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Thought asking my uncle for a resume review was a waste of a Sunday, then he caught 4 typos in 10 minutes
I put off showing anyone my resume for almost two months because I figured friends and family would just say it looked fine and move on. Last Sunday my uncle came over for lunch in Toledo and I mentioned I was stuck on applications, and he asked to see it. He has zero HR background, he's a retired electrician, but he sat there with a red pen for about 10 minutes and found four typos, including one where I wrote "manger" instead of "manager" in my own job title. What got me was the stuff I never thought about, like how my dates didn't line up on two different jobs because one said June and the other said 6/1. He also told me to cut a whole line about "synergy across teams" because it meant nothing. I rewrote the whole thing that night and got a callback five days later. Has anyone else had a total outsider give better feedback than the people in your field?
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richardharris10d ago
Your uncle found typos, sure, but that is not the same as getting real career advice. An electrician can spot "manger" and mismatched dates because those are basic proofreading issues anyone with a sharp eye can catch. What he cannot tell you is whether your resume speaks to the right industry, highlights measurable results, or uses keywords that get past the screening software most companies run now. The callback you got might have come from the typos being fixed, or it might have come from the "synergy" line being cut, but one callback is not proof his method works better than a pro. Friends and family saying "looks fine" is frustrating, but that does not mean you should trust an outsider's gut over someone who actually hires in your field. A paid reviewer or a mentor in your industry would have caught those typos too, plus the stuff your uncle had no way of knowing was wrong.
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