Do the Right Things Right
Looking for ways to impress a potential employer? Want to make your resume or job application stand out from the pack? During one two-week time period, I reviewed 485 resumes and applications for 18 different positions. I interviewed 23 candidates and brought six back for a second, more intense round of interviews.
Believe me, I can tell you what rang my chimes. Some of this advice may surprise you.
Some may even make you angry because it doesn’t seem fair or right to you. I can’t guarantee that all employers will agree with me, but why take a chance in this employers’ market?
1. Apply for jobs for which you qualify. My no pile of applications is increasingly made up of people who don’t even remotely qualify for the advertised position. These job applications frequently consist of a resume in an envelope. Why waste the paper, the stamp and the time? If you find yourself applying because it’s an area of work you might want to get into, or think you’d like, don’t bother.
Unless you can make the stretch and fit between your qualifications and background and the described opening, you are wasting your time. Each application or resume gets less than five minutes of my time. You need to quickly qualify yourself as a potential candidate because the employer doesn’t have or take the time to do it for you.