How Your Resume Gets You Interviews!

                                                     


By Don Bauder, CPRW

Did you know the busiest hiring season of the year is here? Now through the end of March – employers fill more positions than during the other months. This means that if you are thinking about changing jobs, or are currently in a career transition, NOW is the time to get your resume up to a “10” and send it out.

Your resume MUST be superior to those of your competition. Companies often get hundreds of resumes for every opening, and they look for any excuse to hit DELETE to screen you out of the competition. So, with your competition as strong as it is, and with the economy still sluggish, it is more important than ever that your resume shows your unique value and is technically perfect in order to survive the scrutiny of the reader. You have only 10 to 20 seconds to capture the reader’s interest – make it count!
Your resume has to get through three critical points – the HR department, the company database and the decision maker – before you are likely to get asked to interview.

How does your resume measure up?
• Is it concise, yet shows optimum value? Results and strategic impact need to be shown on one or two pages rather than three or four.
• Does it show a specific focus as to what type of job you want?
• Does it contain the right key words so it will be pulled up from a company database?
• Is it formatted so it is easy to read and flows well?
• Do you have supporting documents that highlight your value proposition, such as a one-page resume, a testimonials page, or an executive biography?
• Does your resume show your brand so your uniqueness stands out?
• Do you have a lot more accomplishments listed, than you do responsibilities? ACCOMPLISHMENTS SHOW VALUE AND GET YOU CALLS FOR INTERVIEWS, responsibilities don’t.
Your resume must convey to the reader what makes YOU unique. It must showcase your credentials and expertise, so that the reader can see why you are the best candidate for the job. It must have strong content and a good visual presentation. Information must be focused on job requirements, presented in the most easy-to-read way, and must contain solid documentation of achievements and education. How does your resume stack up? Is it a “10” or could it use help?

Ask yourself this question: With the huge investment in time and money for your education, your solid career credentials, your noteworthy accomplishments and salary expectations of $30,000, $60,000, or more, do you want to be represented by an amateur resume? Our careers are very important to us. Is it worth having your resume be anything less than it can be?

When you have a resume that works:

• Your job search is much shorter
• Your resume and cover letter is far superior to 99% of your competition
• You understand the specific value you bring to the table, so you can share that value with prospective  employers – especially in the interview, and show them how you can meet their specific needs
• You will have a career expert to support you and guide you so that you don’t have to struggle alone through the whole process
• You will get calls to interview for the types of job you really deserve, have a choice of positions, and you won’t have to sit around waiting for the phone to ring
• You’ll receive higher compensation in your new position, so that you know you’re getting paid what you’re worth

Bottom line: When your resume is a”10,” your job search is much shorter, you get interviews for the type of job you really want, and you get paid the money you deserve – why? Because your VALUE comes through effectively.
If your resume is not a “10,” it’s a waste of time to send it out!
If you are not getting interviews, consider our resume writing service. If you can speed your job search up three days, you paid for the resume. Imagine the payback for a month or more!

Contact Don on LinkedIn to learn more about his services.

How Recruiters Read Resumes In 10 Seconds or Less by Brad Remillard

This great post is a reprint from http://www.impacthiringsolutions.com, an Executive Recruiting firm that offers Executive Job Search Coaching and Networking Strategy Development.

The 10 or 20 seconds it takes to read a resume seems to always generate a lot of controversy. Candidates comment on how disrespectful it is, how one can’t possibly read a resume in that time and some get angry at recruiters when we talk about this. I hope this article will help everyone understand how we do this. I realize that some still may not like it and will still be angry, but at least you can understand how it works.
First, let me say I’ve been a recruiter for 30 years.  I’m sure I have reviewed over 500,000 resumes. I can’t prove this but I’m reasonably confident that this is the case, as this is only an average of about 46 a day. I know many days I have reviewed hundreds of resumes and most in less than 20 seconds. I would say the average is probably around 5 to 7 seconds.
So for the record when you hear or read about, “reading a resume in 20 seconds,” that isn’t completely true. It is more than likely, “reviewed the resume in 20 seconds.”
Here is my process for getting through 100′s of resumes in a short period of time. Others may have different ways and I welcome your comments.
I set up a hierarchy of certain “must haves” or you’re out, so at first I’m really just box checking. Generally, 80% of the time these are my knock out blows. There are exceptions to each of these, but I’m dealing with the 80/20 rule. These are not cumulative times.  This is box checking, if I see any one of these as I scan your resume you will be excluded.
1. Location. If the client is in Los Angeles, CA and you aren’t – goodbye. Few if any clients want to relocate anyone in this economy, and I believe most shouldn’t have to. Especially in a huge metropolitan area like Los Angeles. If they do have to consider relocation the position has to require some very unique experience that few jobs do. I can do this in about 1 second.
2. Industry. If my client is in banking and your background is primarily manufacturing – goodbye.  These two often are so different that the client isn’t open to considering such different industries. This works both ways, if you have a manufacturing background I’m not going to consider someone with banking. 2-3  seconds to determine this.
3. Function. If I’m doing a sales search and your background isn’t sales – goodbye. Generally companies are paying recruiters to find them a perfect fit. We never do find a perfect fit, but we have to be very close. They don’t need a recruiter to find them someone in a completely different function. 2 seconds to figure this one out.
4. Level. If I’m doing a VP level search and your title is “manager” and you have never been a VP – goodbye. There are exceptions to this, but again it is the 80/20 rule. Again, clients pay me to find them the perfect fit. It is generally way too big of a jump from manager level to VP level, all other things being equal. It works the other way too. If  I’m looking for a manager and you are a VP – goodbye. I know you are qualified to do a manager level role, but it is clear you have grown past. Most clients and recruiters aren’t willing to take the chance that when a VP level position comes along that you won’t be gone. Less than 5 seconds to figure out.
5. Recent Experience. There is some overlap on this one. If I’m searching for someone with international sales experience in the aerospace industry and the last time you held an international sales position in this industry was 20 years ago and since then you have been in retail – goodbye.  I can find people with more relevant experience and that is what my client expects me to do. 5 seconds to do this.
6. Education Like it or not, I will only work with people that have a college education and most of the time a master’s degree. This is mainly because, as I indicated before, I need to find the very best for my clients. I realize an education doesn’t mean by itself that the candidate is the best, but it is one qualifier of many. Also all of my clients require at least a BA.
7. Turnover. If you have had 6 jobs in the last 4 years, or have a track record of high turnover – goodbye. I realize there are good reasons for turnover and that falls into the 20% of the 80/20 rule. I can’t define high turnover, but I know it when I see it. 3 – 5 seconds.
8. Functional resume. I don’t read them. It is obvious when one has a functional resume they are trying to hide something and I’m rarely going to take the time to attempt to figure it out. 1 second.
9. Obvious things such as, spelling errors, poor format, errors in grammar, too long, verbose and rambling. If after reading it I still can’t figure out what you do, goodbye. 5 – 10 seconds
After all this, 80 – 100% have been eliminated. If there are any left, then I will take the time to actually read them in detail.
If this was helpful to you, please pass it along to help others in  your network. Consider adding it to your status on LinkedIn, posting on Twitter, or emailing the link to your network. Please help others if this helped you.


Brad Remillard, an executive recruiter with over 25 years of experience, has conducted over 50,000 interviews and been involved in more than 1,000 executive searches. A CPA and graduate of California State University, Fullerton, Brad previously served as President of CJA Executive Search, which was recognized as one of the top search firms in Southern California. Brad has conducted nationwide searches ranging from Fortune 500 executive vacancies to entrepreneurial companies. His search expertise includes General Management (CEO, COO, GM), Sales and Marketing, Manufacturing and Operations, Accounting, Finance, Human Resources, and Information Systems. Brad Remillard and Barry Deutsch are founding partners of IMPACT Hiring Solutions. 1-866-730-SOAR.
This was reposted with permission of IMPACT Hiring Solutions.

Winning Resumes for Experienced Workers

Resumes can be segmented into the good, the bad and the ugly, just like the movie. Recently I read a resume that upped the ante far past ugly. This frightful five-page, single-spaced summary inspired me to address the resume issue again for anyone born when the original movie was released in 1966 or earlier. As gently and respectfully as I can say this to readers everywhere; there is nothing you have done or will do in a corporate setting that requires a five page resume. Okay, there I’ve said it, let’s move on.

The resume exists for one reason, to gain you an interview. That interview may initially be on the telephone and even if it is; the resume has succeeded.

Keep the statement above in mind, and let it guide your resume writing. I disagree with the school of thought and resume practitioners who believe resumes need an objective. Your objective is to gain an interview. The company doesn’t care if you want to leverage your significant strengths in a way to......(zzzzz, I fell asleep). This is not about you, the resume writer—job seeker. This is about the company who is going to pay you, provide you benefits and open a world of opportunities.

Resumes are not read by people anymore mostly for compliance and efficiency reasons. When you apply for a job online on the company’s career page, your resume is entered into an applicant tracking system and retrieved out of that system by someone in the recruiting department (as a rule, the bigger the company, the more junior the person doing the retrieving). Here's an example of what can happen:

500 resumes are received for requisition #56812- Director, Communication and Community Relations for a large regional bank in the recruiting system. These tracking systems use filters. The first filter might be location. The company shouldn’t have to pay to relocate someone with that many applicants. Filtering by location still left the recruiting assistant with over 100 resumes, so he tries a different filter. The bank has had success hiring from competitors; so the junior recruiting assistant keys in the names of competitive banks and voila, twenty-six resumes appear with recent banking industry experience—twelve candidates are local. Two applicants worked for the bank before and are on the “do not rehire list” (yes, that list exists). The ten remaining  resumes are forwarded to the overwhelmed recruiter in charge of the requisition and 490 people will never hear from the company unless their applicant tracking system had an automated, “don’t call us, we’ll call you” screen when they applied. There are as many filters as a company can customize. The bank may have wanted someone with strong media experience, with a certain professional certification or an advanced degree. The applicant tracking system can scan for all of these variables and more.

What can you do?

Have a person who writes and spells well proofread the resume and do not rely on spellcheck.

Read the job posting and use the same keywords in the posting within your resume. (It increases the likelihood your resume will make the scan).

If you know someone at the company have them enter your resume through the employee referral program. Companies often review referrals first.You score an advantage and the employee receive a finders fee after you are hired.

Keep the resume to one page, two at the most. Highlight achievements, not job duties.

There are a lot of long-term unemployed people out there, be honest. Anything you have done to improve your skills while unemployed shows initiative-online classes, free webinars, earning job-related certifications will help if it applies to the job posting.

Keep formatting simple and jobs chronological. The applicant tracking system is a computer program and many of the systems do not process exotic fonts, text boxes and bolding well. Unless it allows a pdf file, you may lose your formatting. Also, a lot of the systems cannot process functional resumes properly.

Consider investing in a professional resume writer if your resume is not yielding interviews. Your local workforce development office or job club may offer these resources at no charge.

Before resumes turn into interviews, it is not uncommon for recruiters to search quickly for you online. Search yourself to insure your online persona and your resume are in alignment, any discrepancies may cost you an interview. Skip the cutesy personal email addresses. Create an email just for your job search if needed.

http://workinglater.blogspot.com/2011/12/resumes-that-win-interviews-4-secrets.html

http://workinglater.blogspot.com/2011/08/successful-online-job-search-tips-for.html

Resumes that Win Interviews: 4 Secrets from Mr. Resume

I met Don Bauder (aka “Mr. Resume”) at an employment networking event last month. When someone gets introduced as “Mr. Resume” I’m thinking he better be good (mildly cynical). Don’s presentation earned him the title. I found myself taking notes and wanted to share a few nuggets of his extensive resume wisdom with you.

If you haven’t updated your resume in a few years...everything has changed. Here are four of Mr. Resume’s secrets in creating a winning resume that leads to an interview.

Secret #1: Skip the career objective at the top of the page. Bauder explained, “Objectives focus on what YOU (the job seeker) wants to do. In this competitive environment you have to stand out and create value for the employer.” He says what you want to do is to explain in this resume what you bring to the table. You have to set yourself apart by communicating your BRAND.

Secret #2: Tell a story. In the past we did a chronological data dump. With bullet points define your brand so your career makes sense to the reader. Examples of your results show what a job seeker can accomplish. According to Bauder, sometimes our experience doesn’t seem consistent for the job we are applying for and it is our job in the resume to tie it together for the reader.

Secret #3: Understand keywords: Computers screen today’s resumes, not people. The computer searches for keywords. Bauder explains that job-seekers have to do their homework and look for potential keywords in the job posting. If the person has that experience, put it in the resume. This is also the point he tells job seekers to never lie on their resume. “It is the worse thing you can do,” says Bauder.

Secret #4: Customize every resume you send out. Bauder explained that each resume has to position your brand a little differently depending on what the employer is looking for. The keywords are going to be different for each posting. He cautions if you use the same resume for your job search, you will be eliminated early in the search.

You can reach Mr. Resume via e-mail at: don_bauder@hotmail.com

Here are other links to blog posts with information related to resumes:

Successful Online Job Searches for Experienced Workers:

http://workinglater.blogspot.com/2011/08/successful-online-job-search-tips-for.html

Turbocharge Your Career with Social Media

http://workinglater.blogspot.com/2011/10/turbocharge-your-career-with-social.html