One Way to Get Your Resume into the Hiring Manager’s Hands

Have you ever had this thought (or something like it)?

“How can I possibly get my resume into the hands of the hiring manager? When I post my resume on job boards or company websites I never hear back from anyone. It’s as if my resume goes into a black hole!”

There are a number of more effective ways to get your resume into the hiring manager’s hands than to submit your resume in response to advertised job openings (Think: Networking! Networking! Networking!). Statistically, it has been said that only 2% - 4% of jobs are acquired through jobs advertised on job boards. It is still worthwhile to use this job search method – just don’t spend most or all of your time doing so (as so many people do). Keep in mind you will increase your chances of success by posting to specific company websites and targeted job boards.

However, before posting your resume, it is important for you to know that your resume can be rejected before human eyes ever get the opportunity to see it.

Here’s how:

When you post your resume online, most large corporations rely on applicant tracking systems (ATS) to pre-filter resumes and pre-quality candidates. The systems work by searching through files based on keywords and key phrases and then mathematically scoring them for relevance. The ATS will deliver resumes that most closely fit job-specific search criteria pulling the most relevant to the top and sending them through for review.

The purpose of the ATS is to save HR Managers the time and bother of sorting through irrelevant, unqualified, weak resumes to find the best candidates - which means that you could be an extremely qualified candidate, but if your resume isn’t written properly, you could be disqualified before you ever get started in the job search game.

So, here’s what you should do to prevent your resume from being rejected by the ATS and into the hiring manager’s hands:

Include keywords and key phrases relevant to the position you’re targeting on your resume.

Two ways to find them are:

1)   Ask yourself - What skills, responsibilities, basic skills, licenses, certifications, etc. would the ideal candidate in my field possess? If you’re not sure, ask others in your field.

2)   Look for verb phrases and skills within the job description.

Also:

·      Be sure to incorporate keywords into your career history section as well; not just in the summary.

·      A word of caution: Don’t overdo it by cramming your resume with too many keywords.  It will not make the best impression if your resume does ultimately make it through to the hiring manager.

Create a plain text resume in addition to your regular resume.

While a uniquely designed resume with a bit of color and creative formatting might get you noticed and separate you from the hundreds of other applicants vying for the same position, this is not the time or place to submit that eye-catching resume.

Here are a few tips for creating a scannable, plain text resume for the ATS:

·      Use a standard font such as Arial, Courier or Times New Roman.

·      Send your resume as a Word 97-2003 (.doc) as many ATSs cannot read .docx, PDF, or RTF formats.

·      Eliminate all lines, shading, unusual characters such as foreign letters, symbols or accented letters.

·      Do not include text boxes, tables, page breaks or columns.

·      Do not underline or use italics.

Nix the Spelling Errors.

It is safe to say that you should NEVER have any spelling errors on your resume! (A recruiter recently told me about a candidate he recommended for one of his openings who made this fatal mistake.  After several rounds of interviews, the hiring company had narrowed down their choices to his candidate and one other applicant but disqualified his solely due to the fact that she had spelling errors on her resume!)

The ATS will disqualify you if you have spelling errors simply because it will be unable to understand what you intended to write. So it is absolutely essential for you to make sure your resume is error free. Be sure to read it over multiple times, and perhaps give it to a trusted friend for a second opinion. You may even want to read it backwards to make absolutely sure it’s correct!

Bottom line, job seekers need to have a resume that will pass through the ATS in order to make it through to the person who has the decision-making power. The way to impress that person is to have a strategic, well-written, branded, powerful resume that showcases your achievements – that resume will get you called in for an interview so that you can move onto the next phase of the job search to ultimately land the job.