How To Land An Interview, Part II: Don’t Waste Other People’s Time
by Jack Kelly on February 7, 2012
How can you make your job application stand out? Just use common sense. Basic courtesy and a little forethought are the keys in getting an interview at your ideal company. Think a little bit about the human being on the receiving end of your application, and try to make his or her life easier, not harder.
5. Be persistent. Be prepared for a lot of unanswered e-mails, unanswered calls, and doors slammed in your face. Don’t worry. Be patient. Keep going. You only need one employer to give you a contract, not all of them.
6. Get up to date. Are you out of touch with social media? Not comfortable with today’s ecorporate e-mail etiquette? Unsure if your skill set transfers to today’s market? Find someone to help you make the transition to the 21st century, whether it’s an adult child or a friend or a former coworker.
7. Don’t send your resume to everyone. Attaching your resume to an e-mail and sending it off to HR takes thirty seconds. Carefully reading a job description, comparing the job’s requirements against your background, researching a company thoroughly, and honestly considering whether you can excellently fulfill the role’s responsibilites take much, much longer.
Jobseekers too often try to blanket companies with their resumes, sending out hundreds a day. They think that they are saving time in their search. But what saves them time costs a hiring manager time. And who wants to hire someone who wastes their time? It’s counter-intuitive. When you send a resume that’s not appropriate for the position, you become the chaff to be sorted from the grain. You become another gnat buzzing about the recruiter’s head, an annoyance. And you will never become a butterfly if you start out as a gnat. So choose a position that you can apply for with a straight face.
8. Choose the positions you apply for carefully. Match up the responsibilities with your capabilities. Can you do what they ask? Can you prove that to them with demonstrable examples? You need to be able to back up every claim you make with a short story that shows your capabilities. Only send a resume once you’ve determined the position is right for you, and never send a resume for more than one position at the same company. You can’t be hired for both jobs, so choose the one that’s better suited to you. If you don’t you are essentially telling the manager, “I’m too lazy to choose between these two positions—you do it.” Do your homework so the hiring manager doesn’t have to do it for you.
One comment
Thank you for posting an article about job application. I agree that it takes a careful analysis of a work description and an adjustment to your resume matching employer’s needs. However, new grads, like I, want to be prospective about who we want to become and whether an employer offers such opportunity for us to grow. Therefore we look for a place or a position bigger than we are currently so we may grow into it. How do we express our potentials in the resume or cover letters? How do hiring managers recognize our strengths? Job summary/functions often describe tasks and not the quality of a person they looking for. Would you recomend to pay a professional resume writer to compose a perfect resume? Can hiring managers distnguish whether the resume is written by a porfessional resume writer? Why employers looking for an accounting graduates with a Bachelors degree to do just account receivables or just payrolls. These tasks can be performed by a high school student. Sometimes I get depressed serching at job search engines.
by Nvard Srmabuyukyan on February 16, 2012 at 3:21 am. #