Are you frustrated?
Did you pay a lot of money for a “professional” cv (Resume)?
Did you send your resume to hundreds of job boards?
Are you applying every day to online job postings and getting negative responses?
If you answered yes to all these questions, which you most probably did then you are part of an elite club of frustrated unemployed, which has about a 90% unemployed membership.
Some facts:
Ever since the internet appeared, recruiters became swamped with applications, this led to the development of ATS, or Application Tracking Systems, which is an algorithmic software used to pick out keywords in the resume and compare them to the job description.
The ATS led to automatic response emails from recruiters, the first is a confirmation email that tells you that your application was successful, however in the wording you find also the sentence, “since there are many applicants it will take time to reply, please be patient.” Or something like that. This is the CYA (Cover your ass) response.
The ATS will check your resume, and if your resume scores under a certain number of points it will generate another automatic response, and that will be either no response or “you are unsuccessful, but we will keep your resume on file for future candidacies! (no comment here)
For every job, there are hundreds of applicants.
The higher the position, the harder it is to get an interview.
Resume Writing Tips (The Insider knows)
Recruiters promote tailoring a resume to suit the job description;
a. Be prepared to create a tailor-made resume for every job application or group of applications based on the specific title.
b. Since resumes must be tailored to each job, which means you will have to look at the job description and match your resume’s keywords and content to match the wording in the job description. This will automatically catch the eye of the ATS.
c. When opening your resume, start with an executive statement, what are you going to do for the company! In one or two sentences only. After this add an Executive summary that explains about you in regards to the position (job title). No more than five sentences expounding how great you are.
d. Add an executive summary and copy the job title in the job description, for instance, “I am a Global Procurement Manager”, instead of using your title of Purchasing Manager or Supply Chain Manager…The exact use of the job description title is ATS proof.
e. Create a heading “Key Words” and populate it with keywords found in the job description (skills basically) and add your key skills here too.
f. Add a skills section, and take from the job description key skills needed, for instance: Job Description: Must know Excel. In the Resume add Expert in Excel. Do this bullet list style. Make sure your resume is easy to read.
g. In your work experience section, don’t tell them how brilliant you are, tell them what you did that was most successful. Add a few pointers regarding job functions.
h. Don’t use weird fonts, colors, borders, and graphics, it confuses the ATS as well as shows you have nothing to say to the recruiter and need a lovely graphic resume to make up for your shortcomings.
Resume Application Tips (From Experience)
Recruiters and recruitment firms are humans, not machines.Look at the company behind the job, if you can’t find it, then look at the name of the recruitment firm and the name of the specific recruiter for the application.Do some research on the company or the recruiter.If you find the company website, read it, learn what their corporate vision is and adapt your opening statement to meet their corporate culture.Send a direct mail with resume to the HR department, and if you are applying for an executive position, to the CEO.If you cannot find their e-mails, then go-to Linkedin and search for them there. Most companies and executives have a Linkedin file.In Linkedin, send them an invitation to link, and add a note that you are approaching them for their help in applying for the role you seek.If your position is not an executive one, do not contact the CEO, only the HR department manager or employee.Look for the Recruitment firm too, and find the recruiter on Linkedin.- Send them an invitation to connect with the same request, that you are applying for a specific role and wish their direct involvement.
- Send a direct e-mail to the recruitment firm too, attach your resume there and write an appropriate message explaining what you will do if you get the position. Short and concise.
- Do not be afraid or hesitant to make direct contact, this is the only way to escape the ATS trap.
These tips are from experience, they work, but you must be diplomatic and you have to do three things. Create a job description linked resume, create a cover letter with your executive statement, remember, tell them what you will do for them in one or two sentences, such as “I will improve, I will reduce, I will save…etc…”
Create resumes that you are confident in your capabilities to deliver, remember, once you get to the interview stage you will have to sound convincing. This means you must be able to talk about your profession, your experience, your successes with ease and with confidence.
If you do these steps, you will reach a person, and might even get an interview, after that, it’s all up to you.
