Resumes get too flaky, office talk is too racy, some jobs are still in high demand

PUZZLING RESUMES: Career advisors have always said that your resume should stand out against the rest of the stack. But how much creativity should your cover letter ooze – even when looking in creative fields?

A telephone questionnaire of about 250 people by online job search company Creative Group found that more than half of marketing executives and a quarter of advertising executives view unusual job-hunting tactics – such as sending a potential employer a shoe “to get a foot in the door” – as unprofessional.

Some examples the respondents gave of peculiar job seeking:

• One applicant sent six postcards, each a puzzle piece, which formed his resume.

• A candidate sent an egg carton with faux eggs and a message saying she delivered fresh ideas daily.

• A job hunter used an office building across the street to post his qualifications on a large sign.

• Another sent a baseball mitt and said he wanted to be part of the team.

• A woman printed her name on golf balls and sent them to executives that were hiring.

WATCH YOUR MOUTH: Women found sexually explicit comments were nearly twice as frequent in the workplace last year as the year before, according to a recent survey.

The telephone survey of 546 employees was conducted by International Communications Research for Novations Group, a consulting company based in Boston. It found that 42 percent said they endured sexually inappropriate comments in 2007, up from 34 percent in 2006. The largest increase was among women, 39 percent of whom reported the most common type of harassment – up from 22 percent the year before.

“People on the receiving end of hostile comments are more vocal about their displeasure than they have been in the past,” said Mike Hyster, president of Novations Group. “I believe that’s a direct reflection of the fact that the number of paid legal settlements has doubled in the last five years.”

Reports of racial slurs inched up to 35 percent of those surveyed, from 33 percent in 2006.

The survey also found that employees ages 18 to 34 were more than twice as likely to overhear ridicule regarding their age than their colleagues over 55.

HIRING CLIMATE: The softening economy may be giving professionals second thoughts about switching careers, but there are a handful of jobs that remain in high demand, according to recruiting company Jobfox.

While high executive positions like global chief executive officer are the riskiest jobs amid an uncertain hiring climate, professions in health care and accounting have fared well this year.

The company released a list of professions with the highest number of candidate searches, based on the company’s database. The top five, and their average annual salaries:

• Software design and development, $95,000-$100,000

• Nursing, $35,000-$45,000

• Accounting and financing, $65,000-$75,000

• Sales or business development, $65,000-$75,000

• Administrative assistant, $35,000-$45,000

“In any situation where there is demand regardless of the economy … the applicant is at an advantage,” said Rob McGovern, the company’s chief executive officer. “The reality is that people don’t stop going to the doctor because it’s a recession.”