If you watched the following scene on a television program, what would be your initial thoughts?

The boss tells the employee to greet customers with “Happy Holidays.”  The employee, a devout Christian, ask for permission to say “Merry Christmas” instead.  The boss tells the employee, ”No.  You have to greet the customers with Happy Holidays.”  The employee says, “I just simply can’t do that.  That just goes against my religious beliefs to secularize Christmas in the time of this season.”  The boss responds with, “You’re Fired!”  The employee then collects his/her belongings as the boss picks up the phone to call the police.  The boss’ final words to the employee are, “Now, we’re going to have a Merry Christmas.  What about you, now that you no longer have a job?”

Would you think something along the lines, “that couldn’t happen in real life.”  Also, would you ask yourself the question:  Can an employer fire an employee for insubordination IF what he or she is asking infringes upon the employee’s religious beliefs?

Guess what?  It just happened to a lady in Panama City, FL!  Isn’t this just flat out wrong?!  Seriously, what (or who) would it have hurt to just allow the employee to wish someone a Merry Christmas?!  I feel this was way too extreme, how about you?

The economy is bad and unemployment is up. Everyday, we’re hearing about companies downsizing and laying off tons of people. People who haven’t been in the market for a new job in years now find themselves updating their resumes. Now we all know that your resume is the first impression that employers get about you. I mean, from your resume, employers will determine if you’re capable of doing the job you’re applying for based on your previous job experience.

As more and more people are faced with updating their resume, you can only guess on the advice and tips they are receiving on how to make their resume as appealing as possible. Well, below I’ve listed five horrible job tips that I’ve received before. Please feel free to add any tips you’ve gotten. Hopefully, someone will benefit from this information.

1. DON’T BRING UP MONEY
Do bring up money (BusinessWeek.com, 8/7/08) by the second interview, and let the employers know what your salary requirements are before they start getting ideas that perhaps you’re a trust-fund baby and could bring your formidable skills over to XYZ Corp. for a cool $45,000. Set them straight, at the first opportunity.

2. ONLY SEND YOUR RESUME VIA AN ONLINE JOB AD OR THE COMPANY WEB SITE
Successful job-seekers use friends, and anybody else in their network to locate and reach out to contacts inside a target employer. Playing by the rules often gets your résumé pitched into the abyss at the far end of the e-mail address talent@xyzcorp.com. If you’ve got a way into the decision-maker’s office, use it. Ignore advice that instructs you to send one résumé via the company Web site and wait (and wait, and wait) to hear from them.

3. WAIT FOR THEM TO CALL YOU
You can’t wait for companies to call you back. You’ve got to call and follow up on the résumés you’ve sent. If an ad says “no calls,” use your connections to put you in touch with someone who can put in a word with the hiring manager. Don’t sit and wait for the call to come. Your résumé is in a stack with 150 others, and if you don’t push it up the pipeline, no one will.

4. POST YOUR RESUME ON EVERY JOB BOARD
This is the best way in the world to get overexposed and undervalued in the job market. (Exception: If you’re looking for contract or journeyman IT work, it’s a great idea to post your credentials all over.) Your résumé posted on a job board is a spam-and-scam magnet and a mark that your network isn’t as robust as it might be. These aren’t the signs you want to put out there. Use your network (vs. the world at large) to help you spread the job-search word.

5. LIST EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER DONE ON YOUR RESUME
Another piece of horrendous job search advice tells job-seekers to share as much information as possible. A post-millennium résumé uses up two pages, maximum, when it’s printed. (Academic CVs are another story.) Editing is a business skill, after all—just tell us what’s most noteworthy in your long list of impressive feats.