You wonder why you weren’t hired

Many job seekers have asked me why a position is re-posted after they applied, especially when they didn’t even get an interview. Mary said that there are many reasons that happens.

• Perhaps as they reviewed candidates, none of them quite fit either the structure of the organization or the position.
• Perhaps background checks or reference checks didn’t work out.
• Or perhaps their top candidates declined the position.

The value of the right fit to the hiring manager

One of the bullet points we have in my HR director’s resume (Mary) says:

Collaborated with department managers to build understanding of the value in selecting the best qualified candidates and continue recruiting until the right fit is found for the position.

Mary trained the department heads on how to evaluate prospective candidates and not settle for someone just to fill the position. The “right fit” will add value to the organization and be an asset in growing the organization. The wrong fit could be problems down the road.

What can you do to make you the right fit?

Mary and I discussed the many things that job seekers can do to improve their chances of being picked.

1. Read the job description. Make sure that you actually CAN do the job and don’t apply to jobs that you are clearly not qualified to do. Mary used the example of a person in retail applying for a high level IT position. She had no technology experience. It wasn’t entry level. The job description clearly defined both the qualifications and what the position would entail.
2. Incorporate those Key Words from the job description into your resume and cover letter so that you come up as a match.
3. Make sure your resume is filled with accomplishments and quantify those accomplishments so that HR and the hiring manager understands that you can DO the job.
4. When you apply online, make sure you have first created your resume so that you are putting real content into the application. Write the traditional resume first and then use a text resume for applying instead of just filling in the blanks on the application. Directions for the text resume: Click here.
5. Research the company and the position. If you are called for an interview, you need to able to show them that you understand the company and what they need for the position.
6. Prepare for the interview. When you come to the interview, have a battery of additional accomplishments to share in the interview to demonstrate that you fit their needs.
7. Make sure you are not carrying baggage into the interview or into the background check. If you trash talk your old employer in the interview or even with people who could be providing the reference, you will blow your chances to be the one chosen. Attitude matters!

If you follow these suggestions, your job search will be on target and you will become the right fit for a new job much quicker!

Stuck in your job search or just ready to move on from your existing position? Julie Walraven can help you find a new career! To find out how, Click here!

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We were talking about the dreaded Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Dreaded on the side of applicants because they are so frustrating. I told her about writing complete directions for creating the text version of the application. We discussed the difficulty applicants have when an application locks up or doesn’t seem to be working.

Did your resume reach human resources or the employer?

Some clients have told me that they have no clue if the resume actually made it through. My HR client looked at me and said,

“You have to tell them to call if they are worried that the resume or online application might not have made it!”

She went on to explain that many applicants are either afraid to call or just don’t call until the time limit is up for the application. Then when they call to check if it was received, it is too late.

The same situation applies to e-mail. If you send your resume by e-mail and something goes wrong on your end or theirs, how do you know it got there?

The solid advice I got from my Director of Human Resources is to check. Call and ask if it was received and explain that it timed out or whatever happened. Don’t hope and pray that it is being read, make sure it was received!

New resource to help job seekers!

For those of you who missed my post on the 8+ Tips for applying Online, I moved it to a page that is easily accessible. Just Click Here! I create text resumes for my clients but if you want to create your own, this gives you all the steps to build the text resume and then tells you how to use it successfully to complete your online applications.

Remember that content is always key to a successful resume and a successful job search!

Stuck in your job search or just ready to move on from your existing position? Julie Walraven can help you find a new career! To find out how, Click here!

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But then, who am I? Julie Walraven, yes, I may be the owner of Design Resumes, a professional resume writer, and even a CPRW, but really, should I go up against the Wall Street Journal? The Wall Street Journal should be right, yes?

Should we dismiss the time-tested resume?

No! And happily I followed a tweet by Jorgen Sundberg,  Undercover Recruiter to this post by John Hollon, the Vice President for Editorial of TLNT.com, and the former Editor of Workforce Management. His post is entitled: Weekly Wrap: Why Are We So Quick to Dismiss the Good, Old Résumé?

Mr. Hollon points out that the “some firms say” is really a study of 3 firms… Yes, I said 3. Yup, I really believe an information that bases the opinion on three firms instead of in-depth research with reliable results. This article is so good that I recommend you do read it later but I want to share my favorite part:

Ok, I get that traditional résumés are old school — boring, old technology, one directional, often poorly done — but they haven’t lasted as long as they have by accident. They work, even in our technology crazy times, because of one simple thing: they allow a hiring manager or recruiter to get a quick, brief snapshot of an applicant.

Why résumés still work

It may not be the best view they get, but it is one they can get quickly and easily with little muss or fuss. Give me an hour and a two-foot pile of résumés, and I’ll give you the Top 5 or 10 candidates in that stack. Yes, I still want to see their social media presence, but I can thumb through and scan that résumé pile pretty quickly — and a lot faster than I could track down and eyeball all of their LinkedIn profiles or Facebook pages.

It’s frankly silly and somewhat dishonest for The Wall Street Journal to take what three companies do and give the impression that it is the big new trend. Yes, a résumé isn’t the perfect way to evaluate a job candidate, but it’s a good start that is easy to access and understand, especially for your technology challenged CEO.

And yes, both the hiring managers and job seekers are buried

Brilliant! I understand that recruiters and HR managers are buried in resumes and I know many job seekers do it wrong by blasting out volumes of poorly written resumes instead of carefully targeting just the jobs they are both qualified for and really want. But the need for the right, well-written, accomplishment-laden resume to open the door for the job seeker has never gone away, especially in the worst economy in 80 years.

One more quote from Mr. Hollen’s article:

Oh, and by the way, that same WSJ story about the expected death of the résumé noted this way down in paragraph 16:

At most companies, résumés are still the first step of the recruiting process, even at supposedly nontraditional places like Google Inc., which hired about 7,000 people in 2011, after receiving some 2 million résumés. Google has an army of “hundreds” of recruiters who actually read every one, says Todd Carlisle, the technology firm’s director of staffing.”

Imagine that. Google still uses old school résumés. I wonder if that has anything to do with how they’re doing?

I stand by my belief that the resume is indeed the foundation of your job search. Just spend some time getting that resume right and then some time actually targeting your job search coupled with a very healthy dose of networking and you will be on your way to a new career!

Stuck in your job search or just ready to move on from your existing position? Julie Walraven can help you find a new career! To find out how, Click here!

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Career folks always did talk though. It was just that no one could see us talking. There are still career industry e-lists from Career Directors International (CDI) and others. When I joined the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARWCC) back in 1999, I think it was the beginning of me feeling like I was in an industry.

Career Industry is populated by sole proprietors

What you may or may not know about career professionals is that though there people who have larger practices with multiple writers, most of us are sole proprietors. I didn’t start out with the idea to be a stay-at-home mom. I started out with the idea that I could work from home and save on child care costs.

When I lost my job in property management in Naperville, IL, we moved back home to Wausau, WI and I looked for other employment. But my sons are 13 months apart and in 1987, people were offering me $7.25/hour. I got frustrated fast. I figured I would burn more money in child care than I would earn. I decided to pick up writing resumes as I had as a side business when we managed property in Wausau. It was then that the business name of Design Resumes evolved.

Job Search Resources Then and Now

In the years before PARWCC, I used books I found to grow my knowledge but there was no Internet. But the books were hard to find. It was only through PARWCC and then in 2000 by joining Career Masters Institute (CMI) that I learned about the great books available written by industry pros like Wendy Enelow, Lousie Kursmark, and Susan Britton-Whitcomb. It took Susan Guarneri moving back to Central Wisconsin in 2003 to get me to try the Certified Professional Resume Writer exam. And I passed!

Now there are multiple books by the authors I mentioned above plus blogs like this one and many other resources that were never there when I started in the industry. I just became an Associate of Career Thought Leaders, which was founded by Wendy Enelow:

We are the Career Thought Leaders Consortium, a think tank of career industry leaders working collaboratively to support both our colleagues and job seekers worldwide by providing expert leadership and innovation throughout all phases of career development, job search, long-term career management, and career fulfillment.

Career Thought Leaders Conference in 2010 was the first conference I attended. I was a little star-struck meeting so many of my peers and the industry leaders in one place. The best part of the industry is getting to take those relationships to the next level of phone or Skype or meeting in person.

Why do Career professionals talk to each other?

Career professionals talk to each other because its how we learn. In this field, a quality resume writer or career coach doesn’t typically do high volume. Customized resume writing and career marketing services are designed to fit the client. It takes listening skills and writing skills to make it in this industry.

The career professionals I know are caring, compassionate people who are drawn to resume writing because they genuinely want to help others. However, they too have mortgages, need food on the table, and everything else jobseekers need. So, while they are a helpful community, they do charge to help their clients.

On the other hand, the volume of free advice put out by career professionals, including resume samples and posts about how to effectively write resumes or effectively network your way to a job could help millions.

If you have been wondering why career people talk to each other? It’s pretty easy. We like each other!

Stuck in your job search or just ready to move on from your existing position? Julie Walraven can help you find a new career! To find out how, Click here!

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