careerealism.com Twitter Advice Project), work T.A.P. Q#346 – Said I’d Show Her Resume to HR, But Can’t – What Should I Do?

Here's my reply to question # 1 today:

Dear Experts,

I was out this weekend with some friends and met a girl. She’s currently looking for a job and when I mentioned where I worked, she was really excited and said she had applied there and was hoping to get an interview. She seemed nice enough, so I gave her my e-mail address and told her to send me her resume and I would drop it off at HR.

Well, she e-mailed it to me right away and I took a peak. I know for a fact that she doesn’t have the kind of experience they are looking for the position. To be honest, I can’t believe she thought of applying. So, I don’t think I should even bother showing her resume to HR, however, I promised her I would. What should I do?

My reply:

Dear unsure:
Give her the benefit of the doublt. You may think that she doesn't have the "experience they are looking for in the position," but perhaps there's more than meets the eye.

If you want to be genuine in helping her, you could gently advise her to customize her resume to what experience you think the company may be looking for. (This will involve some tact and diplomacy, since you don't know this person and she was a casual acquaintance).

If you feel uncomfortable with that, persuade her to really identify why she wants to work at the company and have her do the homework beforehand.

Another strategy is that you could divulge that you received the resume without details and that you were passing it along. No commitment on your part.

Ultimately, if she is really keen about working there, then she should do the follow-up work.

Best wishes,
Melissa Martin
careercoachingbyphone.com