A true story… A candidate was applying
for a job that he felt was probably beyond him in terms of experience
and skills, however he figured he'd apply and "hope for the best".
The job application asked for a resume and personally written cover
letter to be submitted to the hiring manager. When the candidate went
to send the resume and cover letter he decided that instead of writing
the generic "To whom it may concern" on the top of his letter,
he would call up the company and find out the name of the hiring manager.
Thus, he began his letter with "Dear Mr. xxxx"
As insignificant as this seems, the candidate ended up getting the
job. Years later this young man became the right hand man to the hiring
manager who had now become the CEO of the firm. When the hiring manager
was asked why he had originally employed the boy he said, "He
was not the strongest academically or experienced candidate, but he
was the only person out of 100 candidates who had taken the time and
effort to find out my name…"
Although gaining employment is subject to many unpredictable factors
that are far beyond your control (such as employer perceptions, competition
and personal choice), there are countless factors that are controllable
that you may be doing wrong. Remember, your resume only has 10 seconds
to make an impact. When the hiring manager has 100 resumes on his
or her desk and needs to pick the top 5, all it takes is the simplest
error for your resume to be deleted.
My advice is this: If you're going to spend time applying for jobs
then DO IT PROPERLY. You are not going to get an interview by sending
out a resume that is written or formatted incorrectly. By doing just
the smallest things correctly you will find that success is just around
the corner.
Is your resume full of clichés? Do you use words such as "hardworking",
"loyal worker" or "enthusiastic"? Do you send
out the exact same resume for every job? If the answer is yes, then
you need to take greater effort to differentiate your resume and make
it stand out from the crowd. Include your achievements with examples.
Don't just write "I am a hardworking individual" as this
does not inspire. Rather, explain to the reader why you are a hardworking
individual. If you're not inspired by your resume then why is a hiring
manager going to be inspired?
Your resume is your selling tool. Take a look at it. Are you proud
of how it reads? Does it sell your strengths, skills and accomplishments?
In this tough economic climate you need to go the extra length to
get an interview.
Find below 15 reasons why you may be missing out on getting that interview:
o Generic resume
o Resumes that do not inspire
o Clichéd resume
o Your resume does not use key words
o Your resume is formatted incorrectly
o Your resume is not targeted
o You don't use a cover letter
o Your cover letter is boring/generic/clichéd
o Your resume and cover letter are too embellished
o Your job search is restricted to the Internet/Google/Yahoo
o You are only seeking out the perfect job (Is there such a thing?)
o Spelling mistakes / bad grammar
o Lack of professionalism
o No follow up
o Unqualified / Overqualified (you need to be realistic)
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