Tired of not getting an interview?

April 3, 2007 · Filed Under Finding Your Job 

Employment Digest (one of my favorite oft updated blogs) has three great articles in a row about getting in front of more hiring managers. Granted, I don’t think sending out resumes and doing well in phone interviews is the best way to go about (networking and making personal contacts is better) but this is an incredibly popular route. Not to mention that in some companies, this is the only way to get in the door.

How long should your resume be? Long enough to cover your work experience so that the employer may make a balanced judgment of your competencies. How long shouldn’t it be? Eight pages. I can tell you that for sure. But the one page rule is unnecessary for seasoned professionals who have more experience to cover. I will always recommend people err on the side of short with higher impact (tangible results, major accomplishments, etc…).

Do you have a high impact resume? If you are asking your question, the answer is no. Adding pop to your resume involves invoking phrases that make sense in any business. When you say you added $15 million in sales over three years, I understand that. When you say you met your goals for the last three years (even if those goals were to hit 15 mil), that doesn’t speak to me. You’re a great employee, don’t make me work harder to figure that out or someone else will show it to me.  Go for tangible results. If you don’t know them, start tracking them.

How do you get past the phone screen? The phone interview was invented by a person who didn’t want to meet too many people in person for interviews. So they do these phone interviews to get to the cream of the crop. Those 5, 30 or 60+ minute conversations are typically a yes/no conversation. It isn’t the time to hold back. Go for it. Sell yourself. Make the choice obvious. Many people feel that the phone interview is just a formality but that is becoming less and less the case. Respond appropriately.

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