No. I thought about leaving just those two letters for this one blog!
Especially now, with unemployment over 10%, resumes are flying out through the Internet airwaves like there is no tomorrow. Recruiters, human resource managers and anyone involved in any hiring process are all inundated with countless incoming resumes.
I receive over 100 a day myself for JTL Services, Inc. By the time I go through 50 of them, my attention level his well below par. There are two main frustrations with the resumes that I receive and that I thought I would share in hopes to open some eyes and minds of those who are throwing their resumes to the wind hoping it catches a nice current into a job. 1) The format and 2) The content.
The Format
By now, if you do not know how to compile a professional resume and furthermore do not know how to find out how to do so using the Internet, just about all bets are off. How can I, as a hiring manager consider someone who has not spent any quality time organizing a professional resume?
Click here for a recent post about resumes I recommend reading if you haven't.
Though it pains me to direct you to a job board like careerbuilder.com, I do so for those who really do not yet know where to go to see some quality sample resumes. Click here for some resume writing guidance.
The Content
Content is equally frustrating. There are many quirks about content that I have blogged about in the past. Of particular annoyance are those who are applying for a job that they possess very little and sometimes no skill-set at all. For example, a payroll supervisor position really doesn't require a Realtor, but yet, I have at least a dozen Realtor resumes as of late that are applying for accounting positions. Sure, some Realtors have accounting degrees and some experience, but I am not referring to those. I realize a Realtor has to be responsible for their own small business accounting of their income and expenses, but that is hardly the experience necessary to perform an accounting position at a corporation.
Please, applicants, review the job description. If you do not possess the skills that the job requires, move on. I don't want you to get complacent, sending resumes and assuming that just because you sent out enough resumes, you will find a job. Not in this market.
Use quality online job boards and keep searching until you find the job that fits your experience, education and skill set.
Conversely, you may be over qualified. Click here for a recent blog post from Jeff LeFevre, owner of a national recruiting agency and a blogger for Free Job Advice.
As always, keep your chin up. We are getting close to putting the darker days behind us.
Monday, November 16, 2009
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3 comments:
I agree with this as well. Think of all the time you spend sending your resume to positions that are not a fit at all, in hopes of that one little bite. Instead of wasting that time, why not submit to less openings but TAILOR each resume to that position. Highlight in bold bullets the EXACT experience you have for that particular role. Make it JUMP OFF THE PAGE! See, that got your attention now didn't it?
It does take time and effort to fine tooth through a job description and make your resume match it. However, it will pay off much faster than submittals that are not a fit at all. Those go in the Trash folder faster than the time you spent sending them out...
Now I can understand your frustration, oh poor me I receive a 100 resumes a day…..
The flip side of this story is even more frustrating. What if you are one of the 100 people to submit the resume that does not fit your posted position? Especially when you, as the submitter, know that the people reviewing your resume are more inclined to be more focused on the latest episode of some reality TV show then actually taking the time to READ your resume.
Here is a scenario for you. What if after spending nearly 20 years working in the IT industry, working your way up from maintenance developer to architect, you read the posted required skill set and that is when it hits you. With every application and language you have worked with over your career, you would still need another 10 years to acquire all the work experience in the required skills to meet the EXACT job requirements.
The real frustration is that the people who are usually in charge hiring are only scanning the resumes looking for the EXACT coding languages, and don’t understand that most are very similar. These people also don’t seem to be able to scan the lengthy experience section of a resume and say, ‘self, this candidate has proven they are intelligent enough to learn a multitude of languages. Maybe they are worth a closer look, even though they don’t meet the EXACT job description.’
Maybe next time you’re about to Trash the latest batch of resumes, take a second and wonder did you miss a really good candidate in this pile…
I have gotten several jobs that I "wasn't qualified" for. I don't know what imbeciles write these requirements, but often they overstate the actual needs for the position by a very wide margin.
These same idiots also tend to write things like "We're looking for fresh new talent!" and then stick "Minimum 5 years of industry experience!" in the requirements. I'm not sure if they're being intentionally ironic or if, yes, they really are that stupid.
So send those resumes in if you think you can do the job. The worst thing that will happen is that some guy like this will be sad because they didn't get that extra five minutes of "Farmville" in on company time.
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