my employer gives terrible resume advice to low-income people

my employer gives terrible resume advice to low-income people my employer gives terrible resume advice to low-income people A reader writes: I intern at a nonprofit organization that assists low-income community members with resumes. My supervisors provide us with very limited autonomy during the resume development process, and each resume we build must follow the style guidelines of our organization. We are required to have all resumes checked at least twice by a supervisor prior to submission, and we are disciplined if we do not make the changes recommended by management. I dont pretend to be a resume expertIm still finishing up my BAbut some of the edits my boss asks me to make do not seem in the clients best interest. For instance, my supervisor requires that every bullet point answers how the task was completed. This makes sense in certain instances (tracked expenses using Microsoft Excel, communicated with security guard via two-way radio), but my boss takes this principle a bit too far. When a client was employed as a janitor, my supervisor wouldnt approve the bullet point cleaned toilets and mopped bathroom floors. She expected that the client write cleaned toilets using toilet brush and Chlorox, mopping floor with industrial sized bucket There is no such thing as unloaded new merchandise on shelves. This should become unloaded new merchandise on shelves using upper body strength according to our management. On a similar note, Ive gotten in trouble for not including a why statement in every bullet point. When I wrote supervised preschool students on playground, my boss asked me to add a rationale (to ensure children remain safe). What exactly does this clarify? I find myself wondering if its really necessary to take counted change and add to ensure the customer received the correct amount of money. Isnt this a given? My boss is also very rigid about including at least three bullet points for each position description. I once had a client with an occupational license and asked why it wasnt included on her resume. She responded, I had it on there, but {boss} told me I needed to add more bullet points to the job I held back in 2008 so I deleted it. Is the three bullet points rule so important that its worth leaving off training/certificates directly relevant to the opening? Each appointment in our office is only an hour long, and if we cant complete a resume during one session, then the client may need to wait several weeks to get additional resume assistance. By that point, its likely the job has been filled. So many clients are losing out on opportunities because my boss wont give me the final go-ahead to submit the resumes. When I share my concerns with management, they assure me these rules are in place so our clients can stand out from other applicants who spent less time refining their resumes. What is your take on my supervisors philosophy? How on earth can I help them consider the opinion of a lowly intern? Your boss sucks and your organization sucks. The rules that your organization is making you follow for resumes are ridiculous. Theyre not strengthening peoples resumes in the way theyre being applied, and their rigidity shows  their  total lack of understanding of what actually makes a good resume. But its not just kind of weak advice its actually actively harming people.  Lines like unloaded new merchandise on shelves using upper body strength are going to result in eye rolls from hiring managers. Its going to move these applicants to the bottom of the pile, by making them look naive and a little silly. Removing occupational licences to create more room for this kind of BS is going to result in people being rejected for not being qualified. And the whole thing is creating a huge opportunity cost as well, by not giving them resume advice that would actually help. Hearing that theyre doing this to low-income people who are searching for help makes me want to cry. Its professional malpractice, and in this particular context its particularly screwed up. Can you drop this internship and get out of there? You have the good sense to see that what theyre doing is awful. Dont stay if you have options. (And can you let me write to whoever oversees this work and point out what theyre doing to clients? Id seriously like to.)