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My company has done consulting work for an international development organization for about 5 months. I was there to help out on their staffing initially, but the HR department left halfway through my term, so I was doing HR and recruiting work. After a couple of weeks of discussion of what the organization wants in HR, I posted a couple of HR positions for the organization. I have gotten a lot of applicants for both positions and most of them qualify for the positions. That’s great and all, but here is one problem I see on their resumes: Where are they heading?
I met with multiple job seekers throughout the year. I always ask job seekers what organizations or industries they want to work for. Almost everyone I asked say, “I’m looking for a [name your division] [title] and they’re all the same across the board.”
I’ll say this once and put this somewhere:
NOT EVERY JOB IS THE SAME FOR ANY COMPANY!!!
If you expect an HR Director is open and meet the requirements, it will be easy to get an interview. Not so fast, my friend. Although you have great credentials, why did you apply for this position where on your resumé, you have no experience or expertise in the industry? If I do not see an answer, the resumé is moving to the archives.
There are many ways for applicants getting through past the recruiter and to the next round:
- The resume is consistent of what industry and/or job you want to get. If your working career has been in one or two sectors, keep applying to those positions within the industry.
- Versatility towards your working career. Although you worked at different jobs, maybe those different paths could lead to a position that you want.
- If you know someone in the organization and really like (not just like) the workplace. It is good to have inside information.
- Keywords to stand out to the recruiter.
- An example of your passion/interest (blog, vlogs, pictures, etc.) and link it to your resumé. If you love turkeys, show us why you love turkeys. I see Butterball is looking for turkeyheads.
The point here is don’t apply to any job that matches your qualifications; have a strategy, make up your top ten list of organizations/industries you want to work for, do the company and people research, and follow through. Do not give a generic resume, give a recruiter a purpose to move you to the hiring manager pile. From there…be prepared and good luck.
Of note: For FTC purposes, I have no affiliation of Butterball and I am not getting special treatment from them, although if they do, I hope they make me a salsalito turkey. Those are delicious.
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Comments
01.13.10
Very interesting points from the other side of the interviewing desk. We often wonder why we didn't get a position when we were qualified and this is a good example of what a candidate may not think about.
01.13.10
Tracy this is very helpful. People overlook the #1 part of job search - planning. Rather than throw your resume at anything first understand what who you are (assessments help with that) then target what you want to do and in what industry. In many ways this is a personal brand exercise, but also a state of mind decision matrix. If you want to be confident and successful to potential employers you need to be focused and clear on your directive. If you're not you come across disorganized or worse - desperate.
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