

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2004

About the author

Jon Reed is a tech blogger/analyst by day, and a writer by weekend and lamplight. He is the author of five non-fiction books. Jon's current investigative obsession is the impact of AI - an issue which spreads across all of his work. Jon's most recent non-fiction book, The Book of Last Resort, could have been subtitled "A Subversive Guide for Artists in the Algorithmic Economy," given the impact of algorithms on how content is created, surfaced and distributed. Jon draws on his successes - and knee scrapes - in the startup media economy to inform his work.

Jon's published work has an underlying thread: to advocate for independent voices, and to give those voices the tools to succeed in an unsparing digital economy. He believes that the BS-laden "anyone can do it" creator economy myth-making has done more harm than good. He wants creators to go back to the core: find a brave/authentic voice, relentlessly pursue mastery of craft, and figure out how to combat the algorithms that diminish independent content and IP.

Jon aims to break through the AI noise festival by sharpening our hype detectors around AI's real world impact. Jon believes artists must reckon with this tech - and even become fluent in its capabilities - while making their own voice burn bright. He uses his multi-decade career in enterprise tech to fund his self-published books, which appear in the uncensored format he insists upon. Creativity is the best hedge against alienation and despair - a philosophy Jon fleshes out in his last two books, The Book of Last Resort and Free from Corporate America, both of which can be found in free formats online. He urges creators: your voice matters in this midst of this tech avalanche - do not allow yourself to be silenced, or lose heart. He exhorts artists: "Be a brave and terrified badass."