Do you know how long an HR person takes to read each resume?

It’s about 30 seconds. Think about it…..

$3 Million

Superbowl advertisers paid $3 million for a 30-second spot – even in this economy – the highest ever.  Of course, they are counting on their commercials to be memorable, to gain buyers/consumers of their goods or services; and 106 million pairs of eyes were viewing those ads.

Would your resume stand up to that type of scrutiny?  Would you “hook” them and get buy in from the HR screener, or hiring manager? Fortunately, you are not up against 106 Million people each time you send out your resume.

As my friend Jan Smith (www.janmsmith.com) has often asked her outplacement candidates,  “If a recruiter read your resume at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday – would you WOW them and grab their attention?”, or would they be unimpressed, and add you to their reject pile?

WOW!

What do you need to have a WOW resume? Here are some quick tips:

1. Begin with a well-written, memorable summary that includes your skills, abilities, strengths and experience, in 3-5 concise sentences.
2. Back up your summary with quantifiable  accomplishment statements demonstrating how you made a difference;
3. Use current industry terminology to prove you know what you’re claiming.

You don’t have much time.  Grab the reader’s attention with the summary.  It needs to make them want to read the rest of the resume, even on Friday at 4:00 p.m.

Does your resume pass that test?

“Great hiring isn’t an instant process, and many companies would benefit from developing more-structured internship programs, in which success and proof of a good fit are measured over time,” says Mary Ellen Slayter in her recent article entitled Bring Strategic Rigor to Your Internship Program.

In the current economy, companies can afford to take more time with, and put more effort into, the hiring process. In fact, smart companies should be doing exactly that. When the labor market is slow, more talent is available and companies should tighten up hiring procedures, improve job descriptions, and focus on hiring quality people instead of hiring a resume. Internships are a great way to take a look at job candidates and determine – in real time – if they have the skills and attitude to flourish in the company.

Over the last several posts, I have tried to make it clear that finding a good job is about much more than polishing up your resume and checking out a few websites. Candidates have to work diligently at improving their value to employers. They have to find ways to increase the ways in which they can contribute to the success of an organization. In a nutshell, you simply cannot rest on your laurels; you have to be improving, growing, and constantly learning.

Need more proof? Read this excerpt from Slayter’s article:

Scare B-list candidates away upfront. General, fluffy job listings create more work for your HR team in the long run than a sharply focused one would. First, too many random candidates respond. Second, HR must then sift through a mountain of lackluster or insincere applicants. Third, these are short-term applicants that need any job they can get, as opposed to A-list candidates interested in a long-term career path with you. There’s a much better way: Sit down with key managers to carefully draft the most challenging, rigorous, mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive job description write-ups as possible –– with zero fluff. Include a roster of advanced role requirements and high cover letter expectations that invite only the keenest and most accomplished to apply. In short, scare the heck out of flaky applicants. Shotgun-blast resume slingers and well-dressed slackers won’t bother applying.

At first glance, this might be pretty intimidating. As you look at your situation and your resume, you might worry that you have little chance to secure that “perfect job.” My suggestion is to change your perspective: to move out of the realm of “resume slinger” or “well-dressed slacker,” you have to make every single job interview a learning experience. Failure to get an offer is not FAILURE – it’s an opportunity to learn where you need to improve. If you don’t get the job, you need to get as much information as you can that will help you in the next opportunity.

Always thank your interviewer and ask if you might ask a couple of questions regarding your interview. Most HR professionals will give you the opportunity, so make the best of it:

“I want to learn from this experience, so…”

“If you were in my shoes, what one thing would you work on to improve my ability to get hired?”

“What is the weakest part of my resume?”

“As an HR professional, what advice would you give me regarding my interview with you?”

At the same time, if you are serious about working for a particular company, you should consider an internship. They may or may not pay, but you could gain valuable experience inside an organization and potentially work yourself into a nice opportunity. If you don’t get an offer, and you’re fairly certain you were a final candidate, don’t be afraid to ask your interviewer if an internship is an option.

Cover letters can be almost as important as a resume when it comes to landing you that job you’ve been searching for. Often they are overlooked, but a well crafted cover letter can set you and your resume apart from the hundreds of other applicants you’re competing with.

Just like a good story, cover letters should start with a bang, hooking your reader and reeling them in, making them want to read on to see what you have to offer. Then, as quickly as possible, get to the point of the letter, why you’re writing, and what position you’re interested in.

Plainly present your qualifications for the position. Here’s where you can really shine by speaking directly to the qualifications specific to the position advertised. You should be specific and, if possible, list some cold hard facts and/or  figures that back up your claims. You say you’re good at coming in under budget? Tell them how you saved your company(past or present) that one million dollars last quarter. But don’t tell them everything, you want to make sure they pick up your resume so they can find out what happens next in the story of you.

End with a thank you for the reader’s time and always include a statement on the time frame in which you will contact the reader to follow up, or even better, to discuss the possibility of setting up an interview.

As with your resume, your cover letter should be flawless and presented in a format that is easy on the eyes and also similar to your resume. Using the same font and/or layout and headers can really tie the two documents together and lend your correspondence a certain cohesion, and it might just be one more way to make you and your resume stand out.

You take the time to write up your resume; you search for the job you want; you submit your resume to various organizations. No response. It’s as if you did nothing. Why? What can you do to ensure your resumes are ‘heard?’ How can you guarantee that your resume lands you interviews and ultimately a job offer?

To begin with, be sure to distinguish your resume and application from the other candidates. A hiring manager is simply looking for the best person who can become immediately productive for their organization. Your resume is their first impression of you, it is therefore important to:

• Tailor your resume to suit each job you are applying for; adjust your objective.
• Avoid turning your resume into a boring list of job duties and responsibilities.
• Information should be relevant to the position, and show how your experience fit the job criteria.
• Include strong active verbs like “directed,” “conceived,” and “calculated,” to give your qualifications power.
• Make your resume more tangible by quantifying your efforts as much as possible. This directly shows how your potential contributions can benefit the company.

It is best to have a professional review your resume to ensure you provide all of the above and to give it polish.

Get Noticed. Get Hired.

Now that your resume is up to par, some proactive work is necessary in order to procure an interview:

• Contact the hiring manager and ask when he/she would like to meet you for an interview.
• Suggest that you will be in the neighborhood and would like to hand-deliver your resume.
• Contact the recruiting manager to discuss how you can benefit the organization.
• Next, propose possible dates for an interview.
• Be sure to show respect for the manager’s time.
• Research the company you are interested in. Suggest improvements and possible solutions to a problem you may be aware of.

Remember, no one is going to find you; you have to go out there and present yourself!

“I’ve found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.” – Brian Tracy

In our last post we were introduced to the classic job hunting guide, What Color is Your Parachute, and discussed how it can be an invaluable tool in your search for new employment when utilized in conjunction with other job search methods. Now, let’s continue our exploration of this handy title.

The Job Search

The methods discussed in Parachute resemble a multi-front attack on the specter of unemployment, involving more than just updating your old resume and posting on a job site such as Monster or Careerbuilder. Bolles cautions that your resume’s primary purpose is to land you that interview, but it can’t do that job by itself. Your resume may be flawless but it can also give you a false sense of security — a feeling that you’re doing all you can do to find a job at the moment — and all that’s required is to sit back and wait. ¹

By all means, make sure you have a great resume; there are many online resources that can help you with polishing your present resume, or writing a shiny new one. But while you have your resume out there doing its small bit, you can help your cause along by hitting the streets, resume in hand, talking to businesses and leaving a copy of your shiny one-pager behind. Do your research! Something many job hunters fail to do enough of. Find out as much as you can about the company you’re looking at — sound advice in anybody’s book — and, if possible, find out who has the power to hire you. Then find a way to talk to that very person.²

Networking, networking, networking. It seems to be the watchword of the day. Expanding your pool of contacts not only has the potential to expand your base of friends but can most certainly lead to potential job opportunities. Bolles praises the virtues of exploring and expanding your network of contacts and using them, which is another tactic even experienced job hunters under-utilize.³ Talk to people you know, then talk to the people they know; find out if anyone can help you get your foot in the door.

Parachute not only covers the basics of job hunting, it also takes those hard, fast rules and concepts we’ve all heard time and time again — some of which we’ve discussed here, and in our first post on this subject — then expands upon them, adding twists and fresh new ways of looking at the job hunting process and how to go about it. If you still doubt this book is a must have for every savvy job seeker, keep an eye out for our next post in this series, where we’ll be discussing how Parachute really shines: in helping you figure out what kind of work you really want to do, work you may even love.

Notes

1.  Bolles, Richard N., What Color is Your Parachute (Berkeley, New York: Ten Speed Press, 2010), 52-53.

2.  Ibid., 53.

3.  Ibid., 63-62.

Advice I picked up through my job searching journey in two opposite ends of the globe…

Make your resume stand out from the growing pile of monotonous ones; have a professional revise your resume. Employers do not have time to interview every applicant. To ensure you receive an interview, you need a very convincing resume. For example, aside from listing your abilities, be sure to point out your accomplishments. How did your specific skills help you achieve the goals of the organization you previously worked for? An adviser can help you realize your past accomplishments. As well, there are many components that make up a resume; skills that you may think are not important may actually be a plus for certain jobs. Finally, a professional will make sure your resume has polish. Trust me, it is worth the investment!

For every resume you send, be sure to write your objective. An example: To obtain a role where I can use my strong organizational skills and attention to detail to fulfill tasks both thoroughly and efficiently. Each job you apply for will be different, it is therefore very important to adjust your resume accordingly. It may even be a good idea to have several resumes ready to fit the various job types or levels that you will be applying to.

Confidence and willingness to learn new skills: I once applied for a job, my interview was very successful, but I had no experience using one of the programs. They did not hire me. I later found out that the next person they interviewed told them if you give me a week I will go home and learn the program. They hired her. There are people out there willing to give you a chance, it is your job to promote yourself so you can optimize your chances. Sometimes it’s just best to be yourself! It may be your unique personality that makes you stand out from the rest. An organization likes to make sure their employees get along and work well together. If they see particular traits they like, that may be your ticket in!

Network: Many organizations only feel comfortable hiring someone on a personal recommendation. Ask your friends, family, and acquaintances if they know of any job opportunities. Some organizations do not even bother advertising and find their employees via word of mouth. If there is a particular organization you wish to work for, it may be a good idea to approach them yourself to see if they have any available jobs. With a great resume in your hands, you never know where you may land your next job!

Yes, unemployment is at a high of 10.2%, and this can be very discouraging. I say look at the bright side — there are still 89.8% in the work force! Unemployment rates are just about to peak. Employees have been over-cautious this past year, but now there’s no choice. There is work to be done and businesses are rehiring!

An important, but often undervalued, piece of the job application process is the cover letter. Many call writing one an art, and just as many will end up using a cookie-cutter letter they found from somewhere else. What must be aimed for is to be original and make yourself stand out, while maintaining professionalism.

Add a Dose of Caffeine

… Not literally, of course. Yet, take the following into consideration: You are one of countless applicants for the same position. The likelihood is, the person that is going to receive your resume will have to go through many that day. Even with a killer resume, yours can easily be overlooked if it’s lacking pizazz. Do not using dull languages. Instead, incorporate a sense of liveliness to the cover letter. Let the hiring rep know that you’re excited about the job, and they’ll get excited about you.

Make it Personal

A good candidate does his/her research. Not only on the company, not only on the position, not only on potential bosses, but also on the human resources side of things. Find out who will be looking at your resume and address them by their name. There are pretty much two reasonable ways to go about this. Either give a call to the office and speak only with the receptionist to inquire about the name of the hiring manager, or using a job search engine like LinkedIn will allow you to see who posted the listing. Only use a title to address them by if a name is absolutely not available. Be sure to use the best one instead of the extremely impersonable ‘sir or madam.’

Be Attractive

As energetic and personable one may be, it will be difficult to stand out if some keywords are not laced throughout the cover letter. Get the reader hooked by including some of your more marketable skills. If there are key terms used in the job listing that are not in your resume, now is the time to strategically put them into the letter. Remember that a cover letter is not a summary of your resume, but a necessary supplemental element.

Stay Active

The rest of your letter does not portray a lazy candidate, so don’t drop into it at the end. Remain in an active voice throughout. At the closing, don’t only thank the reader for their time, but let them know that you will follow up with them. This shows them that you’re a) interested in the position/company and it’s not just another resume sent out; b) you will be an active/interactive employee that keeps their word.

Perfecting a cover letter is not an easy task for many, and the same goes for the resume. Take advantage of the 360 Job Interview pool of experts and enjoy the personalized resume service by a human resources executive from your industry.

With the web running at full speed, we’re seeing the traditional form of networking and job hunting turning tech. The question is: How can you utilize these developments to assist in accomplishing your goals?

In this series of posts, we’ll go over five useful tools available free on the Internet that can help you grow your network, refine your resume and communication skills, and get your career moving.

This is the one site that you must add your resume to. Oh, and all of your past and present professional connections, as this is more than just a website, it is a social network.

First, create your resume by “edit[ing your] profile.” Fill out as much as possible, and be honest. Job titles, descriptions, and your skills are very important and must be worded carefully. Adding a good quality head shot photo, editing your contact settings, and letting folks know “what you’re working on” will enhance your ability to connect with the right people. The applications available can help showcase your work, availability, and more, so don’t ignore this great feature.

Sample LinkedIn profile

Connect with friends, colleagues, and other associates to expand your own personal network. Join a few relevant groups and add applications that you may find to be of use. And the most important thing – ask for recommendations from former employers, coworkers, and other folks in the industry who know your working style. These can be used as some great references. Don’t forget to return thoughtful comments to each individual who takes the time to give one to you.

Go check out some of their LinkedIn groups. Join the ones that are relevant to you and your career. Try getting into one specifically for your region, your niche in the industry, and even ones created for alumni from various extracurricular affiliations. They are a great way to connect and will even post job opportunities available that may be more appropriate for you.

Sample LinkedIn group

By fully optimizing your LinkedIn profile, you will have a full, strong resume available online for viewing. There are even settings to change your public profile, the one that will come up in search results for those who are not in your network. It will build your image online, the one that you want there, as it usually becomes one of the top search engine results when searching for an individual’s name.

Check it out and get linked in to the social network for professionals. Happy hunting!

Other Articles in this Series:

• Twitter
• Meetup
• RSS
• Blogging