How Can You Get the Best Resume for You?
If you have ever sent out a resume without getting the job, you are loser. After all, someone else “won” and got the job.
Relax, you are not alone. Most everyone has been a loser at one time or another in the job hunting game. Estimates reveal that more than 99% of resumes fail. Most every job hunter has been turned down for a job or had a rejection or no response to at least one resume and usually many more than one.
A resume and cover letter get the job interview. So what is so unique, so special, or so much better about that one in a hundred or perhaps one in a thousand resumes that gets a call from an employer? What is the difference between the winner’s and losers’ resumes?
Newsflash: Often the best resume gets the interview, not always the best candidate.
To even have a chance, your resume has to be as good as the best resumes the employer receives. This doesn’t mean your skills, experience, or qualifications have to be the best, this means your resume has to be the best!
Resume Life and Death
The difference between the winner’s and losers’ resumes can be big or small; however, there is a big difference in the results.
- The winner is working and collecting a paycheck while the loser is without and might be going bankrupt or even hungry.
- The winner is gaining experience to add to their resume, while the loser is stuck sending out more resumes.
- The winner’s kids will get new clothes, a better house, a better education, and better health care. The loser’s kids might end up hungry and even drop out of school!
- The winner probably has health insurance and the loser might not. The loss of health insurance has been proven to lead to more serious issues as people without health coverage tend to skip preventive visits to their doctor and even ignore health conditions until too late.
The difference between a winner and loser in the resume game can be the difference between life and death.
The Best Resume for You
Getting the best resume depends on who is getting your resume.
Most job hunters have no idea what criteria are being used to judge their resumes.
In addition, job seekers usually do not know who will be reading their resumes or who will be deciding if they will get an interview.
I was once naïve enough to think that decisions were made by some type of scoring system and job experience for each qualification was tallied by years and matched against other candidates. When no call came for an interview, I presumed that was simply because other people had more experience.
Nearly everyone has heard, “Your resume and cover letter are sales material and a job interview is a sales presentation.” As that is the case, the smartest approach is to learn what the best professional sales copywriters know and how the top gun sales people operate.
As a professional sales person I have made many multi-million dollar sales. When I was a young and green sales person in my first year of selling, a seasoned sales pro asked what I expected out of my selling career.
“To be the best and get as rich as a top doctor or lawyer,” was my response.
“How many books have you read about selling?” he asked.
“Two or three,” I proudly answered.
“A top doctor or lawyer will probably read hundreds of books to be the best,” he told me, “and you expect to make as much as they do?”
That wise salesman got me thinking… and reading… every book about sales I could get my hands on. Now hundreds of books and thousands of sales later, I don’t label myself as a “professional” lightly. Yet I attribute my selling success to what I learned from the best sales people that ever lived.
How do super sales techniques apply to job hunting?
First, a top sales pro always determines who the decision maker (DM), is. When you are sending a resume, you should know who will be reading your resume. When you are granted a job interview, you should know who will be interviewing you and if they have the power to hire you. You can get this information by asking questions and undertaking some detective work.
The person who reads your resume, the person who interviews you, and the person who decides to hire you might be the same person or all different people. The final decision maker is often a different person than whoever decided you were worthy of an interview.
HR Stands for ‘Human Rating’ or ‘Hounds of Regulation’
Larger companies with HR departments have screeners who often have the power to choose which resumes will get an interview. Sometimes HR also conducts the first interview. Human Resources are the guard dogs of hiring. They are human quality control; the Hounds of Regulation. Like it or not, HR judges us and also stands for Human Rating.
Employers are conducting extensive and invasive background checks, using new interrogation tactics, hidden cameras, and new psychological tools called ‘Emotion Sensors.’ They are uncovering every stone and during interviews they are watching your every move and recording your every answer.
Why? Because employer liability is so high, employers are now focusing on the process of elimination. Because employer liability is at an all time high; over 400 employment related lawsuits are filed everyday in the United States. 400 lawsuits a day?! No wonder employers have pulled out all the heavy artillery; and HR has been charged with manning the guns!
HR people usually see your resume differently than the hiring decision maker.
An HR person wants to avoid bad hires. HR people are cynical, judgmental, and secretive. They are not usually popular with other employees. HR wants to eliminate you.
Before we lynch them remember that is their job description!
How HR personnel see you and your resume:
- Are there gaps in the employment experience?
- Would this candidate be a liability to the company?
- Will this candidate fit in our environment?
- Has this candidate shown up regularly for work?
- Will this candidate cause us problems?
How a decision maker sees you and your resume:
- Does this candidate have the right employment experience?
- Would this candidate be an asset to our team?
- Will this candidate fit on our team?
- Can this candidate do the work?
- Can this candidate solve our problems?
Whenever possible, you should have some idea who will be reading your resume.
How can you find out who will be reviewing your resume?
How can you adapt or edit your resume for who will be reading it?
How can you be sure you have the best resume for you… and them?
Get the answers in my book: Resumes for Losers free when you order the One Click Cover Letters.
Phil Baker
Copyright 2009 Resume Dictionary
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