Results tagged “candidate” from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters Tips Blog

In a guest blog posting on All Moms Work, Debra Wheatman of Resumes Done Right (www.ResumesDoneWrite.com and ResumesDoneWrite.blogspot.com) notes that your cover letter is part of the résumé package.

She writes:

The package is not complete without the cover. Will everyone read the cover? Probably not. While I haven’t done a full study of how many hiring managers read them vs. those that don’t, I can tell you this: when I worked in human resources I ALWAYS read them. I gained a better understanding of the candidate, what underlying skills he [or she] possessed and how he [or she] might contribute in the organization I represented.

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Hiring decision-makers surveyed for the book, Top Notch Executive Resumes identified this as one of their Top 30 Executive Resume Pet Peeves: 30. Facts stated in one part of the resume are not supported elsewhere. It’s not unusual to see a candidate make a statement in the sales-oriented top potion of the first page of a resume that is not backed up anywhere else in the resume, perhaps claiming a skill or experience that is never mentioned again. The candidate may also state a certain number of years of experience in a field, but when the decision-maker reviews the experience section, the years don’t add up to the number claimed.

Sometimes stated years of experience don’t provide a true picture of the candidate’s background. “Some people can state they have a lot of experience in a particular field, but if you look at length of time, they are jumping around every few months,” said a human-resources generalist from Fairfax County, VA. “They are not really gaining much experience in only a few months at a job.”
See all 30 peeves: executive resume peeves 1-10 in Part 1, executive resume peeves 11-20 in Part 2 and executive resume peeves 21-30 in Part 3.

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Hiring decision-makers surveyed for the book, Top Notch Executive Resumes identified this as one of their Top 30 Executive Resume Pet Peeves: Resume file name is “Resume.doc” or “Resume.pdf.” Resume-writers know that an astonishing number of job-seekers give their resumes the file name “Resume.doc.” Can you imagine how many of these identically named files a hiring decision-maker receives? They don’t distinguish the candidate, and the recipient must always rename the files to keep them organized. Add your name to the file name and perhaps the month and year you are submitting it: KHansenResumeDec08.doc, for example.

Also be sure that your resume is in a file format that the recipient can open. The only file format that is virtually foolproof is one with a .doc extension (not .docx as produced by Word 2007), but if you have any doubt, do a test run of your attachment by sending it to a friend to ensure the recipient can open it. You can also ask the employer if your file format can be opened on the company’s computers.

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Hobbies and Interests on a resume are usually considered superfluous and trivial. Some job-seekers consider these items conversation-starters, while some employers feel the information humanizes the candidate and presents a fuller picture. Many recruiters and employers feel hobby and interest information can expose the candidate to discrimination. A workaholic hiring manager “could perceive the candidate as frivolous with too many outside interests,” observes Alison, a corporate recruiter for a specialized information provider. As with most information on your resume, the option to list hobby and interest information is a personal choice, but it’s usually more risky to list it than to leave it off. Ask yourself: Does this information add value to my resume? Space constraints may also guide your decision. Read more in our Frequently Asked Questions About Resumes: The Complete Resume FAQ.

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Hiring decision-makers surveyed for the book, Top Notch Executive Resumes identified this as one of their Top 30 Executive Resume Pet Peeves: Candidate leaves jobs off the resume. While this peeve is not universal, many decision-makers want to see the candidate’s entire job history from college graduation on. They suggest a bare-bones (position/title, employer, city/state, dates) listing of older jobs under a heading such as “Prior Experience” or “Previous Professional Experience.”

Decision-makers expect you to account for all gaps between jobs. “Give it to me as straight as possible,” Former Seattle recruiter Alice Hanson said. “If you have been out of work for a year, put a bullet in that explains why. If you have multiple jobs that ended after three months, tell me you completed three three-month contract positions successfully.” Most in hiring positions want to see when you graduated college and discount the age-discrimination argument because your graduation date will be discovered anyway when the recruiting firm is verifying information. “If a company is going to discriminate, truncating the resume may get you in a door, but won’t get the person the job if they are going to discriminate,” senior IT recruiter John Kennedy said.
See all 30 peeves: executive resume peeves 1-10 in Part 1, executive resume peeves 11-20 in Part 2 and executive resume peeves 21-30 in Part 3.

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A paragraph in your cover letter should describe who you are and what makes you stand out writes Deborah Brown-Volkman, president of Surpass Your Dreams, Inc. a career, life, and mentor coaching company. “Include your strengths and what you are passionate about in your career.” Brown-Volkman advises that you think of this paragraph as completing the sentence, “Here’s why I am a good candidate…”

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Hiring decision-makers surveyed for the book, Top Notch Executive Resumes identified this as one of their Top 30 Executive Resume Pet Peeves: Resume does not list phone number, only an e-mail address, or has inappropriate e-mail address. In the age of electronic submission, many candidates seem to think decision-makers will want to communicate by e-mail only, but a phone number on your resume is an absolute must. Be sure to include a daytime phone number as that’s when recruiters are most likely to call you. The recruiting process often moves too rapidly for e-mail; recruiters prefer to call — and expect you either to answer or call back without delay. Without a phone number, “I can’t call you,” said recruiter Alice Hanson, “and most jobs I have on my desk need to be filed in 24-48 hours. I find a good candidate and can’t connect — it drives me wild.” If employers can’t reach you very quickly, they’ll move on to the next person. They still want to see e-mail addresses listed as an alternate contact method, however, and recruiters note a surprising number of candidates who fail to provide sufficient contact information.

Your e-mail address must be professional. “I don’t want to know if you are ‘sokkerguy’ or ‘kittylover’ says Joe Briand, partner at The Clarion Group, Placerville, CA. “Use Yahoo or Gmail and get a professional-sounding address for your job search.” See all 30 peeves: executive resume peeves 1-10 in Part 1, executive resume peeves 11-20 in Part 2 and executive resume peeves 21-30 in Part 3.

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Here’s what John Logan, human resources manager with ZS Associates, had to say about the importance of cover letters in our Q&A interview with him: Cover letters are the sole way our firm understands why an applicant seeks a position in our firm and what skills they will add; they are an important component of our application. The most effective cover letters announce the position the candidate seeks, and highlight up to three skills from the position listing that the candidate possesses — augmenting what is written in the resume. Because resumes are structured in bullet format, the cover letter is the only avenue for a candidate to provide additional details about skills prior to an interview.

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Make sure your examples in your resume and cover letter “are relevant to the position for which you are applying, advises Peggy Klaus in her article for Quint Careers, Are You Up To Snuff When It Comes To Soft Skills? For instance, what would be more relevant to a non-profit charitable organization — that you raised a substantial amount of money for a do-good cause, motivating hundreds in your company to participate, or that you sold more widgets in China than any other division? As one HR director remarked, “I hate it when the candidate assumes we will connect the dots for them. Instead of writing a cover letter that brings the relevant experience forward, critical points remain buried in the resume. Connecting the dots is their job, not ours.”

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Hiring decision-makers surveyed for the book, Top Notch Executive Resumes identified this as one of their Top 30 Executive Resume Pet Peeves:

Resume is too long. While there is no consensus among employers and recruiters about resume length, most feel one page is too short. Maureen Crawford Hentz, manager of talent acquisition, development and compliance at Osram Sylvania, Boston MA, particularly disdains “abbreviated or ‘teaser’ resumes” that urge the recruiter, “for more information, call me.” Many recruiters believe that two pages is about the right length; for some, three pages is the outside limit that they will read. “If the resume is longer than two pages, it needs to be well worth it,” noted Hentz’s colleague at Osram Sylvania, Harlynn Goolsby. Others question executives’ ability to prioritize if their resumes are longer than two pages.

Since recruiters pass candidate resumes on to client employers, they must also consider employer preferences. “Most of my clients profess that they are too busy to read anything lengthier — thus, I deliver what they require,” said Chris Dutton, director at Intelligent Recruitment Services and Owner, Intelligent IT Recruitment, Manchester, UK. Recruiter opinions about resume length have been colored in recent years by the growing practice of reading resumes on a computer screen rather than printing them. Resumes that might seem too long in print are acceptable on screen.

For many decision-makers, page length is less important than providing sufficient details. “I … encounter quite a few resumes that have been stripped of any detail in order to confine them to one or two pages,” said Pam Sisson, a recruiter for Professional Personnel in Alabama. “My immediate response is to ask for a more detailed resume. A resume that’s three or four pages but actually shows the qualifications and experience necessary for a position is much preferred, in my opinion, to one that has cut out all the substance to meet some passe idea of a one-page resume.” John Kennedy, senior IT recruiter at Belcan, agreed: “Resume length is of very little importance so long as the information is accurate, verifiable, and pertinent to the position. If a candidate has 20 years of experience directly relating to the position being applied for and that experience is verifiable, it should be listed even if the resume goes four-plus pages.”

See all 30 peeves: executive resume peeves 1-10 in Part 1, executive resume peeves 11-20 in Part 2 and executive resume peeves 21-30 in Part 3.

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.

Adding a Postscript — a PS — to your cover letter — especially one that’s handwritten — is a great way to grab the employer’s attention.

Ideally, your postscript should encapsulate your Unique Selling Proposition — the one quality that you feel will inspire employers to hire you above all other candidates. See examples of cover-letter postscripts.

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In your resume, focus on accomplishments that set you apart from other job candidates. In each job, what special things did you do to set yourself apart? How did you do the job better than anyone else or than anyone else could have done? What did you do to make it your own? What special things did you do to impress your boss so that you might be promoted? What were the problems or challenges that you or the organization faced? What did you do to overcome the problems? What were the results of your efforts? How did the organization benefit from your performance? How did you leave your employers better off than before you worked for them? How have you helped your employer to:

• make money
• save money
• save time
• make work easier
• solve a specific problem
• be more competitive
• build relationships
• expand the business
• attract new customers
• retain existing customers

Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.