How many people have actually been hired because they had a kick a** resume? Really? Did the new boss actually say, "the reason I hired you was because your resume was excellent"?
The resume can be a door opener. Can be. But it depends on so many things.
- Does it meet the personal preferences of that individual? Everyone likes to see different styles of resumes.
- Has it demonstrated you have the exact skills and more importantly background and experience they are looking for? Or that they think they are looking for?
- Did it get enough key word hits from their resume reading software?
- Did the intern or new HR recruiter understand what you were talking about? Will they forward it along?
In many cases, a referral or personal endorsement, is the reason your resume got read or pulled from the stack of hundreds. This referral may actually be the only reason you were called in for an interview.
Hiring decisions are made during the interview. No matter what your resume says, it is your performance during the interview that either moves you forward or not.
So what will your strategy be to get yourself prepared for the interview? Do you rehearse? Do you practice in front of a mirror or video camera?
Most new job seekers ask for help with their resumes. WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. They need help in assessing their strengths and developing a marketing plan which will guide their networking activities. Then they need to begin learning about the needs of their target companies. Only after these things have been done is the job seeker ready to write a document that addresses the specific needs of those companies. This is called Marketing .
It is my contention that if job seekers put twice as much effort into self assessment and market research (instead of obsessing over their resumes) they would be a great deal more active and productive.
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