Resumes That Work: 3 Steps to More Interviews

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

(from the archives)

How Far Back Should My Resume Go?

All people who are involved with helping you get a new job, whether as third-party recruiters or as representatives of a company evaluating you for employment or are receiving hundreds of emailed resumes a day. Having done professional search work for a loooong time (more than 40 years), I have seen both resumes change and how they are delivered change. The change in delivery means that how you think of your resume being seen needs to change too.

Few people read physical resumes.

Instead, we look at windows that show one­-fourth or one-third of a page. We are willing to look at two or three “PageDown’s” when we make a decision. Critically examine your resume each time you scroll down.

• Where does your eye fall? Within two or three PageDown’s, have you communicated the information that would make an employer want to meet you?
• Generic resumes never work as well as targeted ones. Only use a generic one if you are mass mailing it … and then expect to have as much success as having a broken watch being accurate. Use targeted resumes focused on the key elements of the job description.
• Cover letters rarely work. Cover letters sent as attachments are annoying. Instead, copy and paste the job description into the body of the e­mail and next to each item called for in the job description, indicate what your experience is, how long and how recently you have used the technology or done the functions called for.

By taking the guesswork out of how well you fit for a given job, you will see your interviews grow. And more importantly, your successful interviews grow!

Today, I receive attachments of cover letters. I never open them and few people I know open them because we don’t have time. Instead of attaching a cover letter, use the message to which you are attaching your resume as a place to write a commercial that pertains to the position.

We encourage people to copy and paste position descriptions into the message area of the email and go point by point and describe their relevant experience so that it is obvious. Sure takes the guesswork out of whether someone is qualified, doesn’t it? 🙂

And that is really what you need to do–take the guesswork out of communicating whether you are qualified for a position. It’s one thing to not get an interview because you’re not qualified or because you are asking for too much money; it’s another to fail to get an interview because your resume doesn’t communicate that you have the experience that’s being sought.

Use these tips and watch your interviews grow.