You might not be aware of the pattern, "
Broken Windows." Well, I think it's a pattern. It's at least a parable. The idea is that if you allow a broken window, pretty soon the neighborhood deteriorates, because other people think it's ok to leave broken windows, litter, graffiti, and more. Soon enough, you have a neighborhood no one wants to live in.
We see the Broken Window pattern at work all the time: builds that stay broken or take too long, defects that remain open, coffee machines where the coffee has boiled away, recycling containers where no one has taken out the recycling.
Broken Windows matter even more on a resume. If you can't somehow help the hiring manager see that you don't tolerate small problems on your resume, the hiring manager thinks you can tolerate them at work.
Make sure someone else reviews your resume. Look for Broken Windows in all of your work. Talk about it in an interview--you'll make points :-)
Don't leave a mess for other people to clean up. They won't.
