What Chuck Norris and Resumes Have in Common

“When Chuck Norris enters a room, he doesn’t turn the lights on, he turns the dark off.” There are literally hundreds of these Chuck Norris-isms floating around the internet. Another one of my favorites, “Chuck Norris runs Vista Windows on his Etch-a-Sketch.”

And, of course, we all know, “Chuck Norris is the only person that can actually e-mail a roundhouse kick.”

No, there is nothing too hard for Chuck Norris. If all you knew about him were just these sayings, you would either be really afraid to meet him, or morbid curiosity would force you to seek him out.

Every day in human resources offices all over the world, hiring managers are forced to sift through resumes that are seemingly just as amazing:  sometimes even amazing to the point of unbelievable.

You have worked long and hard to fill your resume with the positive results of your time and effort. So, be careful about laying it on too thick. We all want to be cast in the best light possible, but I’m sure only Chuck Norris can speak Braille.

Hiring a professional career consultant will go a long way to making sure the language you use to describe yourself on the resume doesn’t overstate your abilities, but gives the ones you do possess plenty of credence.

For instance, you may have phone skills like no one on the planet, but only Chuck Norris can strangle a person to death with a cordless phone, according to what I’ve read.

Often, skill specific jobs will require you to demonstrate your prowess during the hiring process. How foolish you could end up looking, not to mention all the time and energy wasted by yourself as well as the company wanting to hire you.

So, while Chuck Norris may have counted to infinity, twice, that’s not something you will want to include or claim on your resume when applying for that accounting position. And the HR manager may not be able to slam a revolving door like Mr. Norris, but she can certainly slam the door to your future at her company for claiming such an outrageous feat.

Since 1940, the year Chuck Norris was born, roundhouse kicks related deaths have increased 13,000 percent. Just something to think about.

By Rob Poindexter