The Perfect Fit

Compelling Resumes Help Reach Career Goals

I’ve been contacted three times this week by people who asked for resume writing help.  It’s remarkable that none of us has ever received any real education or “training” about how to write a resume . . . possibly the most important document you’ll ever have to write.  I always feel a great sense of satisfaction when I help a candidate present themselves in a compelling way to help them reach the goal of being hired for a job they really want!

 
The task of writing a resume is even more daunting, because your resume is likely being scanned by an “algorithm” as a first step, not a human!  Fundamentally, applying for a job online is almost a complete “waste of time”, because the results very, very, rarely are worth the amount of time spent or anxiety created . . . especially if you really, really want that job!
 
The online job application process is so broken that sometimes, the candidate doesn’t even receive a response that they’re no longer being considered.  It’s a nasty screwed up practice that is set up for the benefit of the employer, not the prospective candidate.  Do you even really want to work for a company that cares so little about their future employees?
 
There’s very little question or doubt about the fact that by far, your best approach to looking for a new job is through networking.  Talk with friends and colleagues and let them know that you’re open to a new opportunity.  If you want to work for a particular employer or brand, use LinkedIn to see if you know anyone who works at that company.  Ask them to please walk your resume to HR and say a good word about you . . .
 
When you apply online, if your resume is selected by the bot (algorithm), then you actually have to impress someone (likely in HR) that might be distracted by other tasks, or simply not really know what the job’s responsibilities entail.  It’s very, very difficult to succinctly say the right things and make someone want to actually talk to you about the job.  There’s a whole other set of interviewing best practices, if and when you get to that next step . . .
 
I take pride and get incredible professional satisfaction, when I’ve succeeded in helping someone take their next career step, or land the job of their dreams.  I consider myself lucky to be able to do resume and career consulting for as a profession!  Contact me to learn more . . .

Optimize Your Resume For Applicant Tracking Systems

Have you been working hard to update your resume but haven't received any interviews? More employers are using Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to filter resumes. Yours could quickly be sorted away if the right keywords or format are not there.

As International Update Your Resume Month is celebrated in September, it's time to re-think your resume with AI in mind. As companies are relying on Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to streamline their hiring processes, these systems scan resumes for keywords and rank them based on relevance to the job description, meaning your resume needs to be optimized to pass through these filters and land in front of a hiring manager.

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) often use AI (Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning algorithms to enhance their functionality. These technologies help ATS analyze and rank resumes more efficiently by:

1.    Keyword Matching: AI helps ATS identify relevant keywords and phrases in resumes that match job descriptions, making it easier to filter out unqualified candidates.

2.     Resume Parsing: AI-powered ATS can parse and structure data from resumes, such as work experience, education, and skills, allowing for more accurate candidate screening.

3.     Ranking and Scoring: AI algorithms can rank and score resumes based on how well they match the job criteria, helping recruiters quickly identify top candidates.

4.     Bias Reduction: Some AI-driven ATS aim to reduce unconscious bias by focusing on skills and qualifications rather than names, gender, or other personal information.

5.     Automated Communication: AI can also automate communication with candidates, such as sending acknowledgment emails or scheduling interviews.

Before starting to update your resume, make sure you define precisely the role or title you want to apply for. Once you are clear on the role you want, optimize your resume for ATS to increase your chances of getting more interviews. 

One of the most important aspects of optimizing your resume for ATS is incorporating the right keywords that match the job description and the skills, qualifications, and experiences the employer is looking for. Carefully read the job posting and highlight the key skills, qualifications, and responsibilities mentioned. These are the keywords you should include in your resume.

1. Use Relevant Keywords

One of the most important aspects of optimizing your resume for ATS is incorporating the right keywords that match the job description and the skills, qualifications, and experiences the employer is looking for. Carefully read the job posting and highlight the

Consultative Recruiting Expertise Adds Value

Consultative recruiting expertise adds value when an experienced recruiter meets with a company’s CEO, President, COO or other executive leader, to discuss how that company can accelerate growth. Consultative recruiting is essential for succession planning searches, or confidential searches or any search where a company needs a strategic leader, much more than a “worker”. Are you thinking about creating an “in-house creative capability”, for the first time?

Consultative recruiting is the difference when it comes to making strategic hires that have significant and long term impact on a business. Consultative recruiting is very different from “filling a job opening”, where one simply lines up a Company’s specific needs with a Candidate’s specific skills and experience. The time spent is directly proportionate to the value added.

This is a far cry from posting a job to ZipRecruiter, Indeed or some other niche job board and “hoping for the best”. Recruiters used to call that “Post and Pray”! The premier candidates never even look at job boards. If you try it a couple of times, it’s immediately crystal clear how inefficient it is. You’re lucky if even 15% of respondents are even remotely qualified for the role. Full employment makes hiring even more difficult!

Consultative Recruiting makes all the difference between hiring a “worker” and a committed, caring and ambitious contributor/leader. The worker simply works, the leader contributes and then influences their colleagues to contribute too. They search out additional ways to contribute. Working is easy, leading and consistently truly contributing is not. (Boutique or Specialty Firms have additional value!)

The Best Candidates Trust Bishop Partners!

I’m proud of the reputation established over the past 15+ years.  It is an incredibly valuable benefit to my clients and as a result, I have candidates getting in touch on a daily basis, asking for help in representing them.  A good percentage of those candidates are top performers, who develop a relationship with a recruiter to help them advance their career.  It’s not so much that they’re unhappy where they are, but they are ambitious enough to realize that there are significant career opportunities that recruiters can (and do) present to them.

I  have clients call from all over the country, who call to ask about a certain kind of experience, skill or role and do I happen to have candidates like that in our database.  Clients realize that there are recruiters with the reputation that attracts top performers, so they call to check what’s (or who's) available.  Top talent is not getting any easier to find, especially with the rapidly evolving skill sets necessary for success.

Those are smart clients for any number of reasons, not the least of which is that the fee for “existing” candidates can be dramatically less than standard recruiting fees.  The titles range from Art Director to Chief Creative Officer, SVP and Managing Director or EVP Chief Digital Officer (i.e. this includes

10 Reasons Why I Ignored Your Resume

This posting just makes so much sense I had to share it.  Thanks to Mashable!

This article is part of DBA, a new series on Mashable about running a business that features insights from leaders in entrepreneurship, venture capital and management. Originally published at Mashable on July 16, by Mike Volpe.

A lot of people want jobs in marketing, which is great news for those of us currently hiring. However, after a decade of screening, interviewing and onboarding marketers, there are still some mistakes that I constantly see. Here are examples of some mistakes you should avoid. (comment all is might take is one of these!)

1. You use a Hotmail or AOL email address
Marketers should see into the future, not live in the past, so unless you're applying for a job as a historian for 1999, I would suggest updating your email address, perhaps to a Gmail address. Bonus points if you use an email address associated with your own custom domain because it shows you know something about using the web and technology.

2. I can't find you on Google
You don't have to be popular like Michael Jordan or Michael Jackson, but you should be present enough on the web that I can easily find your LinkedIn profile, content you have created, your Twitter account, or your personal web page just by typing your name into Google.

Update and Enhance Your Resume . . . NOW!

In following up on my "Marketers and Account Service Pros Need Portfolios Too!" blog posting last week, this is about simply enhancing your resume when you update it.  Once again the point is, you need to have a current, effective (if not fine-tuned and impactful) resume, even if you're not currently "looking for a job".  Why?  So you can respond more promptly when a recruiter (like me) calls you out of blue and starts talking to you about a career opportunity that you think is too good to be true!  Yet, it is true!

And, just as Account Service pros need portfolios, Creative pros need resumes!  I know, you hate that.   You want your work to do the talking . . . recruiters and employers need to know about more than the work, to determine qualifications and potential fit.  Great work is a table setter, not the meal!

We need to know things like work history, previous titles (hopefully showing increasing responsibility), previous employers (indicating size/type of company), previous client/category experience, number of direct reports, etc..   There are lots of ingredients in the hiring a great employee recipe!  There is generally value in your ability to respond promptly to a recruiter's request for a resume.  You certainly should have a link to your work.  Don't say, "Samples of Work Provided on Request" . . . Trust me, we want and need to see the work.  Just show it to us!!!

I have a couple of very simple suggestions for how to enhance your existing resume and make it more information packed.  You need to add hot links, where ever possible and appropriate.

For example, my employer is:

Bishop Partners, LLC  St. Louis                                                                        July 2001 - Present

Specialty retained recruiting firm and sole proprietorship, headquartered in St. Louis with expertise in conducting executive search for Corporate marketing and agency positions nationwide.

By adding the hot link, and short employer description, you can give the resume reader signifcant additional information in a different way, and very conveniently.  You could (for example) link your name at the top of the resume to LinkedIn, or you could add a line to your resume asking the reader to visit LinkedIn (with hotlink) to read all your recommendations.

I love those folks who use Dropbox to host files which are then hotlinked to their resumes.  Last year I wrote a blog post about "Create Richer Resumes With New Technology".  While Dropbox isn't so new anymore, it's still incredibly effective and seriously under utilized!  (Great for backing up essential files, too!)

Indeed Makes it Official and Launches Resume Search

This article by John Zappe, originally appeared in ere.net daily (a blog for recruiters), earlier today.  I thought that in view of the ongoing employment crisis, it would be useful for job seekers to know about this new tool.  I've always recommended to people looking for their next opportunity to keep their eye on Indeed.com.  It'll be interesting to see if this new feature dilutes, or enhances the site.  Read the comments, there are interesting thoughts about privacy!

Taking the next logical step in its evolution from job search engine to job board, Indeed today unveiled its resume search service.

The carefully planned launch had been scheduled to occur tomorrow, but an error in distributing the press release forced the company to lift the embargo it had placed on bloggers, analysts, and others who got a preview of the service earlier this week.

It’s a straightforward search, identical in most regards to the site’s job search. It is keyword based, though it will accept some Boolean and Google query types. Searches can be easily narrowed by simply selecting from a menu on the left that shows up on results pages.

Searching and reviewing resumes is free and will remain that way. But contacting the candidates — free for now — will eventually cost. How much, said Chris Hyams, Indeed’s VP of Product, who piloted the demos, won’t be released for a while.

For now, the “goal is to introduce the system to as many people as possible,” said Hyams.

Job seekers will appreciate the simplicity of the system. It accepts all forms of resumes and will import a user’s LinkedIn profile. Users can elect to keep the resume private and not findable in a search, or make it public. In the latter case, the contact information is stripped out. Employers use a form to contact the job seeker, who decides whether or not to respond. Job seekers can also apply to jobs they find on Indeed with their resume.

The interface, said Hyams, was designed for ease of use. “We always start with the question: What is best for the job seeker?”

Since Indeed began collecting resumes several months ago it was only a matter of time before the site offered resume search. After more than a million resumes, the time, obviously, has come.

Even Hyams more or less joked about the resume service being an open secret, especially to the job boards whose relationship with Indeed can best be described as “frenemy.”

“This is not going to be an earth-shattering surprise,” Hyams said earlier this week during a preview.

Pardon the pun, but indeed it isn’t. There’s been no response from the job boards, nor is it likely any of them will have much to say publicly. Many of them are Indeed customers, buying PPC ads to drive traffic to their own sites. Many of them, though far fewer these days, depend on Indeed to distribute their own listings to a broader market.

"Richer Resumes, Portfolios and Cover Letters!" . . . Include A Verbal Pitch

I working with a senior marketing candidate who's just done something I think is just outstanding . . . simple, easy . . . just brilliant. 

I had previously written a post about how a free online service called Dropbox can help add dimension and depth to your resume, cover letter and/or portfolio, without adding additional pages.  As I said previously, "It would be terrific if there was a place to "host" those compliments, recommendations, white papers and other media files, so that they could easily be incorporated into letters of introduction and resumes."  Dropbox provides this ability. Check out more thoughts on Dropbox and resumes/portfolios and cover letters here. 

The new idea that's so simple, is voice.  That's right . . . use your own voice to create a short (60-90 second) verbal pitch for yourself.  You can provide a verbal overview and add context to a resume.  You can highlight one or two brief case studies . . . If you're applying for a specific position and know the name of the hiring manager, you can even introduce yourself specifically to the job and call the hiring manager by name!  You can deliver a "call to action" . . . Ask that hiring manager to give you a call to hear more!  Imagine the impact!

This works with more than introductions during the employment search.  Imagine a verbal introduction to accompany introducing yourself to a new client . . . There are endless opportunities to utilize this.

In addition to your other qualifications, background and skills, you've now set yourself apart from the competition by being clever, and obviously in control of current technology.  I just love the idea of being able to highlight specific career achievements that directly relate to the position you're applying for.

You can also create your own "elevator pitch" for use in other social media applications.  You can add links to the Dropbox hosted sound files to your LinkedIn and Facebook accounts . . . or send a tweet with sound!  You'll think of more ways to use this . . .

Most of us have a micropohone built into our computers . . . we can create sound files instantly.  Dropbox is  a free place to host those files, and allow you to use them in your career enhancement efforts.  My goal is to figure this out for myself in the next several days.  When I do, I'll post the solution with a litle added "voice encouragement".

Depending on the usage, for example a link on LinkedIn that was more of a "generic" introduction of yourself, or if you're not a terrific speaker, you might spend a modest amount of money and have professionals assist you.  For the charges of one hour of studio time and some editing, you might be able to get this done for $200.00 or less.

I have total faith that my readers are clever enough to figure this out.  If you decide to utilize this idea, please send me a link when it's finished!  I'd love to hear what you have to say!

Create "Richer" Resumes With New Technology

Resumes and portfolios are only two of the elements necessary to make a powerful first impression when presenting yourself to a new employer (or recruiter!).  There are a myriad of additional elements which can help separate you from your colleagues when being considered for a new career opportunity.

Testimonials, recommendations, white papers, case studies or other "documents" (In this case, I'm using "documents" to include images, videos or any other kind of media file.) that you may have can help show your career achievements and your ability to add value to your employers.  It's surprising to me that more top professionals don't utilize what their employers, peers and clients have to say about their performance on a particular project or team.  It can be anything from an email from a either a client or your boss thanking you for a job well done, to a formally recognized achievement, like an award.  Your LinkedIn Profile is certainly one place where displaying recommendations can be a significant credibility builder.  Having someone else say something positive about you is obviously better than saying it yourself!  I believe it's a powerful marketing technique and frequently use it myself, for example on our website.

It would be terrific if there was a place to "host" those compliments, recommendations, white papers and other media files, so that they could easily be incorporated into letters of introduction and resumes.  The ability to create a free blog has been taken advantage of by many who want an online place to "host" all of the documents relevant to a job search . . . and they work very well. 

Others are less comfortable with creating the blog and organizing all the documents so that the visitor to that blog can quickly and easily navigate to the right place (document) at the right time.  For those of you who find yourselves in that particular boat, there's some relatively new technology out there that can be a tremendous asset for you.  It's called Dropbox.

Dropbox allows you to sync your files online and across your computers automatically . . . up to 2GB worth for free!  That in itself has tremendous value.  My computer was recently taken out of service for several days as a result of some killer (literally) virus.  While I had a backup laptop and was able to do some work, I didn't have access to any of the documents on the "sick" computer.  I have now uploaded all of the documents that I used on a daily basis to Dropbox.  I can now access those files from any computer with internet access . . . Fabulous!

The way Dropbox can be used on resumes and cover letters is this.  Suppose you have a number of testimonials/recommendations from colleagues or clients or other media files that can enhance your presentation.  You can now put copies of each of those documents (or other media) in a Dropbox "Public" folder.  That public folder attaches a unique link for that document, which can then be embedded in your resume.  Click here to see how I handle it, or you could link to each document or file individually.  That link is being handled through the Dropbox public folder.

Now, even your Word.doc can become a much more compelling document with the additional capabilities provided by Dropbox.  This is now a very simple (and free!) method of adding significant new information to your resume, without adding any additional pages.  I'm betting that you can think of all kinds of clever ways to incorporate this technology into your your document and your work flow.

I'm also betting you'll find the value in hosting some frequently used documents with Dropbox.

Your Resume is Boring . . . How To Write A Resume To Get A Job!

I've just run across an article by John Sullivan, a "well known thought leader in recruiting and retention of employees", and someone I've come to respect over the years.  He always delivers a thoughtful and comprehensive approach to what he writes.  This is one of the best articles I've ever read on the subject of "how to write a resume", and I've read scores of them.  Before this article, I would send interested parties to my website to read an article entitled "Prove Value".  I'll add this article from now on!  It's a bit long, but covers every base in detail!

If you are wondering why you aren’t called in to interview for great job opportunities, it’s undoubtedly because your resume is not “powerful,” and significantly undersells your abilities and experience. Having worked with major corporations on the design of their hiring and resume screening processes, I can attest that nearly all applicants fail to adequately highlight themselves in a way that increases their chances of being selected for further evaluation. While you may actually be a very good fit for the roles and the organizations to which you have applied, chances are that your boring resume doesn’t instill that perception in the 15-20 seconds that those charged with screening resumes typically spend per applicant.

 
Even if you are not currently seeking a new role, failing to adequately highlight your achievements is a weakness that can impact you throughout your career. When it comes to performance appraisal, promotion consideration, and even day-to-day work assignment, learning how to influence the perception of you as a performer is key to ensuring that your career reaches the heights you desire.

Over a decade ago, Fast Company magazine dubbed me the “Michael Jordan of hiring,” so if you want to have a resume as powerful and effective as Michael Jordan’s actually is, consider each of the checklist items that follow.

Bolster the Content of Your Resume

While an unusual format may garner a few seconds more of attention, it may also prevent your resume from making it through electronic sorting and filtering tools used by larger corporations, so it is best to focus on what your resume says about you, versus the font, layout, and embellishment used. (This is true for online profiles as well; spending hours adjusting the color pallet and background and only minutes on the content doesn’t facilitate stronger networking.) To maximize your appeal, focus on powerful “selling” points that cover your results, your impact on the organization, your skills and your ability to manage and lead.

For each of the items on the checklist, mentally review your working life, as well as other outside work responsibilities, for experiences/activities that relate to the item. For example, if you are seeking a role that calls for leadership skills, ask yourself how many times you were a leader of a project, a subproject, a team, or even a meeting/event. It does not matter if you were never formally appointed a leader or given a leadership title; if you have successfully led others, you should reference leadership as one of your attributes. Feature leadership terms throughout the content that comprises your resume, including sections covering your experience, education, and extracurricular activities.

Continue through the checklist until each of the factors appears at least once in your resume. When you have reached the end of the checklist, step back and admire all that you have done and accomplished, and can do again in your next job, ad then raise your career goals and expectations!

Thirty “Power Factors” to Bolster the Content of Your Resume

1. Result or accomplishment — everyone wants employees who produce results, so you need to find a way to list every significant result, output, or accomplishment. Your resume should include dozens of performance-related references. (Example: Achieved 100% of ___ rollout project milestones while being first to implement ___ within the division.)
2. Quantify results in dollars — the language of businesses is dollars, so characterizing the dollar impact of your accomplishments on the organization can be a key differentiator. It’s OK to use estimates if you can explain your logic. (Example: implemented changes to the ___ process that resulted in a 32% increase output with no noticeable impact on quality).
3. Skills used — listing the work you did but omitting the array of skills that you need to accomplish that work is a major omission in most resumes. You should never mention a task or accomplishment without highlighting both the technical and people skills required to accomplish it. Start with a list of all the skills that you can find in job descriptions of interest and try to mention each one. (Example: Used root cause analysis to track an emerging issue back to a change that had been overlooked many times and used strong Internet research skills to gather supporting information and build a business case to successfully convince a skeptical manager to address the issue.)
4. Demonstrate the quality of the work — you need to clearly demonstrate that you do high-quality work and that you understand and deliver quality consistently. Whenever you mention the volume of your work, also mention indications of its quality. (Example: Consistently ranked top producer within the division while maintaining the lowest error rate and a 98% customer satisfaction rate.)
5. Awards and honors — mention all recognitions received for outstanding work. Don’t forget shared and team awards, or informal awards created by local managers. Include awards received both in school and on the job. (Example: Awarded employee of the month six times.)
6. Leadership — employees who can lead are always in demand. Mention cases where you led a team or project, even if informally. Highlight challenges addressed and leadership methods used. (Example: Assembled and led a team responsible for developing a plan to expand scope of services provided, overcoming resource limitations, personality conflicts, and communication breakdowns to successfully present the case to the executive committee).
7. Management tools used — even if you were not a manager by title, show that you did use common management tools and processes during your assignments. (Example tools to highlight: team work, quality control, conflict resolution, CRM, time management, process reengineering.)
8. Technology tools — few things are more important these days than the ability to use and understand technology. Look for work examples that demonstrate your ability to learn and leverage emerging technology. (Example: used online groupware to create a project management office providing a common document repository, shared calendar, alerts, and staff assignments for key projects within our division.)
9. Worked with key people — individuals who have the opportunity to work with key people and executives are assumed to be among the best. If you worked for or with a famous individual, highlight them. Also include enough information so that the reader will know their importance. (Example: Was selected by my divisional vice president to serve on a committee led by our CEO to evaluate key customer satisfaction.)

13 Ways Your Resume Can Say "I'm Unprofessional"!

I was reading through some materials on Electronic Recruiting Exchange and found this article that I thought has value and should be shared.  You would think that professionals understand how important every element of a resume is.  I can testify that many do not.  I can tell you that I have seen every one of these mistakes, and many others . . .

If you're going to take the time to create a resume (and everyone should have one ready, you never know when a new opportunity may arise), please compose it like your career depends on it . . . because it does!

Hiring pros share the faux pas they find in real resumes, including wacky e-mail addresses, defunct phone numbers and cookie-cutter templates.

By Lisa Vaas

"No offense, [email protected], but if nobody has told you yet, we’re telling you now: That e-mail address is not making you look particularly professional.

Unprofessional e-mail addresses are just one way of sending hiring managers the wrong message. If you want to be taken seriously when you apply for jobs, you need to put some polish on your resume, your cover letter and everything contained therein. Hiring professionals repeatedly run across these red flags that scream “unprofessional.” A number of recruiters and HR managers shared with TheLadders common errors from their own professional experiences.

1. Random/cute/shared e-mail accounts

E-mail accounts are free. There’s no reason not to sign up for your own. Yet many mid-career professionals share an e-mail account with a significant other or the entire family, generating addresses such as [email protected] or [email protected] stay away from cutesy addresses. After all, [email protected], you can always share your admiration of Lepidoptera with colleagues after you’ve been hired. Ditto for offensive, flirtatious or sexual e-mail addresses.

Think we’re exaggerating? These are actual e-mail accounts cited by Jillian Zavitz, who’s responsible for hiring as the programs manager for TalktoCanada.com, an online English language-training course based in Canada. (We’ve changed the domain names to protect the innocent.)

Instead, adopt an address that incorporates the name you use professionally on your resume and cover letter.

2. Failure to proofread

Deidre Pannazzo, executive director at Inspired Resumes, said it’s “amazing” how many people submit resumes that contain “numerous typos and misspellings.” Even better than spell check, she said, is to have a friend review the document for you.

“Make sure your dates are consistent, and that you don't confuse your story with overlapping time lines,” she said. (For an in-depth look at how to tackle proofreading your resume, click here.)

3. Bikini pictures

Resume experts advise against attaching pictures or any image files to a resume. They can “choke” an applicant tracking system (ATS), the software that automatically scans and parses resumes. (Click here for an in-depth look at how your resume is handled by technology after you press submit.) In addition, hiring professionals warn against giving anyone a reason to prejudge and form a negative opinion based on your appearance. Indeed, some HR departments will immediately discard resumes with photos to avoid any possible accusations of discrimination on this basis.

But still applicants send photos. Most troublesome of all, said Zavitz, are the beach shots. “(No) pictures where you are in a bikini at the beach (real story, and it wasn't a flattering picture either) or at a New Year’s party with your friends (obviously drunk). Not cool.”

4. Unprofessional voicemail

If your resume is strong enough to convince the recruiter or hiring manager to reach for the telephone, be sure what he finds at the other end of the line represents you in the best light – that means your voicemail or whoever might answer the phone.

Marlane Perry, managing director of the Executive Search Division of Magill Associates, said she is unimpressed when a phone number on a resume leads her to an unprofessional recorded voicemail or a conversation with a third party who can’t be trusted to take a message. “If you don't trust your roommates to answer the phone and take a decent message, then only list your cell phone,” she said.

5. Lazy words, ‛etc.’

Perry said that use of “etc.” on a resume is a sign of laziness: The job seeker obviously “can't even take the time to list out all of [his] duties.” She has seen the error on both junior- and executive-level resumes. Another no-no is saying "same as above" anywhere on a resume. “If you had similar job functions at your last two jobs, summarize the responsibilities and then bullet out some of your accomplishments,” she suggested.

6. Cookie-cutter resumes

Samantha Goldberg is a celebrity event designer and TV personality who’s always looking for employees for administrative duties or to help plan an event. She said she often reviews resumes and cover letters that aren’t even vaguely customized for her business.

“It’s more like ‛Mad Libs’ — they just fill in our name as they send them off!” she said. “Just once, I would love to have them describe me on the cover letter instead of saying that they respect my career status and have been following my career.”

On many occasions, Goldberg said, she specifically lists a prerequisite of at least three years’ experience with planning events that does not include friends, family or applicants’ own weddings. “They obviously don’t read my prerequisites and send an e-mail stating that even though they haven’t orchestrated events for anyone they have always been told they should be in the industry if I would just give them a chance.”

7. Everything but the kitchen sink

“I don't care, nor have time, to read about your life story,” Zavitz said. “If you can't whittle your resume down to a page or two at max, I will not read it. If it's not related [to the job or your work history], don't include it.”

8-13 ad infinitum...

Larry Lambeth, president of Employment Screening Services Inc., which helps companies review job applicants, offered a laundry list of professional gaffes he’s seen on resumes and job applications:

• Listing a spouse as a reference
• Not spelling out the name of an employer or school (“LSU” instead of “Louisiana State University” or “ZDE” instead of “Ziff Davis Enterprise”)
• Not providing a city or state for an employer or school
• Omitting the area code from a phone number for a reference or employer
• Providing only a first name for a supervisor or reference
• Including phone numbers that are no longer in service for references or employers."

I have another posting from a while back, where I talk about "How To Get Your Resume Read".  You can read it here.  I would also refer you to our website, for the single best article on what makes for a powerful resume.  Here's the article (available as a PDF), "Prove Value".

How To Get Your Resume Read!

I heard it again today, “I’ve applied to 300 jobs in the last month.”

WHAT????

Why would anyone waste their time like that? Sounds to me like this person was simply doing the “Click and Go” dance with his computer. I certainly understand the desperation that comes with the economic climate we all live in today, but I’m concerned.

If a job seeker would just sit back for a few minutes and consider a plan of action, concerning the goals for the day and write it down, then the day’s efforts might be a little more fruitful! More focus would be given to the list below and less work would be done with better results.

Not all recruiters search the same way for potential candidates. They don’t post job descriptions the same way. They don’t read resumes the same way. They certainly don’t communicate the same way, which is often to the disadvantage of an excellent candidate. They all have differing levels of concern for things like ethical values, integrity and credibility. Some recruiters are educated and some are not. Some have common sense and some don’t have any sense at all.

I can’t begin to tell you how any other recruiter will process your resumé, even if I think I know them. What I will tell you is how I process resumes, and what I expect before I receive it from you. These tips should help you, by giving you the best possible chance at getting an interview…if you are honest with yourself as you prepare your resumé!

Reason #1.
You’ve given me what I want by reading the job description COMPLETELY! If you haven’t, why would you apply? Would you only read what stands out on a medicine bottle, only to find out later that there are side effects (in the small print) that may adversely affect your health? The health of your personal economic stability depends on reading completely.

If you are just posting resumes everywhere, hoping one will stick; you’re wasting YOUR time. Give me what I want by writing a short and concise cover letter. It should include a short summary of your experiences that “MATCH” the job description. If they don’t match, DON’T APPLY! If a job description is short and vague, contact me and ask for any clarification I can offer.

Make SURE you are qualified before you apply. You’ll save yourself a lot of precious time by focusing on the importance of being qualified. I don’t currently work with clients or other recruiters that will accept a candidate that has skills that are “transferable.” You are either qualified to the specifics of the job description, or you are not.

Are You Ready For Your Next Career Opportunity?

I had a candidate apply for an Account Supervisor position yesterday.  My client is in Dallas and I know this candidate is overqualified for an Account Supervisor level position.  It's not unusual for those who have been without a job for several months to start aiming a bit "lower", just so they can get employed again.  I responded to the candidate and pointed out that the position was in Dallas, and that perhaps he'd missed that.

I thought his reply to me was pretty interesting, and shows some of the frustration not only of those who are currently out of work, but also for workers who are employed.  They're looking too (see my posting "The Next Six Months . . . Emerging Employment Trends") . . . The market is just starting to turn from being one of Employer driven, to the candidate having a bit more leverage.  It's not as easy to find that leadership candidate as many think.  As I've written and Tweeted before, it's never easy finding top performing leaders who fit into a particular company culture, and have the same sort of vision of and goals for the future.

Here's how the candidate replied to me:

Thanks for the information on Dallas position. I assumed that there was not relocation available. That seems to be the case with most jobs nowadays. I've been looking for a couple of months now. There are some opportunities, but even more people looking for them. It's tough enough to be competing against some of the quality of communications professionals out of work, but you still have to compete against those looking to change jobs. I sometimes wish that those with a job would take a break from looking, then that way those of us without one could compete for the open positions. I've run into that a couple times already.
 
Thanks also for keeping in mind for any positions that come up.

I'll just say once again that it's important for every employee to "manage their career".  You need to be ready for a change, should you identify the right opportunity.  You should have your resume and portfolio current, and ready to present.  You should have your online profile(s) in order and up to date.  You should make sure that every tool you have to sell yourself to a prospective new employer is ready to go at a moment's notice.

It would be very unfortunate to miss your next great promotion and/or career opportunity, because you're not ready for it.  Are you ready for a phone call from a recruiter tomorrow? 

Get to Know A Recruiter In Your Specialty

Unemployment is at 9.8% and climbing.  We're starting to consistently (but slowly) see that economic indicators are suggesting that the worst of the downturn is behind us.  Nobody knows the pace of recovery.  Employers are starting to think about hiring and employees are starting to think about new opportunities.  The unemployment rate of 9.8% is misleading, outstanding employees remain special and sought after.

According to Ted Konnerth of Egret Consulting,

"Monster and the Human Capital Institute recently found that 84% of employers felt their employees were content, while 58% of their employees expressed that same feeling. In more detail, 79% of employees are more likely to be seeking jobs elsewhere. 50% are concerned about top performers leaving their company and 57% believe employers exploited the recession to drive longer hours and lower pay from their employees."

There are successful companies who are working to identify those employees who they want to hire.  Those employees who the employer feels are going to be able to lead their company into the next phase of growth.  These companies are not waiting for a recovery, they're moving to make themselves a more powerful player now.  There are any number of surveys indicating that there is going to be renewed hiring in the next six months.  Are you ready for that next career move?

Do you know a recruiter who specializes in your area of expertise?  If not, do some research and find someone you can trust.  Get referrals from friends and colleagues.  There are going to be premier opportunities that are not advertised.  They're going to be filled by hand-picked candidates who are already successful, happy and motivated by what they're doing right now.  That candidate will be enticed to leave for an even better next career opportunity.

Hiring has already started.  We saw an upturn in mid-Summer.  Are you ready?  Are you happy?  Are you being professionally challenged . . . and rewarded?  Are you growing professionally?  Are you being professionally (and as a result personally) fulfilled?

Take a look at that resume.  Make sure it's updated with your latest "accomplishments", as opposed to "responsibilities".  I have a terrific article on my website that talks about how to create an impactful resume.  You can see it here.

If a recruiter calls with that next superb opportunity, be ready to respond!  Get to know a headhunter who specializes in what you do . . . introduce yourself and let them know you're always interested in moving your career forward.

If you're successful and respected in the marketing, corporate communications or advertising specialty, feel free (and encouraged) to visit our website at www.Bishop-Partners.com, and upload your resume, confidentially of course.  We'll respond to you!

How Recruiters Read Resumes

I ran across a very interesting article on how recruiters (and employers) read resumes.  The writer Matthew Charney, apparently used to be an "in-house" recruiter for a corporation.  In that position, he was forced to do what every recruiter has to do, wade through dozens/scores/hundreds of resumes on a daily basis, trying to evaluate and separate the talent with potential, from the masses.  Matthew has a sense of humor about the process and manages to tell the truth about how resumes are reviewed.

I'm sure you've head the saying that you get "30 seconds to make an impression" with your resume?  It's true.  I know that I can generally tell in less than 30 seconds which candidates are top performers, and which are not.  Admittedly, there's a large percentage of perception or intuition at work here.  There's also a way of scanning a resume, that Matthew has done a wonderful job of verbalizing.  I thought there would be value in sharing his article "Bullet Point to the Head".  You can read Matthews' entire article here.

I also suggest you check out the comments from other recruiters for this article.  They're testaments to the truths of what Matthew writes!

Clever Resumes That Don't Work!

I continue to be amazed at the approach some professionals take to creating a resume.  I know that in the business of creative, people try to be just that . . . creative, or clever.  They try to stand out by doing something "different".  There are also those that just don't understand (or don't care to, in favor of a portfolio) how very important a resume continues to be.  I received three examples of these in the last week, and was compelled to write about it once again.

The first example was a Group Account Director out of New York.  He had a resume that contained some of the biggest agencies in the industry.  He seems to have succeeded at many of those companies, although it was difficult to know for sure because he didn't include any accomplishments on his resume.

He decided to choose the "clever" route by scanning each of the business cards in his career and creating a document with each of these cards, and the clients at that particular agency (that we're guessing he worked with).  There are several problems with this approach.  I've already mentioned the lack of accomplishments, additionally there was no way to parse any of the information into a database, because of the (scanned) files used to create the document.

Like it or not, the reality is that every recruiter and Employer now has some sort of database, we call it an "Applicant Tracking System", that is used to file resumes for easy retrieval later by keywords or titles.  It is incumbent on an applicant to provide their information in a format that is easy to include in those databases.  All can deal with Word.docs effectively, and most can handle pdfs.  If you create a resume that cannot be "parsed" into a database, you won't get into that database.  It's just too time consuming to import all the information manually.  This Group Account Director never made it into our database.

Another "clever" approach was delivered to us by a Creative Director, Writer who is also living on the East Coast.  His approach was to use (what I can only call) "funky" spacing throughout his resume.  My first reaction was that this guy must be in the typo hall of fame!  I was so amazed that a writer could make so many "mistakes" that I finally realized that he was trying to be clever . . . it didn't work.  Not only did it seem silly, there was no point or value gained.  The worst part was that this resume could also not be parsed into the database.  He had inappropriate spacing in his name, so the database couldn't handle it.  Same issue with some of his employers and titles of previous positions.  He didn't make it in either.

One other example is from another Creative Director, Writer from Chicago.  This resume wasn't so much clever as ineffective.  He had his name and title.  Then he proceeded to list all the agencies he'd worked for (again, impressive names in the industry), but there were no dates of employment included.  There were no achievements, whatever.  Incredibly, there was no contact information!  No phone, email, website . . . nada!  The only way I was able to respond to him was because he had emailed this document to me!  There's more . . .

I've said what wasn't included in this resume.  After the information he did provide, his name, title and companies he'd worked for (about 1/4 page worth of info.) he proceeded to provide two and one half pages of clients he'd worked for, and what he did for them (e.g. print ads, collateral, TV and Radio, etc.).  There was no discussion about client results, no link to a portfolio, or even mention that one was available! This is not an effective approach.

I realize that few are experts in resume writing.  It's one of those documents we all hope we never have to actually create.  My advice is to have one written, and update it periodically as needed.  It is essential to quantify achievements, not list responsibilities.  Basics like your contact information, employers, time of employment and title are obvious (one would think) essential elements.  I have an article on my website called "Prove Value", that has proved helpful to many.  If you'd like sample resume formats, just send me an email, and I'd be happy to supply them.

I also offer a resume and/or portfolio consulting service, the information for which is also available on my website.   Just click here and then let me know if I can be of any service.

Replace Resumes With Social Media?

A friend sent me an email a couple of days ago and asked "are resumes dead?".  After giving it some thought I decided no, but their role is changing.

Resumes are still essential documents in providing a concise overview of your employment history.  I am constantly working with my own candidates (and others), trying to explain that the resume must "Prove Value".  The resume document must "sell you" to your prospective employer, to the point where you get that interview.  The resume is no longer the only tool you can use in that effort to impress future employers.

I've said it before, I'll say it again . . . LinkedIn is becoming a standard addition to any/every resume.  A recruiter and/or employer will check out your LinkedIn profile as additional valuable information.  If you don't have a LinkedIn profile, it's a bit unusual.  If it's not thoughtfully and thoroughly completed, including recommendations, it may not be an asset to you.  On the other hand a complete and well written profile that is accompanied by recommendations can be of additional benefit to you.  Why not take advantage of this additional tool?

I'll also repeat once again that candiates need to make it as easy and convenient as possible for an employer (or recruiter) to add their information to a database.  Everyone is used to doing that with a resume (don't send us to a website to find your resume, just because it's already there . . .).  Once a candidate is in our databases, it's easy to add a huge amount of additional informaton, documents, links, etc...  Getting you into the database is a time consuming operation.  If an employer or recruiter has the ability to have you upload your own resume and supporting information, do it.  Follow up with an email to the recipient.

I responded to an inquiry of  a Creative Director-Writer candidate in New York City and asked him to upload his information to our website.  Instead, he responded, telling me all his information was on his LinkedIn profile.  He missed the point . . .

If you're more creative, then you need a website or blog of your own to show your work and/or what you care about (blogs can be free!).  We're looking for people who live their life and approach their career with enthusiasm, motivation and passion.  If you're a photographer, you should be shooting pictures all the time.  If you're a writer, you should be writing and if you're a painter, you should be painting.  You do these things because you can't stop yourself from doing them, not because someone is paying you to do them . . . that's passion.  If you've got it, share it!

My friend was wondering why, with all the social media sites out there packed with so much information, why is a resume still needed?  It's needed because it's a document you craft to highlight your strengths, and selected achievements throughout your career.  It should make it easy for the reader to understand who you are, how you do what you do and how you've added value to your previous employers.  It should hammer those points home to the point where the employer feels compelled to call you . . . immediately.

Fellow blogger Zoli of Cloud Ave addressed this same issue in a post a while back "Resumes Are Dead!  Social Media Is Your New Resume."

The point here is that the more thought or art, or content that you can contribute, the better.  We're all impressed with those who are ambitious, motivated and who contribute.  We're also interested in what you have to say and how you say it!  Use every tool available to let us know why you're the most outstanding candidate for a position.

Quick Resume Fundamentals

I've been compiling a list of components of resumes that are ineffective or annoying.  I'm amazed on a daily basis at what apparent lack of effort candidates make in introducing themselves to prospective employers, responses to job postings or soliciting the assistance of a headhunter.

It seems common sense to approach this in a careful way, attempting to make a positive first impression on the resume's recipient.  I bet that over 70% of the time, the candidate for one reason or another does not make a positive, powerful and professional first impression.  Here are some of the things I like to see in resumes. 

A personalized cover letter to me, letting me know that you've taken the time to find out about my company and what I do.

Fonts large enough to read and some white space surrounding them.  Don't minimize your font size and maximize your margins to get as much copy as possible on that "one" page that everyone strives for.

URLs for the companies you've worked at.  It's such a simple way of adding significant additional information to the document, I'm surprised more candidates don't do it.

Clients you've worked with.  Whether you're creative, an account person or client side marketer, tell us the accounts you've worked on.

Quantified achievements . . . not your daily responsibilities.  You must "Prove Value" by quantifying achievements.

Things I don't like seeing:

Sending a resume for a job that you're blatantly not qualified for  . . . "just to see".  Spare us all the time.  If you don't really think you're qualified, hiring authorities and recruiters won't either!

Creatives, don't send a resume with just your employer's names on it, no matter how badly you hate resumes and want to rely on your book.

Embedding resumes into PDFs (because databases cannot parse those resumes) with samples of your portfolio.  Send the PDF with a resume if you like, but send a separate resume file for database purposes.

Resumes available by following a link to a website.  Hey, make it easy for the viewer.  Chances are, your desired viewer won't waste the time going to the site, trying to find the resume link, then downloading the resume . . . Help your reader by making it as easy for them as possible!

Using "personal" email addresses that aren't professional.  Create an email address that's as close to your name as possible, and use that for personal professional email correspondence.

Home phone numbers.  If you have a cell phone number, use that as your principle contact number.  If someone calls you about a job, enhance your chances of answering that call!

The goal of your resume is to introduce yourself to someone who doesn't know you, and be intriguing enough to demand a response from that person.

HR’s Dilemma, Matching Resumes to Job Descriptions

I’m not trying to slap myself on the back when I say I really try to take some time to read a resume and understand transferable skills, career progression and the candidate’s growth of responsibilities and achievement.  Headhunters deal with humans.  We need to understand as much about them as possible, what they’ve accomplished, what makes them tick . . . and what they ideally want.

I continually run into hiring managers who don’t really read the resume for career growth, achievement and consistent increasing responsibility.  Rather, it seems they try to most closely match previous experience (read, keywords) with the existing job description.  There’s sometimes no overall consideration of achievement, performance and previous opportunities for advancement.  Great candidates get lost in this shuffle.

The whole situation is compounded for those poor Human Resource people caught in the middle.  They have to deal with hiring managers from multiple departments.  There is no way they can possibly understand the nuance of some increasingly technical or multi-faceted positions as well as that hiring manager.  Rarely is enough time spent between the hiring manager (department head or person the new hire will report to) and HR, explaining the need and the kind of candidate who will excel.  Rarely does the hiring manager provide a well thought out job description for HR to work with.  Everything just happens too fast . . . everyone’s too busy.

It’s not like hiring is the only thing most HR professionals have to deal with.  Most are the go-to person for questions about vacations, benefits, insurance, the lack of coffee in the break room or the annoying employee in the next office.  The larger the office, the more work is on HR’s plate.  Talk about a juggling act . . . there just aren’t enough hours in the day.  It’s the most obvious explanation of why HR gets a bad rap for not being more responsive to inquiring candidates.  These are not the harried folks I talked about in my “Screw You” posting a week or so ago.

As a result of all these competing interests, HR and hiring managers default to matching up resumes and job descriptions.  The more keywords, titles, target companies or clients the candidate has on their resume, the more attention they get (or not).  There just isn’t the possibility of spending 10 minutes reading a resume from back to front and understanding just what a candidate may have to offer.  You’ve heard that people have an impression of your resume in 30 seconds?  It’s true.  I am not advocating that the “right” way to write a resume is to incorporate all of those elements, for the benefit of the harried reader.

The other unfortunate component is that most people aren’t great at writing resumes.  They never think about having one updated and on hand.   Most never see resumes in their daily routines and frankly have no idea what makes a good one, or how to write a powerful one.  It’s one reason I was compelled to start a resume and portfolio consulting service.  I kept running into great candidates who had resumes that were not representative of their abilities.  I couldn’t present their existing resume to my client and expect that my client would have any real idea of my candidate’s potential for them.  If I wanted that candidate to be taken seriously, I had to help them with their resume.

The whole job description and resume protocol hasn’t changed in 100 years.  There has to be a better way!  If you add the online (and sometimes anonymous client) component to it, it’s an incredibly impersonal process.  You’d think we could do better, for a hiring process that is dependent on personality, and personal impressions to succeed.

The Anonymous Resume

I’m continually amazed at the lack of detail utilized by people who are trying to find a job.  They just don’t think about a common sense approach to how it should be done.  The thing that prompted this reaction is a resume I received today that had a file name . . . “Resume”!

I get scores and scores of unsolicited resumes every week.  Maybe hundreds some months.  Anyone who’s in the business of hiring, like recruiters, HR professionals, and hiring managers in corporations all receive many, many resumes every week.  It’s difficult to keep them all straight, under the best of circumstances and even with the finest databases and support technology available.  My plea to candidates is to help us . . . please!  Save a resume document with your name as a part of the file name.  Don’t use your initials and don’t use my name!  Amazingly, I’ve had resumes sent to me named “Bishop Resume”!

All of us out there in the “people” business need your help!  Pick a file name that’s as close to your name as possible, and tell us what the file is!  In my case, it would be Bob_Bishop_Resume 9.08 . . . simple and effective.  We have some chance of remembering a name (especially if you impress us somehow), and if we can accomplish that we can probably use technology to find your resume and other information.  At least we have a fighting chance!

This same thing is true with email addresses.  I’ve been just astounded at some of the unprofessional names people pick for their email addresses.  Don’t do it.  Don’t think of it as a “personal” email address, think of it as a professional email address that you’re using personally.  Many candidates have a specific email address dedicated to the effort of searching for a new job, or professional correspondence not coming from their office.  They use a separate one for personal use.

While on the topic of email addresses.  You should not use the address you used in school, after you’ve graduated and you’re trying to get that first job out of school.  Most of those addresses have a (limited) life, and at some point (two years in many cases) are terminated after you graduate.  Establish an email address that you intend to keep for a very long time, and use it for your professional correspondence, outside of the workplace.