Posted in Career Advice for Young Professionals Job Search Tips on February 12, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Q: I’ve been applying for jobs since September and have not been called for a single interview. I’ve taken my resume to Career Services for a review and some tips, but still nothing. How can I make my resume stand out in a crowd?
A: You’ve taken the right first step, which is having an expert — in your case, career services — review your resume and make sure it’s the best it can be. However, having a good resume is not enough these days. Employers are being bombarded with resumes, so the real way to stand out is to promote yourself beyond sending in a resume. You have to go the extra mile to get noticed.
Depending on your situation and the types of jobs you’re applying for, here are some suggestions:
Try to find a personal connection to the companies you want to work for. Talk to everyone you know — friends, family, former colleagues, former classmates, neighbors, etc. — to ask whether they know anyone at your target companies and would be willing to make an introduction. This is the absolute, no-doubt-about-it, very best way to catch the eye of a recruiter or hiring manager: to have your resume hand delivered to that person by a fellow employee. Don’t be afraid to ask people to help you get a job — this is the way business is done and you’ll make your contact look good for recommending you when you turn out to be a fantastic employee.
Hand-deliver if you can. If you’re applying for a position in a retail store, restaurant, local bank, child-care center or other employer with a physical location, try hand-delivering your resume and engaging a staff person in conversation about why you’d be a good employee. Making an in-person impression means a lot, especially when you’re applying for a customer-facing job.
Reach out. If you’re applying to a higher-level position, try reaching out to a recruiter, HR person or other decision maker via LinkedIn.com. Most employers I speak with are happy to connect with potential candidates on LinkedIn. Make sure your profile is grammatically correct, contains key words that will stand out to the employer, has a few impressive recommendations of your work and shows that you are a member of some industry-related groups. Once you’ve connected with some recruiters, stay on their radar screens by posting intelligent comments to group discussions, sharing interesting industry articles and/or answering relevant questions in the “Answers” area.
Make sure the job’s right for you. If you’re still not seeing results after trying the above strategies, consider whether you are applying for positions that are really a good fit for your skills and experience. You may be reaching too high or too low. Or, in this economy, you may be focusing your job search on an industry that is doing poorly, such as financial services. Check back with your career services office or talk with trusted professionals to see if you need to redirect your job search to a different industry, location or experience level.
To read more Career Q&As or to submit a question of your own, click here.
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@Arun,
Thanks for the comment and positivity!
Lindsey
Dear Lindsay,
I agree with you in all the above points & I too think that it is the best way to be in touch with the known people in the target companies. Thanks to boost up the people & encourange them to not loose the hope. There is a solution to every problem may be its personal or professional so be positive.
Best Regards,
Arun
[...] blogger Lindsey Pollak has some good tips for recent grads, including ways to make your resume stand out from the crowd: Try to find a personal connection to the companies you want to work for. Talk to everyone you know [...]
@Dan – Yes, the cover letter is still an important tool. Thanks for the comment!
- Lindsey
Lindsey,
Great suggestions. I would also recommend tailoring your cover letter for each position. People talk a lot about resumes, but tend to neglect the cover letter. If you are able to compellingly articulate your skills in a cover letter, and make a connection with how these skills can benefit the employer, this can be a very powerful way to stand out from the crowd. Maybe it’s not necessary to send 100 resumes out, but just a few finely tuned and targeted resume/cover letter combinations.
Dan
[...] writing a recent post about resumes, I wanted to share advice from an expert on the topic. Lauren was gracious enough to provide a [...]
Good tips. There’s also some very useful resume writing advice on this site: http://www.spherion.com.
@Rockon – Thanks for the comments!
Lindsey
Hi…
Absolutely. Look far and wide, even if a company doesn’t have positions now they might in the future. I completely agree. Networking is incredibly important, particularly now. Glad to have you in my network!
@Kristen – absolutely. Look far and wide, even if a company doesn’t have positions now they might in the future.
Thanks for the comment!
Lindsey
Great ideas here:) I also think that not just applying for open jobs helps; get that resume out to the companies you’d like to work for–whether they advertise for jobs or not!
@Vicki – I completely agree. Networking is incredibly important, particularly now. Glad to have you in my network!
Lindsey
@Kat and @Marcia – great comments and insight. Thanks!
Lindsey
I agree with Kat about composition being very important.
One point I really try to stress is “relevance” as a key consideration when auditing a resume.
In many cases there is just too much fluff and not enough flavor! Recruiters have stacks of resume and the top 30% must get past that 20 second power scan.
Resumes are not just written….they must be designed. This is what I tell my interior design students. Composition is important!
Lindsey,
Great advice. I agree that reaching out to everyone you know (or that knows someone you know) is the best strategy right now. In general, people want to help you if they can. If nothing else, establish the relationship and keep in touch with people even if there isn’t a current opening. When things start to turn around, you will have already established a relationship on which to capitalize.
@Rosa – thanks so much for the comments. I would caution people to be very careful — most recruiters still prefer a plain black-and-white resume — but for some creative professions a nicely designed resume could be a good option.
Thanks again!
Lindsey
Lindsey,
Great and different advice. As far as the resume itself, I would like to add that job seekers should not play it safe anymore. The same way you are encouraging them to think outside the norm, be more proactive, and innovative in capturing attention — I encourage them to create resumes that are alluring, creative, color coordinated (sparingly) and still maintain a professional image. Much like a website with great color coordination and content that appeals to a certain audience. It will be well received, times are changing! And, although content is king, it is time to step up the game!
Recently Career Director’s International held a contest for the World’s Best Resume Writer. Currently there are three top finalist. These finalist where chosen by recruiters, HR folks – people in charge of hiring. And the top resumes were very creative, colorful, and attention capturing.
Again, great advice on getting the resume into the hands of a possible employer by going the extra mile to get noticed!