You are looking for a job. You have sent your resume out to many prospective employers, but you are not getting a lot of responses. What should you do? Twice this year, I have gone through the process of reviewing resumes, once for an open position and once for a new position at our law firm. I have seen a couple of hundred resumes.
This week we are going to discuss resumes and what I have found that would make me more likely to interview a job applicant. If something was to make me more likely to consider a candidate, I suspect it would also make it more likely for other employers to consider a candidate. However, other employers may be looking for other things.
Many employers, myself included, post open positions online. You are not applying in person or sending a paper resume. Everything is electronic. When I was reviewing responses to job postings, there were many things that I saw that encouraged me to interview an applicant.. Other items I reviewed made applicants unattractive to me and would make it less likely that I would consider the applicant for the position.
I can’t say I am an expert in the field of job hunting. However, having recently gone through the procedure a couple of times, I thought I would give my thoughts on some of the items that I look for as an employer when reviewing responses to job postings.
Do what is asked. When responding to a job posting, do what the job posting asks. For example, if the posting asks to provide salary and benefit requirements, include that with your response. Provide references if requested.
If the posting asks you to provide your resume in a .pdf, .doc, or .docx format, do not send it as a .txt, dropbox or buried in the body of the email. The requested formats are likely the most compatible with the prospective employer’s software and systems. You may also want to cc or bcc yourself with your email responses to verify your information went through. I have received a number of responses with no resume or other information attached.
I found that I would consider applicants with complete information more often than those with incomplete information for two reasons. Firstly, if an applicant doesn’t follow instructions when applying for a job, what is the likelihood he or she would regularly properly follow instructions once employed. Secondly, I, like many employers, have allocated a certain amount of time for various tasks during the day. When reviewing many resumes, I do not have the time to chase down and request additional information from applicants. I am going to make my initial screening decisions based upon the information provided.
Proofread your resume. Make sure that your resume does not have any spelling or other errors. Use spell check. Most jobs, especially office jobs, will require you to communicate and to be accurate with your information. I have reviewed a number of resumes with multiple spelling errors. That does not encourage me to interview an applicant.
Tailor resume to job. When you are applying for jobs in various fields, change your resume accordingly. Word processors are wonderful. If you are looking for an administrative or clerical office job, do not put on your resume that you are looking for a job as a medical biller or veterinary assistant. When the objective is different that the posted position, it doesn’t make the applicant look very interested in the job.
Be internally consistent. When proofreading your resume, look for information that may be inconsistent. For example, many employers require certain experience for a position. If you say you have 15 years’ experience in a field, make sure you have enough previous employers listed on your resume to total at least the 15 years.
Make the resume easy to read. It is difficult to review a resume that has little white space and all of the content is the same font and typeface. Use headings for sections of the resumes. When listing job skills and certifications, use acronyms only if it is common in the industry to which you are applying. If not, spell it out.
In addition to job skills and certifications, the two sections of a resume that are the most important to me as a prospective employer are experience and education. List the previous employers chronologically, with the most recent first. In addition to the name of employer, I look for job title, dates of employment, job duties and skills utilized in the job. With education, I am interested in the general courses of study and diplomas and/or degrees earned.
Backgrounds and watermarks might look attractive on paper resumes, however I found them to be very distracting on the resumes I reviewed. I am interested in the information. The watermarks and backgrounds made it more difficult to review that information.
Be concise. It usually is more difficult to summarize information concisely than to list it all out. When providing experience of previous jobs, I am not as interested in the detail of every single thing that an applicant did every day, as much as I am interested in general job duties and the job skills that it took to accomplish those tasks.
When I am reviewing a resume, I am trying to get a mental picture of the applicant and how they would do the job and fit into our team. That is very much easier with a one page resume. It is difficult to get a quick, concise mental picture of an applicant from a resume that rambles on for pages.
These are just a few items that I, as a prospective employer, found helpful. I hope they are helpful to you also. Good luck and happy job hunting.
By: Matthew M. Wallace, CPA, JD
Published edited August 25, 2013 in The Times Herald newspaper, Port Huron, Michigan as: Tune up your resume