In this Issue:
Topic of the Month: "Hot Air"
Do Something; Don’t Do “Anything”
Article: The Telltale Signs of a Behavioral Job Interview Question
This Issue's Cartoon!
Topic of the Month: Hot Air
Here’s a joke about Hot Air. A man is flying in a hot air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon further and shouts, “Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?”
The man below said, “Yes, you’re in a hot air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field.”
“You must be an engineer,” said the balloonist.
“I am,” said the man. “How did you know?”
“Well,” said the balloonist, “everything you have told me is technically correct, but it’s of absolutely no use to anyone.”
The man below said, “You must be in management.”
“I am,” replied the balloonist, “but how did you know?”
“Well,” said the man, “you don’t know where you are, or where you’re going, but you expect me to be able to help. You’re in the same position you were before we met, but now it’s my fault.”
Okay, that’s a cute joke. I read it on a resume. Maybe that candidate thought he would try to make his resume stand out by starting with that ice-breaker. A ploy like that might work, but do you want to risk your first impression on workplace humor?
I talk to hiring managers every day and I often hear the same complaint about poorly written and forgettable resumes that blow across their desks like tumbleweeds.
You’re in an industry based on precision, accuracy, training, education and experience. Yet many resumes ignore the specific accomplishments of the superintendents who’ve saved time and money, the PMs who’ve solved countless problems, or the innovative engineer with all the initials behind her name.
Hiring managers spend between 20 and 25 seconds scanning a resume before putting it in the “Maybe” folder or the “No” folder. Not enough time to make a great impression but certainly enough to make a bad one.
Hiring managers have a better chance of finding the Sundance Kid in Bolivia than they do of finding the quality hidden in a poorly written resume. So here are five simple tips to help you write a resume that lands in the “Maybe” file and possibly the “Call Immediately” stack.
- Choose an easy-on-the-eye format. Hiring managers aren’t going to give a thorough reading initially. They’ll scan for education, certifications, experience and location. Make those easy to find. Judiciously use bold and italic typeface, indentions with bullets and wide margins. Think clean and crisp. And send it to them in the requested text format. Otherwise, it will be a doomed mess destined for the “No” folder.
- State your objective. Don’t be a copycat: “… seeking a rewarding position with a dynamic, forward-thinking firm .…” No kidding. Everybody wants that. Remember, you’ve got less than 20 seconds. Spend some time on this one sentence. Draft a clear and strong statement about yourself that stirs up some curiosity in the managing partner and hints at your abilities; here is a possible example: “Professional Engineer looking for a company that rewards my hard work and dedication to deadlines and profits.” Don’t short change the objective. It just might be the thing that lets you escape the “No” folder.
- Give value. All companies are looking for new employees who can help them make money, save time and solve problems. Give specific examples of what you did to make those things happen. Quantify your successes with percentages and dollar amounts; i.e.: “Completed project 30 days ahead of schedule for a savings of $$$....”
- Think about who will be reading your resume. Assume you dodged the “No” folder. Good. You made the first cut. Now the hiring director or managing principal will mine your resume for all the criteria they’re seeking. But they’ll also be judging you for bad grammar, misspelled words, cluttered format and sloppy organization. As I said earlier, this is an industry founded on precision, accuracy and attention to detail. Your resume must reflect the same.
- Be honest. Would you tell someone you’re 6’2” when you stand 5’8”? Not likely. Most hiring authorities are savvy enough to check your background. Their investment is too great not to. So be straight up about what you’ve done. You can spin it to your advantage, and you should, but make it a record of fact and not a work of fiction.
These seem like commonsense suggestions. Yet hiring managers see, and reject, many resumes because they’re difficult to scan, poorly organized, rife with grammar and spelling errors and spout dubious achievements. So clean it up, keep it simple and good luck in the interview.
Sam Wolfe
Regional Account Executive
EngineeringDesignJobs.com
Do Something; Don’t Do “Anything”
I was speaking with the hiring authority at a large company recently when he told me what he thought about a certain type of job seeker. He said that far too often, candidates looking for work at his company would write on their application that they would do “any” job or work for “any” salary. He had a special place reserved for these applicants. He called it the “Any Pile.” I think we also know this as the “Circular File” or “File 13.”
Needless to say those candidates don’t get a second look.
He gave me a typical example: he had been trying to find a heavy equipment operator. And he started laughing when he recalled a particular application in which the prospect boasted that he could operate anything. “What does that mean?” the hiring authority wondered. “Can he drive a tank too?” His advice for that candidate: “If he had simply listed the equipment he could operate, I would’ve given him a look.” Instead he ended up on the “Any Pile.”
That applicant got as much consideration as he deserved: none.
The job market is getting more competitive. And in order to make your application stand out you need to be specific about what you can do. Why should any job seeker assume that his willingness to accept whatever he’s offered make him a more attractive candidate? It simply makes it easier for employers to separate him from candidates who stand on their skills and clearly enumerate their accomplishments and experience.
Even if you have little or no experience, like, for instance, most young people entering the job market for the first time, focus on what you want and are able to do. Plenty of companies will give opportunities to those candidates that have confidence in themselves. Few, however, are impressed by a job seeker who thinks he’s going to stand out by making no more effort than simply saying he’ll do “anything.”
Barry Lee
Regional Account Executive
Current Resumes Get Viewed More
Did you know that current resumes dated within the past month are viewed by employers 20 times more than resumes over 30 days old? It's true! The older your resume, the less likely an employer will click to view it. To update your resume to today's date, login to your account and select Resume, then Update.
The Telltale Signs of a Behavioral Job Interview Question
By Carole Martin
Tell Me About A Time … As soon as you hear these words, you should be aware that your interviewer is probably using “Behavioral Interviewing” techniques.
What this means is they are using a technique, which focuses on your past experiences and behavior as an indicator of your future success. In other words, if you can demonstrate, through examples, that you did something before, there is a belief that you may do it again – positive or negative.
» Read Full Article
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