Have you looked at your resume lately? I mean, really looked at it? Have you ever imagined yourself in a potential employer’s shoes, looking at your resume, which is just one of a stack of resumes that could be four inches tall? And that’s just the resumes submitted for one job opening. Related: 7 Strategies To Get More Recruiters To Read Your Resume The average job opening will get somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 resumes. So I estimated the height of 400 resumes based on two pages per resume, which amounts to 800 sheets of paper, or roughly the height of just under two reams. This person has to fight his/her way through all that paper to find a single winning candidate. And when I say “fight,” I really mean “fight.” Which means that your job, as a candidate for a position, is to make things as easy as possible for the potential employer. And employers really hate, with a capital “H,” resumes that look like too much work. Those are usually the first to go into the circular file. In that spirit, employers aren’t fond of very tiny type, or very short margins. I have seen resumes set in eight-point fonts, because the candidate believed the old chestnut about keeping the resume to one page. I’ve seen resumes with barely a quarter-inch of margin space top, bottom, and sides, for the same reason. If you don’t want to reduce the employer to tears, you need to give him/her a document she/he can read without a magnifying glass. Another item to avoid: Long, drawn-out sentences. If your sentence goes longer than two lines on the resume, you need to break it up somehow. You need to squeeze that sentence of all unnecessary words as you would a sponge, down to its barest essentials. How many ideas does the sentence convey? If your answer is anything except "one," your writing is in trouble. Have you used two or three words when you could have used just one? How about breaking the sentence into bullet points, for ease of reading? And speaking of bullet points... Have you used more than six bullet points at a time anywhere? If you’ve done that, you need to reconstruct your descriptions of accomplishments. If you provide a reader with more than six bullet points without some kind of break, she/he will become distracted and could lose sight of what you’re trying to convey. She/he might even get bored, and stop reading. Your goal in writing that resume is to keep the employer reading. The only interruption should be when the employer decides to look for your phone number or email address. If you don’t make that resume the smoothest, most readable document ever, you’ve lost the battle. You want that employer to experience your resume as a description of why you’re the answer to their prayers. That resume is the employer’s first glimpse of you. If you’re interviewing for most office jobs, you’re not going to show up wearing a dirty tee shirt and ripped jeans, are you? So why, then, are you not showing the same care with the writing of your resume? This should be a no-brainer, like wearing your best suit to a job interview. It’s “just a resume,” you say? It’s much more than that, friends. It’s your future. This post was originally published on an earlier date.
The leaves are changing, the kids are back in school, and that familiar chill is in the air. You think it's the perfect time to look for a job, and it is! But are your job search fears preventing you from making that leap?
It's not uncommon to feel lost when embarking on your job search journey. After all, school teaches us everything except how to get a job. What should you put on your resume? What questions should you ask in an interview? How can you stand out in the hiring process when there's so much competition?
Are you feeling spooked yet?
Believe it or not, there's no need to be afraid of the job search process! You can land your dream job with the right tools and strategy. You can find a job that won't give you nightmares. Here are three spooky secrets every job seeker should know as they look for a job this fall.
1. An Effective Job Search Starts With An Interview Bucket List
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Despite your fears, you've decided to take the plunge and look for a new job. You might be asking yourself, "Where do I start?" The answer is simple: start by creating an interview bucket list.
An interview bucket list is a list of 10-20 companies you'd love to work for. Are you passionate about a company's products or services? Do you feel connected to its mission? Can you relate to its values and beliefs as an organization? If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, that company probably belongs on your interview bucket list.
Once you create an interview bucket list, you'll be able to conduct a targeted job search, one with direction and a foundation upon which everything else will be built. An interview bucket list helps you focus your job search and networking strategies on the right opportunities, making it easier to get your foot in the door at one of your dream companies.
2. Your Job Application Needs To Disrupt Hiring Managers
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In order to stand out in the hiring process, you need to disrupt recruiters and hiring managers. You accomplish this by doing two things: optimizing your resume and writing a disruptive cover letter.
A well-optimized resume includes keywords from the job description. This ensures your resume gets past the ATS and into the hands of the hiring manager. Once it's in front of the hiring manager, it needs to grab and keep their attention. Quantifying your work experience—adding numbers to your bullet points—will make you stand out from other applicants. Hiring managers will want to know more about you and your accomplishments, and that's how you land a phone interview.
Before that, though, a hiring manager will read your cover letter. To disrupt them, you need to write a disruptive cover letter (obviously!). A disruptive cover letter gives you the opportunity to tell a story about why you feel connected to the company you're applying for. It's that storytelling aspect that will stand out to hiring managers and compel them to pick up the phone and give you a call.
3. Employers Hire You Based On 3 Things
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You can't get hired unless you know what employers are assessing you on in the interview process. While your skills and expertise matter, companies actually hire for three things: personality, aptitude, and experience (in that order).
Most job seekers don't realize how important it is to demonstrate their personality, aptitude, and experience in an interview. You could have the right experience for a job, but if the hiring manager doesn't think your personality is a good fit for the company culture, you probably won't get a job offer.
Make sure you demonstrate your soft skills and learn how to answer behavioral interview questions to prove you're the best candidate for the job you're applying for, not just the most qualified.
Want To Learn More Job Search Secrets?
As you look for a job this fall, it might be helpful to know some more spooky secrets so you can get over your job search fears and finally take control of your career.
We know the job search process can be scary. However, it's important to get clear on what you want to do next and focus on conducting a strategic job search, or what we refer to at Work It DAILY as job shopping. This is the only way to effectively market yourself to employers. If they can't see exactly where and how you add value, then that's going to decrease your chances of landing the job.
The competition is fierce, and there are a lot of factors that are out of your control. But the one factor you can control is your job search strategy, the tools and tactics you use to land a job.
If you want to learn the secrets to conducting a strategic job search, sign up for our Job Search Bootcamp, a two-hour, on-demand video workshop that comes with a free workbook.
In this video workshop, you'll learn:
- How to use backchanneling to get directly to hiring managers.
- The secret to using a connection story to stand out against the competition.
- How social media can be your secret weapon to get job interviews.
- The resume format that is getting job seekers more job interviews.
- And, a lot more hacks for job search success!
Let us show you the secrets to getting a new, better-paying job you actually love. Sign up for our Job Search Bootcamp today.
Are you ready to land the job of your dreams (and leave the job of your nightmares)?