The First Cut is the Deepest

The resume is, clearly, one of the most important parts of any job search. When deciding whether you’re a good enough fit to spend time interviewing, recruiters base that decision on that document above all else. Words on a page can get you in the door, or they can close it forever. But does your resume get you screened in, or screened out?

Screened in? Or screened out?

Picture a recruiter sitting in an office diving into the responses to a recent job posting. There are 182 emails with resumes attached. The recruiter knows that realistically, he or she will have time to meet with maybe a dozen of those people. If recruiting is the person’s job, chances are there are at least several other roles they’re trying to fill (each with yet another tall stack of applications). If the person is a hiring manager, they’ve got their regular full-time job to do, and this is just an extra demand on their time. The only way to winnow 182 applicants down to 12 is to screen out as many of those applicants as possible … again, based on the resume and cover letter alone.

I tell you this to underscore one central point: every one of your job applications is being read with the intent of screening you out, not screening you in. This sounds harsh, possibly to the point of being mean. It’s not personal. It is a simple matter of time management, and it’s the truth.

I want you to know this because the way you prepare your applications can help you avoid being screened out, and I’ll tell you how. When I’m plowing through a large pile of applications, I’m keeping a mental ‘pro/con’ list for each one. It happens quickly, and it happens almost subconsciously. But it’s there, and if an application has too many checks in the ‘con’ column and not enough in the ‘pro’, it’s out. I don’t give it a second thought; I don’t have the time. Here are the four things I’m looking at, in the order I’m looking at them:

First impressions

‘You can’t judge a book by its cover’, the saying goes. Actually, yes. I can and I do. A resume is a candidate’s way of introducing themselves to me, and theoretically, should be the document through which they put their best foot forward. If an applicant hasn’t taken the time and effort to make this document look clean, clear and professional (appropriate to the kind of job they’re applying for), that tells me something about their commitment and attention to detail, and I don’t generally keep reading.

Experience, qualifications, and education

This is where I spend the most time. If specific education or training is absolutely required, I’ll look for that first, since if it’s not there it’s an easy ‘pass’. Then I’ll scan the jobs you’ve held, comparing them against the experience I’m looking for. If I see what I’m looking for – similar jobs, similar industry, a progression in responsibility – checks go into the mental ‘pro’ column.

Red flags

Assuming your background checks out, this is where I start actively looking for flaws. Are there any large gaps in your employment history? Are you a job-hopper that hasn’t stayed with any one company for very long? Looking more closely at the way you describe your experience, do you express yourself well? Are there any glaring spelling or grammar mistakes? No one of these is a deal-breaker, but each one is a check in the ‘con’ column. If they start to add up, I’m on to the next application.

Cover letter

Are you wondering if I put this out of order? I didn’t. Despite the name, a cover letter is the very last thing I look at in an application. I’m not alone in this, I’m just probably in a very small minority of people who will tell you. Cover letters are long and time-consuming to read. They probably don’t tell me anything I won’t read in your resume. So if I’m reading yours, it means I’ve already decided (based on your resume) that I’m probably going to interview you. So again (I hate to break it to you), in your cover letter I’m looking for reasons not to. Poor grammar or spelling mistakes, or something that indicates the cover letter was lazily copied-and-pasted from another application (don’t even ask me how many cover letters I’ve seen that were addressed to a different person, or naming a different job title or company). A ‘tone’ that suggests that you might not be a good fit. Conditions or restrictions that would make the job a stretch in some way. Any of these might be the reason I choose to hit ‘delete’ and move on.

Consider this ‘tough love’. I’m telling you the hard truth because I really want your applications to make the cut.

Look critically at your resumes and cover letters, especially those four areas I’m looking at. Are you giving a recruiter enough reasons to say yes, and as few as possible to say no?

 

 

Photo by Rubén Bagüés on Unsplash