Results tagged “hiring decision-maker” from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters Tips Blog

Bill Belknap and Helene Seiler, in the excellent book For Executives Only, describe a case study in which a client wrote a targeted letter to a hiring decision-maker after already having sent one in response to a job posting for the same job. The authors write:

She tracked down who the hiring manager was and wrote him directly. The hiring manager was impressed enough to ask HR to pull her resume out of the stack, and she was interviewed within a few days.

The candidate began her targeted letter by noting that she had applied for the position through the employer’s Web site. Her next paragraph expressed her understanding of the key requirement of the position. Then, she included a bulleted section recapping significant, relevant career accomplishments. She concluded with a proactive paragraph asking for an interview and noting that she would call the recipient’s assistant to schedule an appointment.

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Does your cover letter convey who you are and what you want quickly, or does it confuse the reader? That’s what Deborah Brown-Volkman asks in an article on Quintessential Careers.

“A cover letter is a document that introduces you and your resume to potential employers, Brown-Volkman writes. “It is your opportunity to give employers a good look at yourself, your credentials, and your background. In many cases, it is the first thing an employer sees (because it goes in front of your resume), so expect it to make your opening impression.

“Cover letters can do more than simply introduce you. They can give an employer a more in-depth view of who you are and what you will bring to the table.

“The ideal cover letter is focused, professional, and well-written. While the hiring decision-maker is reading your cover letter, he or she is deciding if it makes sense to continue onto your resume. If you cannot make your cover letter great, then the employer has no reason to believe you will do great work for them either,” Brown-Volkman cautions.

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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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Years ago, we created “catchy” resumes, using sophisticated language, printing them on colored paper or even having them delivered by singing messengers to get the attention of the decision maker, writes Sherri Edwards in her article for Quint Careers, Dispelling the Myth About Resumes. Life, work, and the pursuit of employment have changed since then. When sent in response to a job announcement, the chance of a resume directly reaching the decision maker without going through a screening process is slim to none. “Catchy” has been replaced with “targeted” and “to the point.” People spend many hours trying to break the recruiter’s or or human resource specialist’s code to determine what will catch their eye. It seems the real value a resume offers to a candidate may get overlooked in the process of becoming “catchy” or “cute” or packed with “keywords.”

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