Staples prints CVs for free. | Hacker News Reader

Staples prints CVs for free.

matthiasmcgregor.com

46 pointsmatthias24 comments

Printing a CV?

Do they also allow you to browse Altavista, Lycos, Excite and AskJeeves and use ICQ for free too?

In many non high tech areas, a paper resume is still required.

I do contracting in NYC (similarly to what you do) and even though I submit my resume through email, I was always asked to come with printed version when I was called for an in-person interview.

Not necessarily a bad idea. I've been on interviews where the interviewer was in a rush, and didn't have a hard copy of my resume on them.

This just happened to me a week ago. One interviewer I spoke to didn't have a copy and luckily I had a few in my folder with me. It shows preparedness on your part as an interviewee.

Not to mention that A) they might go through your CV there and then, and it's easier for you to answer questions if you have a copy and B) recruitment agencies tend to mangle CVs, I like to turn up with a nice LaTeX produced CV to replace the pasted-into-Word monstrosity they usually have before them.

Same here, happened today. Over the past few weeks I had pretty much decided my printed resume was a waste, but I kept bringing them 'just in case'.

Today, first case out of maybe 10-15 where I needed a printed copy. However, I was talking to the founder... so it definitely was worth it. Again, it would have taken a minute to print a copy in the office, but it shows a nice touch of forethought... IMO.

At the very least, I like to have a copy to help meyself follow along.

It helps to have multiple printed copies of your resume, references, and the position you're applying for. The printed resume is the most essential because you may interview with several people in succession and go through 3+ copies of your resume easily.

It's also helpful when the recruiter edits your resume (e.g., adding skills).

Having your own printed copy will convince the employer that it's the recruiter (not you) who is being dishonest.

Absolutely true. Several years ago I had a recruiter hounding for nearly two months(calling me multiple times per week) me to go on interviews that didn't appeal to me despite the fact that I made my expectations clear. I finally relented and went on one that seemed the most reasonable of the bunch. Late in the interview, we found a few a changes that the recruiter had made, including lying about my education history. The interviewer must have chewed them out because I didn't hear back from them at any point after that.

As we often are in HN, you are really bogged down in this techie world we live in. In most places, for most jobs, people are expected to come in with a paper resume (I volunteer at a place that does job placement for international visitors, and we had some stats on it).

This is a great service/brand builder at low cost.

I don't think this is aimed at people applying for Google. Plenty of office jobs still do stuff with paper.

When I interviewed at Google one of the interviewers asked me for a copy of my resume. I gave them one of the five that I had printed out the night before and placed into my notebook.

I'm sorry but whats a CV? Im assuming its a resume?

-update-

Guess I should have googled harder: A curriculum vitae, commonly referred to as CV, is a longer (two or more pages), more detailed synopsis than a resume. (http://jobsearch.about.com/od/cvsamples/a/blsamplecv.htm)

I've never come across that distinction before.

In the UK, a CV is the catch-all term for what's called a resume in the US. Conventional wisdom is that it shouldn't be longer than 2 sides of A4 paper.

I wish some of the people that have submitted CVs to me knew that "conventional wisdom". There's nothing quite like trawling through someone's entire detailed job history, including an exhaustive list of their responsibilities at Big Fat Burger when they were at college.

I once applied for a job that stipulated "all CVs longer than one side will be ignored". I got through to the interview and commented on what a good idea that was. He said, "you wouldn't believe how many we get that are still 5 sides long......".

What if your job history is relevant to the position at hand? Do you submit a shortened resume with the points that you would like the respective company to see and bring a copy of the longer one in case they ask?

Steve Yegge had a great tip for non-academic US job applicants on properly spelling CV. See tip #3.

http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2007/09/ten-tips-for-slightl...

This appears to be UK only. Apparently Staples did a similar promotion for US-based stores a couple of years ago (along with free business card printing)

http://www.centernetworks.com/staples-free-resume-printing-b...

I bet they print them on cheap paper, and try to upsell you to better quality stuff. Still a good deed, though.

They got you in the door didnt they? If one out of ten people decide to upgrade I bet they would be happy with that.

I'm thinking there's a logo somewhere.

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