Stop! Don’t Send That Resume

Posted by • December 9th, 2009 • 258 Comments

When you spot a job that looks interesting on Monster or CareerBuilder or anywhere, it’s logical and tempting to apply for it. The job ad says “Apply Now!” and you think: I’ll do it!

It’s not a good idea to apply for the jobs we spot online – at least, not in the moment. It’s better to stop, reflect, and draw up an action plan to make your resume send-off count.

For one thing, the black hole is the last place we want our resume to be. When we spot a job that looks great for us, we’ve gained some valuable information – e.g., the knowledge that Vandalay Industries is hiring a Market Research Analyst. We may decide to apply for the job. If we do, we can almost always find a way to avoid pitching our resume into the black hole (i.e. the Receptacle Most Likely to Chew it Up and Spit it Out).

If we think the Vandalay Industries job is a good fit for us, it’s worth our time to do some research and learn more about the company than the skimpy bit of intelligence the job ad itself provides. If we think we’re a fit, we owe it to ourselves to go after the job in a more thoughtful way than to lob a resume into the HR void.

Let’s do this, instead:

  • Save the job – both the link to the job ad (as a Favorite) and the text of the job ad itself (in Word).
  • Research the employer, starting with the company’s own website. Who is the hiring manager for ‘your’ position most likely to be? Is this person’s bio and contact information listed on the employer’s website? If not, can we tease out the name of ‘our’ hiring manager on LinkedIn?
  • What can we learn about the employer? Do they have some good news in the Press section of their website, something we could mention in our cover letter?
  • Can we learn what the hiring manager is most likely to be facing business-challenge-wise — that is, the real reason for the job ad to exist in the first place?

The more we can learn before we blast off a resume and cover letter (I call it a Pain Letter) package, the better. We may not have to trifle with the black hole of HR at all. We may be able to reach the hiring manager via LinkedIn, email or snail mail, directly. What if we wrote to that hiring manager and in our letter, talked to him or her about what we believe to be the most pressing business issues, and mentioned our own most relevant successes? Could that approach get our resume more attention than the ten-second glance the hundred-or-so black hole resumes are getting?

And what if we took a few minutes to customize our resume for the specific job at hand? We could highlight the bullets from our past jobs that speak most directly to this job opening.

Blasting off resumes one after the other is satisfying, but it doesn’t work very well. We’re much more powerful on paper when we can tailor our resume-Pain letter package to a specific manager, a specific employer and an ultra-specific business need.

What if we wrote a letter to the hiring manager and sent it via U.S. mail? We might write:

Dear Ms. Johnson,

I was lucky enough to catch your CFO’s radio interview with Minnesota Business News, and to hear about Nutcracker Sweets’ plans to expand into dessert toppings in 2010. Congratulations on that exciting project!

I’d have to guess that, given the success of Nutcracker’s gluten-free toffee and your distribution deal with Whole Foods, your talented Marketing team is being taxed to the limit. The product line extensions you’re launching in 2010 are likely to require more in-depth and varied Marketing Research initiatives than ever.

When I led the Marketing Research charge at La Boheme Confections, we were under the gun to launch our Mimi’s Peanut Brittle for the 2007 holiday season, and in need of powerful research data nearly overnight. We kicked off a ten-city focus group series and a simultaneous round of in-store consumer opinion surveys that gave us the critical information we needed. Mimi’s Peanut Brittle launched on time with a few key, last-minute, research-driven pricing and promotion changes, and became one of our top sellers.

When your schedule allows, I’d love to talk about Nutcracker’s research needs and share a bit of my background with you.

Sincerely,

Beverly Sills

You’re too smart and too savvy to send off one more boilerplate cover letter, and way too qualified to waste your time on the black hole where resumes languish. Instead of sending another resume on the spot, spend your time researching the need and spotting the decision-maker, to make your effort worth its while.

Guest Blogger Liz Ryan is a member of the Glassdoor Clearview Collection and a former Fortune 500 HR executive; she is the Workplace Expert for Business Week Online and the Networking Expert for Hot Jobs. Liz’s advice columns reach 50 million readers per month. Ryan leads the 25,000-member Ask Liz Ryan online community, where she shares business, career and life advice with members every day. She authored the book: "Happy About Online Networking: the virtual-ly simple way to build professional relationships" and is a sought-after keynote speaker. She has addressed a wide range of audiences including the United Nations, CEOs, HR leaders, and entrepreneurs.

Tags:
, , ,
Categories:
Career Advice, Interviews
  • shelahj

    Not realistic strategy! You left out one VERY important considerations: Are you looking for a career job, survival job or C-level? Is your job market small and limited in geography?

    Sure, if you already have a job and are looking to advance or move into another industry then take your time, shop around, rework your resume. But if you are looking for a survival job, you have to play by the numbers.

    It's an employer’s market, there are millions of people out of work. Advocating a 'stop' and wait, is just what will be happing. The employers will have stopped looking at resume #25 and you will still be waiting for an interview because your resume is #973.

    Stop wasting your time researching companies that will never call you for an interview. Companies will send you an email of their intent and will most often want to do a phone interview first. With the phone interview in place, do your due diligence. It will be fresh in your mind for the interview.

    If you are in a heavily populated geography, set up two or three different resumes that highlight your top three skills and shot them out. Make sure you add key words at the bottom of your resume and make as many views as possible.

    If you are in a small town or your job function is specialized, your best jobs are not online anyway. You would do better to network to get an early advantage.

    Sure take your time if you want to be at the end of the bread line!

    /she

  • lizryan

    For a survival job or any other, you have essentially zero chance of success going through the black hole, and the extra time that it will take you to do your 'pre-attack research' (one hour, more or less) is time well spent. Your resume will not arrive as number one, two, or three hundred coming into the HR pipeline, because your resume won't be in the HR pipeline at all. Blasting out resumes as you suggest is never, ever a winning strategy. For more job-search and career-strategy discussion, you're welcome to join our online community at http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/asklizryan
    Cheers — Liz

  • sarmad

    Given the competitive market, this is even more true now than before. Background search only before interview. One key question that has always helped: 'Do you have a strong candidate?' If you can get to the hiring manager, they are generally honest about it as a lot of the time jobs are posted after they are already leaning towards a candidate. This is especially true of University or State level jobs. If you late inot the game, no matter how good you may be, most hiring managers make up their mind early.

  • lizryan

    It is good for job-seekers to be reminded that their competition in the job market is not as daunting as they may have heard. Take heart!

  • hemenparekh

    Dear Liz
    I wholly agree with your views re advance preparation needed before shooting off a resume.
    When you talk about customizing a resume for the job being considered, I would say, there is insufficient awareness about its importance.
    But not everyone is articulate. With this in mind, I launched http://www.CustomizeResume.com ,a few days back.I would appreciate your suggestions to improve the same.Regards, hemen parekh,
    hcp@recruitguru.com ( Mumbai / India )

  • shelahj

    Sorry I was not clear, I do not recommend ‘blind blast”, but highly recommend “strategic blasts” given the competative market.

    My key issue with the “stop and wait” approach is that it jumps to quick to the tactics and does not address the strategy driven by a defined need. Secondly it does not consider the industry, geography nor the hiring manager.

    Although not new, your approach is in many ways sound, providing one first understands their goals and objectives and develops an appropriate strategy. As I pointed out, there are many reasons to need/want a position. This understanding is the first step. The second step is to fully understand the target industry. Then and only then comes the tactics.

    Companies such as Intel, Dell, IBM, GE and etc. have very sophisticated processes. Understanding them and having the ability to work within their processes are critical to success. There can be several layers between the applicant and the hiring manager. Cutting through these layers are consider bad taste and can easily backfire. Networking is the only acceptable way to bypass this process, although one will have to go back and complete the process in most cases before an offer can be extended.

    Smaller companies as I pointed out have a different process and your suggestions would work well in these cases. But then again you would have had to follow steps 1 and 2 .

    Those of us in larger industries often take acceptation to the flattery that comes across our disk, I personally consider it no more than trying to blow smoke up my skirt. We have busy schedules and appreciate the process (which you refer to as ‘black wholes’) which is designed to support objectivity. Some of us want, and often are required, to have all applications pre-screened before they are presented for consideration.

    I always keep two poles in the water. Currently I have two resumes that are floating around on job boards, and although I am not actively pursuing a position, I get regular inquires form many Fortune 500 companies. Why? Because I’ve targeted each resume to a specific profession and business (one in hi-tech, the other in SMB) and have learned to use key works effectively.

    Everyone agrees looking for a position is really a marketing function. An effective and successful marketer does not have the time or resources to understand and research each and every customers across town, let alone across the country or world. Yet, they can craft a message or image as though they are speaking directly to the consumer. Although this is not a simple task, it is much easier when one completes steps one and two.

    Most employers really are looking for the same thing, highlighting these in your communication will help you get beyond the masses.

    1. Can you do the job with limited supervision
    2. What impact do you have on the bottom line
    3. What are liabilities/risks will you bring
    4. Are you likeable

    Know your fish, bate the hook, and get as many poles in the water as you can. Once you get something on your line be prepared for a 1:1 conversation.

    It would be great to get an ROI measurement between our two approaches.

  • ambershinault

    If you hesitate too much on responding to the job posting, the recruiter will remove it from the job board. After about resume one hundred, I tend to take the posting down. When do I receive about 100 resumes? For some jobs, it is within the day.