By Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter
I worked in search and now as a coach and have easily reviewed over 750,000 resumes in my career. Statistics show that submitting a resume rarely leads to an interview. As I told a guest on my podcast No BS Job Search Advice Radio, when I was working in search, on a typical day, out of 200 resumes, there were probably this number vaguely Approximately 1% are suitable for the positions I may be recruiting for! All of these people believe they are qualified, but few are truly qualified. What did they do wrong? They didn’t do this:
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1. Work hard to advance and accelerate career development. Slow and steady doesn’t always win the race. In search, this is often interpreted as a sign that you and your work are ordinary. The company you want to join already has enough mediocre talent without adding anyone else. If you can show that you’re on a growth path and, say, a company recognizes you For a great job, you have a better chance than if your background shows you were promoted every five to six years. They think you’re hiding.
2. Make sure your resume fits the position within one page. Some people submit the same resume for every job, and like a broken watch that is right twice a day, sometimes their resume shows they can do the job. Still other times, it’s nothing more than spam. We live in a culture that values speed. Few people want to read a lot of books. Their system filters out talent, and if they read your resume and you don’t quickly make a strong case for your suitability, they will reject you.
3. Mention the impact of your work. Many people overlook whether their work helps their company make money or save money. By what percentage did your work improve operations? Do you work with a big budget and impact, or do you live somewhere else? Make sure your thinking is clear, especially if your scope is huge. If you don’t, you’ll make yourself look like a “commodity.” Commodities are rarely held in high regard.
4. Make sure your resume matches your LinkedIn profile. I’m often asked to evaluate a resume, and before doing so I’ll look at the person’s LinkedIn profile to see how it describes the work they did, only to sometimes find that they don’t match at all. What is the message you send when this happens? The answer is you are lying.
5. Take HR screening seriously. Don’t act like the screener has to submit your resume to the hiring manager, when in fact, they can save that person time. I remember someone even saying, “Come on. When am I going to get access to the real decision-maker?” They were told, “You’re talking to her, you can leave now.”
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6. Connect the dots about your health. What I find remarkable is how often people talk themselves out of opportunities by emphasizing the wrong things. You have a job description and hopefully you can start the conversation with the screener by asking them about the positions they are considering you for. Make suitability obvious, as if a 6-year-old was assessing your suitability for the job. We live in an attention deficit culture and relevant messages need to be conveyed succinctly. Too many words and too much time will cause the interviewer’s eyes to glaze over. They don’t want to talk about your experience; they want to talk about your experience that was important to them and that solved their problem.
7. Practice what happens when the phone rings and the screener is on the other end. Instinctively, you want to start the conversation by saying, “Thank you so much for taking the time to contact me. Can you tell me about the position you’re hiring for and how I can help?” Job descriptions, job ads, and third-party recruiter descriptions are about 80% accurate. By asking about the role at the beginning of the interview, you can talk about what you do that’s important to them, rather than what you’ve already done.
8. Introduced to the company by someone they know, like, trust and respect. When you apply for a job, you’re like one fish in a pond with hundreds of other fish, all jumping on a single hook in the water. Being introduced can help you cut the line and get to the front. It gives you the advantage of carrying an aura rather than your qualifications because you were recommended by a respected person. There is nothing inherently wrong with being recommended by HR. It’s just that they don’t have the power to hire you. They do have the power to reject you. See if you can contact the recruiting manager through friends, former colleagues, or allies in the organization.
9. Remember to talk about what makes you special. You can tell them in an interview, on your resume and/or LinkedIn profile, or anywhere you have a platform. If this is true, talking about how you are better than others is not bragging. They won’t know about your success unless you tell them.
Ordinary people doing ordinary work in an ordinary way will get ordinary results. It’s fine to accept that, but if you want others to think you’re better than the average person, you have to stand up for yourself and be seen as world-class as you believe you yes. This does not mean that you will become loud or rude. It actually means telling the truth about yourself and your abilities, as well as your authority and power.
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Photo by ujesh on Unsplash
