Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
It’s a given. The more information you have about prospective employers, the better prepared you are. Not only can you target your resume, but you can add facts to spice up your cover letter and casually mention during an interview. Unfortunately, you can’t always predict what information will persuasively demonstrate that you are a strong candidate for the job. Don’t let that stop you—your information-gathering is well worth the effort.
A good start is with a company’s Web site. Most companies fill theirs with public relations mumbo-jumbo that you must sift through to get to the company’s core. The “About Us” page might be a little PR heavy but it and the mission statement will certainly tell you something about the corporate culture, such as corporate diversity initiatives or employee benefits. Some experts think you should use the same terminology and buzz words found on a company’s Web site in your cover letter. Others think that’s over the top.
More sources to look for factoids that instantly reveal you are up on what the company does are press releases and articles. Pick apart the press releases from the last six months to find out what the company executives think is important. You will be informed about new products or initiatives—always a positive thing to note. Articles are also useful. General Electric’s Web site, for instance, posted articles about the company from The Economist, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Vanity Fair, all of which are easy reads and full of information.
Companies don’t always publish annual reports on their Web sites, but if they do, you will find ample material to give you a feel for the firm’s values and state of its business. Anything that helps you align with that company is what you are looking to uncover. Check out Internet sources such as Hoover’s Inc., CorpTech®, LexisNexis®, Dow Jones & Company, and Thomson Research.
Some information on a company’s Web site fits the “This is something I care deeply about and so I want to work for this company” category. Employers like to hear positive things about their company and know that if employees are behind their corporate culture, they are much happier and more productive.
Even the design and maintenance of a Web site offers insights about a company. For instance, if you are considering a career in marketing or public relations, you should note if a site’s links aren’t working or the information is months or years old. PR and marketing obviously aren’t a high priority for that company. Or, they might just really need your skills!
Another creative approach to finding information is through company blogs. Do a Web search on a company to find a blog someone is keeping. It might be about a speech given at a convention or just comments about the company picnic. Either way, there are nuggets of information out there to use to your advantage or to just give you the warm fuzzies about a possible employer.
Armed with compelling facts, you can go beyond noting that Company XYZ has been Number One on a business magazine’s list for the last five years. Instead you can make the astute observation, “I saw that Company XYZ is launching this unique product line and my experience in ABC can add to the expertise in marketing it.”
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
After you’ve written a great cover letter and resume and sent everything on its merry way, the real work of getting a job begins. Following up on all the resumes you’ve sent is not fun. Maybe that’s why many don’t follow up. It does take guts. No one wants to experience the downside of getting a straight out “No” or being blown off. Grit your teeth and do it anyway.
Following up demonstrates your drive and initiative. Someone who calls and says, “I have applied for such and such position. I understand you must be busy, but I would love to hear back from you because I am really interested in working for XYZ Company” is not only proactive, but also shows consideration for the employer’s side of the process.
However, there is a fine line between aggressively following up and being downright annoying. From your perspective, you’re anxiously waiting to hear if you got the job. On the other side of the equation is a stressed-out human resource manager trying to make a decision from a stack of resumes. Follow-up calls are acceptable … up to a point.
It’s a tough situation. If you call and the recruiter has six positions open and 125 resumes for each one, no way will he or she stop and search through the piles. You are more likely to get voice mail anyway. Some advise to call after hours and leave a message. Then you’ve made it known you’re really interested, but the employer doesn’t have to respond, only note that you’ve called.
Employers who use electronic application processes usually have clear guidelines as to how they want people to follow up. They don’t want to get calls to see if an application was received, since many automatically send out an acknowledgement or receipt. Some also have procedures in place for applicants to track their resumes online.
There is no way human resources people in large companies can physically get back to every applicant anyway. A corporate recruiter from a large asset management company notes that because of the tremendous volume of applications they get, their Web site clearly states applicants are not to call. So if applicants do call, it is seen as a bad move along the lines of “You are not following the process on our Web site. You have shown us already that you don’t know how to follow instructions.”
If there are no instructions about how an employer wants you to follow up, the consensus is to wait about two weeks and then have the follow-up call or e-mail. Most agree that if your cover letter states you will follow up in a specific time frame, follow up in that time frame. If you don’t, you send the signal that you are not doing what you said you would do. How’s that for a recommendation? In any case, err on the side of caution to ensure that you aren’t pegged as pushy, irritating, or a waste of anyone’s time.
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
by Vicel Meyer, ResumeEdge.com Editor
Temporary employees view seasonal or part-time positions in different ways. Some think of them as just a means to a paycheck. Others recognize these types of positions as a valuable glimpse into an organization and a great opportunity to get their foot in the door.
Many employers hire seasonal, contract, and part-time workers with the future in mind. This means the position is really a working interview. The hiring manager may already have a budget for a full-time person, and wants to try someone’s skills and fit with the team first with a seasonal or contract position. The employer may intend to convert the contract employee within the first three months, or may expect approval for a full-time position in the near future. This means that putting your best foot forward on the job and treating it as a long-term position will inevitably benefit you. You will gain or sharpen skills, find possible future opportunities within the company, or walk away with excellent references for your next position.
Think of your seasonal or part-time position as a stepping stone in your career. Take inventory of all the skills you’re honing and gaining in your position, whether it is new software you’re learning or improving your secretarial skills. Make sure you revise your resume to reflect what you know and what you’ve learned.
Many seasonal employees find themselves asked to stay longer than expected in the job due to their reliability, professionalism, and perhaps a new need in the company that has just opened up. In fact, many departments rely on each other for referrals of seasonal, contract, and part-time employees to use for their own needs. It is not uncommon for a seasonal employee to start in one department and get cross-trained in several others, meanwhile extending the length of employment.
Even if the position you are in doesn’t convert to full-time now, putting your best foot forward can keep you in the running and fresh in the hiring manager’s mind for future openings based on the great impression you leave. It can also lead to a hiring manager recommending you to someone in his professional network and providing excellent references that you can use in your job search.
You can now look at your temporary or part-time situation with a different mindset. Think of the possibilities of honing and gaining new skills, being considered for future openings, and being recommended to other companies, plus adding excellent references to your job-hunting arsenal.
Vicel received her Bachelor’s Degree from San Francisco State in Psychology, and has over 12 years of Human Resources experience in varied industries, including finance, staffing, insurance, outplacement and shipping industries. She specializes in recruiting from administrative to Executive-level positions. Her resume writing experience has been for clients with backgrounds in I.T., Real Estate, Finance, Automotive and Senior management.
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
That’s the question consciously or unconsciously running through the mind of someone looking through a stack of resumes. That person will often not find the answer if there’s no cover letter from you. Resumes list the information about your skills and experience. Cover letters pinpoint why you should receive serious consideration for a particular job. A cover letter helps readers see how your experience relates specifically to what they are looking for in an employee. Instead of making readers interpret your resume, your cover letter does the work for them. A cover letter says, “I know your company and what it does. Here’s why you should take notice of my qualifications.”
The general manager of a water and power agency who does the hiring sums it up: “Outstanding letters summarize authors’ knowledge, skills, abilities, and specifically why they are interested in my organization. They summarize an understanding of how my recruitment process works and references their attached resumes, identifying sections that are responsive to a specific request for information that may have been included in my job announcement.”
A planning advisor for a huge oil corporation who scans hundreds of resumes a week looks at it this way: “The more someone can tell me what attracted him or her to my company, the better. I try to get a feel for whether the applicant is interested in our industry, which is sometimes clear in the resume and sometimes not. That is where a cover letter can make a difference. If I get 10 resumes with similar experience and skills, the cover letter prioritizes who I need to speak to. If the resume is strong, then I don’t need the cover letter, but lots of times resumes don’t answer the questions I have.”
Keep in mind that the people who read resumes and cover letters spend mere seconds on them. You could meet every requirement of the job you’re going for but unfortunately, your qualifications might be buried somewhere in your resume. The people who are considering you for a job don’t like to dig. Readers don’t want to search for your abilities among the various jobs you have held or experiences you list.
Resumes are a record of your past and current experience. A well thought-out cover letter selects only those skills and experiences that apply to a job description and company. It summarizes your qualifications for that particular job so the hiring manager doesn’t have to search for them on your resume. If your cover letter doesn’t showcase the main points of your resume that match their requirements, the hiring manager is more likely to move on to the next candidate. And in this job market, you don’t want that to happen.
