Friday, December 5, 2025

What I Look for in a Resume

Ultimately, what I want as an employer is a good worker. Someone who is interested in taking pride in what they do, who wants to genuinely help others, who will put in extra effort, and who I can trust

Blogs National

By André van Heerden, Communications Director

I recently received over 80 resumes in response to a job posting. When I read the top line description of the applicant of the first resumé, I thought, wow! They seem to check all the boxes of what we’re looking for.

But on the rest of the resumé, the actual experience and education, style used, and sense of personality were all a bit off.

Strangely, the next resumé had almost the exact same profile description and suffered in the same areas as the first. And the same with the next resumé and I’d estimate over 85 per cent of all the other resumes.

It soon became obvious that the resumes had been created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). Applicants had uploaded the job posting into an AI app and asked it to create an applicant profile and resumé based on the criteria the job posting was looking for.

While one application like this may have avoided notice, dozens of them raised suspicion—and also ensured that none of them stood out.

While it proved that the applicants were comfortable using AI, it also showed a lack of creativity, a lack of investment in the process, and possibly a tendency to cut corners. I can find a lot of people to use AI to do their work, but I want someone who will work hard and cares about the work that they do.

James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, said that “if the power to do hard work is not a skill, it’s the best possible substitute for it.”

John C. Maxwell, author, motivational speaker, and pastor, notes that “dreams don’t work unless you do.”

The reliance on AI makes me nervous as I don’t know who is behind it. Is the use of AI a crutch or is it a skill? Does it show confidence with a new technology or the inclination to get things done with the least amount of effort?

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and America’s third president, wrote, “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.”

As an employer, I want that luck that comes from hard work.

I remember working on a movie set where we had a number of production assistants (PAs). These were people who were trying to break into the film production industry and were willing to volunteer—full-time for about eight or more weeks—by taking on any job that someone might throw their way. These tasks could range from getting snacks and coffee to marking up scripts to finding nonpasteurized milk for a picky actor to chasing away a swarm of bees.

Usually, by the end of the production, one or two PAs would stand out. They were always eager for a new task, ready to provide more than what was requested. They were intuitive and creative without being prompted and clearly wanted the work and wanted to learn from it.

Commenting on one such stand-out, I predicted that he would go far. Just a few years later, he was directing his own feature film that he had also written!

Tim Notke, a high school basketball coach, famously said, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

I think that this is good motivation to work hard, but it’s also a warning not to rely just on talent. AI might give you a good place to start, or make you look like you can deliver on a job, but it won’t make you a good worker unless you already are.

In fact, AI might make you less of a good worker as it could steal your will and ability to do more than just write prompts and pawn off AI’s work as your own.

I need to be able to trust those that I work with.

Confucius warned that “a man who lacks reliability is utterly useless.”

Best-selling author Maria V. Snyder notes that “trusting is hard. Knowing who to trust, even harder.”

Workers should be aware that AI may make their work easier. But if they don’t acknowledge how they’re using it, it could make them more difficult to trust.

A worker, like a good resumé, should be able to demonstrate reliability, hard work, professionalism, genuine character, and an earnest interest in, and love of the work that they do. AI can do a lot of things. But unless it’s told to fake it, it can’t do that.

What I Look for in a Resume

You might be interested in