Andy Harris' Résumé Is Empty Fluff
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
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| More then two-thirds of the writing is dedicated to boasting about himself. Less than a fifth is dedicated to his accomplishments. |
Well, no. More on that in a bit.
Just about every job seeking site out there agrees what one goal of a resume should be. It should show quantifiable accomplishments. If you were a line cook at a burger joint, you don't put "flipped burgers." What else would a line cook do? You do, however (and only if it's true) put "broke store record for the most lunches served in an hour without any errors." That is a quantifiable achievement.
You also don't talk about your kids and how you and the family go to Church every Sunday. Nor do you talk about how much you love your neighborhood nor your hobbies. None of those things tell anyone about how well you can do the job you seek to fill. If you don't believe me, here are two good sources that tell you what to do and what not to do: popular job site, Indeed.com - Six Universal Rules for Résumé Writing and Forbes Magazine - 18 Things To Take Off Your Résumé And LinkedIn Profile Today To Succeed Tomorrow, written by Jack Kelly, an executive recruiter with over twenty years experience.
Taking the addressed side of Harris' résumé as being page 1, the first thing that sticks out is his attempt to ride the coattails of Governor Hogan to re-election. Harris could have a couple of reasons for the name drop and I won't pretend to know what his reason is. In general, though, one name drops when they don't feel they are qualified on their own merits and the name drop might help. In politics, a name drop could also be a "scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" gesture - or worse, the gesture is plain partisanship and has nothing to do with anyone's qualifications.
In big bold letters next to the name drop picture is the headline, "Andy Harris Knows What Matters to Us." He then proceeds to tell us how hard he worked in medical school with meager accommodations. Then he talks about all the bills associated with being a father of five as if he struggled there, too. What he doesn't tell you is an anesthesiologist earns six figures a year, even when first starting out in the career field. In fact, the average pay is well over a quarter a million per year.
Did he struggle to get through school? Yes. Most college students do and often with less.
Did he work hard to support his family? Yes. Most parents do and often with less.
Does he know what matters to us? Doubtful.
Now let's look at what he claims are his legislative accomplishments.
He voted for the largest tax cut. Well, yeah, voting on legislation is his job much like flipping burgers is a line cook's job. Voting on legislation is not an accomplishment. It's doing his job. Later down the page, though, he says "securing billions of dollars to fight the opioid epidemic." He doesn't tell us his role in securing those funds. He only takes credit for it. More importantly, he doesn't tell us how the government will pay for the opioid program. He took credit for the "largest tax cut" so the logical question is where will the money for the opioid program come from? Did Congress take a collective payroll cut? What government jobs were cut? What government programs won't be funded so we can fix the drug addicts? Right now, it looks like school lunches and food assistance programs are on the chopping block. In some form of convoluted logic I can't understand, when the government needs money, they go after the children and poor people for it.
Harris also claims he fought to repeal Obamacare. Since Obamacare hasn't been repealed, listing a failure on one's résumé is not a wise move. My faithful readers might think, "Hold on there, Drunk Redneck. You opposed Obamacare since before it was called Obamacare. Why are you faulting Harris for fighting to repeal it?"
Like the line cook flipping another burger, Harris did his job. He cast another vote. Casting a vote, the main job description of a House Representative, is not fighting for anything. When a line cook slaps together another burger, is he fighting to end hunger?
Harris then goes on to state that he is strengthening our schools, protecting the Bay, and ensuring safer streets for our families. He does not say how he's accomplishing these goals. It's safe to say he's voting (doing his job) for legislation that aims to do some of those things, but he, himself, hasn't done a thing other than vote for legislation drafted by other Republicans.
Oh, wait. Here's his idea of "protecting the Bay." He voted for H.R. 2, Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018. H.R. 2 allows farmers to spray pesticides directly into water, including sources of our drinking water, without obtaining a permit under the Clean Water Act. H.R. 2 is an ecological disaster, as described in Ag Magazine's article, 5 Ways House Farm Bill Would Roll Back Protections from Pesticides. One has to wonder does Harris read the Bills before voting for them, lie to us to win our vote, or play partisan hack who votes for anything sponsored by a person with the letter R after their name.
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| Do tell, what employer cares what a potential employee loves? None...and neither should you |
What is interesting about this page is not what it says, but what it doesn't say. Not one thing listed is a qualification for being a good Congressman. Not one thing offers any vision where he wants to take the Eastern Shore, Maryland, and the nation in the next two years. Not one thing mentions any bills he's working on or will try to introduce to Congress to "serve the families of the First Congressional District." Not one thing mentions he's proud to support his community and neighbors as a responsible community member. Not one thing mentions he's proud to be a member of Congress working towards the common good.
Harris lacks vision and initiative. His newest TV commercial is testament to that fact. The owner of a local crab house tells a story of how the IRS came knocking on her door and seized everything she owned. Andy Harris came to the rescue and got everything back for her. A good Congressperson who truly cared about their constituents wouldn't have stopped with a band aid to the problem. A good Congressperson would've worked to reign in a runaway bureaucracy so no other family would ever have their property seized.
Oh, and then there was that whole letter incidence....
TL;DR Folks:
Don't vote for Andy Harris.
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Posted by A Drunk Redneck
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