Acronyms?

We reviewed a resume today. It was from a very qualified information technology candidate. However, it was filled with acronyms. Now, I spent 9+ years with IBM Software Group and I was confused. Imagine what some recruiter fresh our of college looking at that resume would feel.

A piece of advice: Never assume the person your are sending your resume (and cover letter) to is intimate with your industry. In many cases, they are the first filter that you have to go through to get the interview and they are not industry experts. If they say no initially because they did not understand your resume, you will never get the chance to interview.

Have a great weekend.

Please email us about any topics you would like discussed here.

The Telephone Screening Interview

I consider the telephone screening interview to be one of the most awkward recruiting tools used. But it is one that if properly handled can be very impactful for recruiters and candidates. Recruiters, particularly outside recruiters, are probably more adept at handling these calls because that’s the basis of their business. In many respects it’s getting the person on the phone and pre-screening to a set of job specifications. If you make the grade, you are asked for a resume, and invited to have a face to face screening interview. However, in the new order of corporate budget constraints, before the live interview, many candidates are also asked to take a screening phone interview with a corporate recruiter, a line person working in the area for which you are being considered, or both. If you are working with external recruiters more than likely they will supply both sides with all the relevant information to ensure a productive call. Unfortunately, that’s not true in all cases, and the recruits need to take the initiative to get the best results for both sides. The candidates need to get as much information about the company, the department, the job, and qualifications needed for the job. They also need to get a meeting agenda. How long will the interview take. Who will be on the call. What do they do with the organization. What kind of questions do they want answered. Ensure that you have all the information you need to prepare for the meeting. Also ask them, if they have all the information about you that they need. Don’t be bashful but don’t be obnoxious. Ask them how you measure up to what they are looking for so you can respond to any shortcomings they see. When you are on the call, eliminate any distractions. Stay focused. At the beginning of the call, ask them how the call will be structured, listen well, and answer all their questions succinctly. Remember the purpose of this call is to get you the face to face meeting. You also should have time to ask them questions about the organization, the culture, the job, and career opportunities. At the end of the call, thank them for their time ,quantify the time frame for next steps, and what those steps will be. A thank you e-mail or letter for their time would not be inappropriate. Now that you have successfully crossed hurdle of the phone interview, let’s get you ready for the face to face meetings

I I I I I I... Me Me Me Me Me Me

I interviewed someone the other day for a client. A 15 minute screen went into 45 minutes of: "I did this. I did that. I was here. I was there. I know him. I know her...." Not once did the candidate ask anything about the client, the organization, the business plans or the opportunity. I literally had a migraine after the call. I learned only one thing about this candidate: He thought very highly of himself.

The candidate was not presented.

Two points:

First, there needs to be a balance between what you give yourself credit for, who around you gets some credit and what the organization as a whole did. Business is too complicated to be made up of a bunch of individual islands. For most, there is more value to individual plus the other people that help you out. ie: The sum of the whole greater than the sum of the parts.

Second, you must always try to gain an understanding from the interviewer as to what is important on their mind at the time you are talking. Of course you do your research up front. But you should always try to get the other person to talk and reveal key nuggets of information for you. Then you can use this information to scope your presentation of yourself properly.

Soon we will give you some techniques that you can use when interviewing to make sure that you put yourself in a position move forward.

Please email us about any topics you would like discussed here.

The Art and Science of Career Planning: The Resume

Organizations don’t hire resumes. They hire people. However resumes get you in the door. You get yourself hired. Bottom line is you and your resume need to look their best.

Lets focus on a good resume: Do not write the resume for yourself. Write it for the organizations that you want to pursue. Put yourself in the seats of the hiring managers, and envision what they want in their next great superstar. Do your homework before you make any contact with the company or people. You need to know about the organization and people that you are submitting your candidacy to and what they look for.

Don’t fool yourself, and pursue careers and organizations that are totally out of your reach. You will only become frustrated as the 'no's' come in. And worse, you will most likely fail if you do get hired.

You should perform a gap analysis on yourself. Be completely honest and map your qualifications and work experience to the opportunities you seek. Determine what the gaps are and if you can fill them through classes, other work experience, or that you can genuinely grow into that position. Now you can begin to write your resume. Include an objective which states what you can do for the organization. Summarize your qualifications, skills and abilities and how they complement you achieving the objectives you can fulfill for the organization. Quantify all your achievements so the organization understands the scale of your success and it maps to its requirements. Tell them where you have been work wise and how long you were there. Importantly, use action words and sentences for everything you write.

Hiring managers don’t want to know you attended meetings they want to know what you accomplished. Be concise. Remember, you are using the resume to get the meeting. It doesn’t get you hired. (I will write more next steps in the future. So sign up for our email feeds).

Next entry we will summarize the resume.