Many people tell me about aggressively
submitting resumes and getting little or no response or interviews. In one
example, Ralph (not his real name) came to me saying he had lost his job many
months before and was totally frustrated with his job search. He was sending
out many resumes and either being rejected or hearing nothing back. And he had
revised his resume numerous times trying to fix the problem. Sounds familiar,
right?
Unemployment was causing financial problems and strife within Ralph's family. His savings was dwindling, he
was worried he might lose his home and he had children who were approaching
college age.
Like so many other situations I have seen it was obvious
he would have been much better off had he reached out to me right after he was
first laid off, or even better, when he first began to see the handwriting on
the wall, rather than trying to "go it alone". And it made me think
about how job searching is similar in a way to dating. It often leads nowhere.
In courtship we are focused on compatibility
and impressing each other. The same is true with seeking a job. As job seekers
we try to create a resume that will impress the hiring manager by demonstrating
how compatible we are with the job requirements. Then after submitting the
resume, if ATS intercedes, usually nothing positive happens. The problem is ATS
is either love at first sight or it's not going to happen! You get one chance,
that's it. So we talked about his resume, how he was conducting his job search
and how we could turn things around for him together.
40 Plus Pitfalls
First we talked about word processing pitfalls that cause ATS parsing issues. ATS text parsers extract information from
resumes and provide a compatibility score. Only the top scorers are forwarded
to HR for review. So if, for instance, there are 200 applications and only the
top 10 are forwarded there is only a 5% chance HR will review your resume and
0.5% chance you will be hired. There has to be a better way to improve the
odds. We'll discuss this later but let's get the resume right first.
The over 40 pitfalls to be concerned
about include word processing shortcuts that can build parsing issues into
your resume. You might not even realize it is happening. Among the most critical
shortcuts are those that allow you to write text inside graphic boxes such as
borders, tables, headers, text boxes, and borders. Unfortunately parsers cannot
read information located inside graphics. So for example, if you put your name
and contact information inside a header, the parser can't read it and will not
know who you are or how to reach you. Therefore ATS can't respond to your
application. This is a certain way to become anonymous.
In the many changes he
made to his resume over time, sometimes Ralph used headers, usually he used
tables and occasionally he spiffed it up with an outside border. All were sure
to cause ATS issues.
Columns
Ralph asked me about using columns because
he had seen many resumes that were attractively laid out using them. I explained
that this is another pitfall. Parsers scan information in raster fashion, across
the entire page, one line at a time. So if columns are used to format
information, the text in one column will be intermixed with text in the next
column, one line at a time. The result reads as gibberish. So we agreed not to
do that.
Certifications/Titles/Degrees
Ralph is a CPA and listed the certification
after his name for emphasis. That's another pitfall. ATS wants to see your name,
by itself, on the top line of your resume. So by putting his certification after
his name ATS may have thought CPA was his last name. We moved his certification
to a personal profile located right under his contact information where it
would be immediately visible. People often place a certification, a degree, or a
title after their name. They become Joe CPA, Sally PHD or Ruth CEO to ATS.
Nesting
Ralph had been promoted twice in one company
so his resume showed 3 jobs under the name of the company, a fourth pitfall.
Listing multiple positions under one company is called 'nesting'. ATS wants you
to repeat the company name before each position held even if they are successive
jobs in the same company. I can only assume the reason for this is that ATS may
not understand what company you were working for after the first one listed.
That sounds pretty dumb but it is what it is so I don't nest jobs in any
resume that will be used to apply electronically. The good news is parsers
do not view a repeated company name as job-hopping. We fixed Ralph's resume by
showing the same company name before each of the three positions.
Keywords
Second we talked about keywords. It is
important to make sure the right skill keywords are used in a resume exactly as
they are found in the job description requirements. It is equally important to
use them in context. ATS will determine if you understand the keywords by how
you use the them in context, particularly as you describe the results of your
work in the experience section. This helps to achieve a high ATS score and win
interviews.
Discovery
Another reason to get the key words right is
to get discovered. Specific key words are used by recruiters when they search for
candidates in LinkedIn or on job boards. They simply type in the right key words and see who pops up. Making your
LinkedIn profile complete and using the right key words will get you
discovered. We worked on Ralph's LinkedIn profile to take full advantage of
this free inbound marketing tool LinkedIn provides.
Talk to
the Hiring Manager Before Applying
The third thing we discussed was search
tactics. The way to increase the odds of getting hired is to talk to the hiring
manager before applying for a job. Doing this has a profound effect upon
winning interviews and jobs. Ralph had never tried the approach and had no idea
how to do it. He felt intimidated by the thought of reaching out directly to
the hiring manager. After all, doesn't everyone just go through HR? The answer
is no, not everyone. The most successful job seekers differentiate themselves
from their competition by calling and speaking directly to hiring managers before
applying. This is the most effective way to get hired.
The skills required can
be learned through coaching and lots of practice. It is very effective because it
enables one to learn what is most important to the hiring manager, to provide
examples of how one can help meet the hiring manager's critical needs and it provides critical information for 'tuning' a resume before applying.
Ralph and I spent considerable time
discussing the many ways of finding the hiring manager's name. We discussed how to write,
practice and internalize scripts for getting past the company gatekeepers and
how to approach the hiring manger when he finally gets through. Ralph practiced
the new skills by role playing with me. Then he tried it live. It took a lot of
guts and it worked. Ralph got a great job using this approach.
Success
Ralph has been in his new job for six months
and feels like his whole world has changed. I wish all outcomes were the same.
I am convinced getting competent help early and being willing to learn and practice
new skills prevents an extended job search.
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