Will Your Resume Make it Past a Spam Filter?

Happy New Year...long time no post. For the first time in several years I took some actual time away from work, writing, and blogging for the holidays. It was a little difficult to stay away from the computer but I know my husband, family, and friends appreciated it. It felt great to take a break but it also feels good to get back to work.

I found a website, Sparklist, that is really for reviewing newsletters for words that will trip up the spam blocker feature on most email programs but it occurred to me that it could be used for resumes too. Try cutting and pasting your resume into the review section of this site to see if there are any words in the document that might cause it to be tagged by spam blocker when you email it to a recruiter or hiring manager. I have never heard of a resume being blocked but you never know and this website is easy to use and free so it couldn't hurt to check.

Holiday Happiness

A year ago I wrote the following post which I think is just as appropriate today as it was last year. Sadly the subject of this post, Art Kaminshine, passed away on December 6, 2008 which means that the world just became a little less fun and interesting. I thought that as a tribute to Art I would re-run the post from December 4, 2007. Rest in peace Art, we will will miss you. And thank you for making life fun, happy, and inclusive for those in your orbit.

Why I Love The Holidays

Yesterday (Dec 3, 2007) I read a post by Penelope Trunk at Brazen Careerist that got me thinking about the holidays. Penelope's post, which got more than 100 comments, is about not being Christian and living in a country (the U.S.) which openly celebrates Christmas. Her post was pretty curmudgeonly but I see her point...if you don't celebrate Christmas (for whatever reason) the holidays can probably be a little annoying. However, I think that if you adjust your attitude you can find joy in the holiday season. Let me explain.

I know a man named Art Kaminshine who lives in a small town in central Oklahoma. He is Jewish and the CEO of a company called ESECO. Art is a jovial and welcoming person who, seemingly, has never met a stranger. He also has a unique company policy to celebrate any and all holidays. Yep, you heard right...they celebrate any and every holiday they can think of at ESECO but not necessarily with days off of work. Anyone who wants to arrange a celebration just organizes a potluck lunch in the break room and all are welcome. It's really fun and doesn't take time away from work since everyone breaks for lunch anyway. I attended one for (I think) Chinese New Year but it could have been Thanksgiving...I just don't recall. It was festive and fun and they had chili with Fritos which isn't a traditional meal for any known holiday except football season in the south. Art sees the value in getting his team together to have fun and holidays provide an opportunity to do just that.

I love the holidays because it gives me an opportunity (an excuse if you will) to reach out to my clients, recruiters with whom I partner, and people I would like to work with. The holidays are a built-in reason to send nice notes either via email or paper cards that say, "Hello, I am thinking of you." It's true that people get a lot of cards during the season and that maybe yours will get lost in the shuffle. But I don't think of it that way. I write nice personalized notes in my cards and I often include an Ultimate Resumes notepad as a gift. Based on the number of relationships I have built and maintained for many years, I have no reason to think that holiday cards aren't part of an effective marketing communications strategy.

I also love the holidays because almost everyone takes the time to break for a drink or dinner or to meet up at a party which presents great networking opportunities. During the rest of the year we all get so busy that sometimes it's hard to find the time to socialize just for fun. But things slow down during the end of November all the way through December so I find that people are willing to take a longer lunch or make time to have a few laughs. It has been my experience that people like to do business with people they like so if you can get to know potential clients you have an advantage over your competition.

If you have some problem with the holiday season either because you don't celebrate Christmas or because you object to the blatant and overzealous consumer marketing that retailers engage in this time of year -- don't waste your time being irritated because it won't change anything. Go with the flow and make the season work for you. Enjoy the day off for Christmas and spend that day doing something meaningful to you. Take advantage of the fact that others have some free time on their hands and make a new friend or business contact. Or spend the time getting ahead on your own work.

Take the opportunity to find joy any way you can during the holiday season and remember that every country has some version of our holiday season built into their culture. We all need time to rest, recharge, reconnect with our colleagues, be generous with our neighbors, and to be thankful for all that we have.

Seven Things You Need to Know About Recruiters

I am always amazed at the animosity that many job seekers have toward recruiters. In some cases it’s justified because there are some slimy recruiters out there simply because there are no certifications or specialized education required to become a recruiter. Anyone can call themselves a recruiter and some of the folks who do are not particularly talented or professional.

With that said there are some amazing recruiters out there who are great at sourcing and placing top talent in great jobs. In order to work with recruiters and not get frustrated when they don’t behave as you, the job seeker, think they should it’s important to understand a few things about the role recruiters play in the hiring process.

Seven things you need to know:

1. Recruiters have tough jobs.

Most recruiters are contracted by, and nominally report to, an HR representative within whatever company they are recruiting for. Sometimes elite recruiters who are hired by a Board of Directors or a CEO to find a senior leader for the company report directly to the hiring authority. But most of the time HR is the liaison between the recruiter and hiring manager. Most companies give recruiters a very big “wish list” for their candidates because they figure that if they have to pay a fee to find a new employee the recruiter had better find them the perfect candidate. Also understand that HR people are, for the most part, overworked and under appreciated by their employers simply because they are overhead and, as such, do not generate revenue. So, HR people can be very hard on the recruiters they have contracted because, lets face it, crap rolls downhill.

Recruiters spend their days trying to find the absolute perfect candidates for their client while managing sometimes impossible client expectations. If you are a candidate who has been frustrated that a recruiter won’t present you to his/her client for a job for which you are not a perfect fit you should try to look at it from the recruiter’s point of view. He/she may have marching orders from the client that just don’t allow him/her to take chances on candidates who don’t match the exact specifications set forth by the client.

2. Recruiters don’t work for you – they work for client companies who pay their retainer/commission.

If you have every wondered why recruiters don’t call you back or don’t seem particularly interested in your career interests this is why. Recruiters get paid to find people for companies, not the other way around.

3. Recruiters aren’t babysitters or therapists.

Recruiters don’t want to hear a sob story about your mean boss or your personal problems. They want to hear carefully crafted and well-prepared answers to interview questions that are appropriate for a job interview. Share too much information and you will be labeled a basket case and loose cannon. Recruiters can’t take the chance that you will show up for an interview and act like an idiot so if you seem overly emotional and/or share inappropriate information you may not get to interview at all.

4. Recruiters aren’t resume writers.

If you have a poorly written resume a recruiter will probably just pass over you but a few of them might be willing to give you tips or feedback on the document. But you can’t expect them do more than that. Get your resume in order before sending it to a recruiter even if that means asking for extra time before you send it along. It could mean the difference between getting a great job and being an also-ran.

5. Recruiters aren’t career coaches.

See point #2. Recruiters are paid to find talent not coach it. If you have run into some career roadblocks and you aren’t sure why, don’t ask a recruiter, hire a career coach instead. Jason Alba has a great list of career coaches on his blog and I have a list of coaches whom I partner with and vouch for on my website if you need assistance in finding a coach.

6. Recruiters, like everyone else, understand quid pro quo.

Don’t wait until the economy has gone sour or you are about to be fired to try to build a relationship with a recruiter. Any networking guru will tell you to build your network before you need it and that applies to recruiters too. If you aren’t looking for a job and you get a call from a recruiter, listen and do your best to connect him/her with any of your contacts who might be appropriate for the job he/she is trying to fill. You won’t be forgotten, especially if you are sincere in your efforts and you facilitate a personalized introduction between the recruiter and your contact.

7. The time to meet and get to know a recruiter is BEFORE you need a job.

See point #6. Build relationships and do good deeds before you ever need to ask for help and you will find that when you do ask for assistance that it will be given to you happily.

Leave Subjective Statements off Your Resume

Are you someone who includes subjective descriptions of your skills, personal attributes or competencies on your resume? If so this post is for you.

How many people do you think would describe themselves as any one of the following?

Great team player
Strong communicator
Great leader
High integrity

The answer is pretty much everyone. The funny thing is that I have met very few actual team players in my professional life so when someone lists “great team player” on a resume I automatically skip over that statement and look for something that is backed up by verifiable metrics.

When you look at as many resumes as recruiters (both in-house and headhunters) do every day you tend to discount the subjective statements that you see on most resumes. So, even though you may have high integrity and you might be a strong team player there is just no point in listing that information on your resume unless you can back it up with some kind of meaningful description or, better yet, metrics.

For example, if you want to demonstrate that you are a team player or a strong team leader you could write something like this:

Led a team of 10 engineers to develop a software product (better to name the product) from concept to launch in 7 months; project completed 2 months ahead of schedule. The product has generated $5 million in revenue to date.

When I read that statement I think to myself, “OK, this person might be a legitimate team player because he/she was able to lead a successful collaborative and complex development project. How do I know it was successful? Because the project was completed ahead of schedule and has generated revenue for the company. You could make this even stronger if you included ROI or indicate that revenue exceeded projections.

More examples, these related to communication skills:

Increased employee morale by 10% within 6 months by leading fully integrated internal communications efforts utilizing a newly launched employee web portal, newsletters, and town hall meetings.

Managed a media relations campaign to launch a new community development program and which garnered media coverage in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Economist.

A lot of resumes also contain lists of “core competencies”. An example of a list of core competencies that I have seen on a resume:

Marketing, Public Relations, Brand Management, Business Development, Sales.

What does this list mean? Are you good at marketing or did you take a class one time? Are you an expert at public relations? If so, give me an example of a campaign you led. Are you a good brand manager who can generate revenue through the sale of B2C products in major retail stores? If so, I want to talk to you. But just dropping a few words on a resume without putting them in context is useless because it doesn’t tell the reader anything about your level of skill or depth of experience. And that is what recruiters and hiring managers want to know about you.

Most recruiters have the same reaction to list of competencies as they do all other subjective information….they skip it. If you want a hiring manager to know that you are a skilled marketer you need to demonstrate that with clearly articulated accomplishments, not by just listing marketing at the top of your resume.

Other things to leave off your resume:

Personal statements/life philosophy
Religious beliefs
Information about your family
Hobbies

If you want your resume to be taken seriously you should only include work related information that you can back up with specific examples, preferably with metrics. Also, keep personal information to a minimum – you may think that if you mention that you are an avid quilter, a collector of model trains, or that you enjoy reading that you will personalize yourself for interviewers. However, that information just takes up space that would be better used to describe your accomplishments.

Having said that, if you have accomplished something that is truly world class it might be worth mentioning because everyone wants to hire a superstar. Some examples include: climbed Mount Everest, completed 10 Ironman Triathlons, or spent 6 months in Namibia volunteering with Doctors without Borders. However, I would recommend only including hobbies or activities you worked hard to accomplish and that demonstrate tenacity, intelligence, or perseverance.

Stay Engaged, Maintain Your Sanity, and Ensure Employability

It‘s not news that many people around the U.S. have been laid off and many more are concerned about job security. I was talking to my friend Scott Ingram about this situation the other day and Scott mentioned a great piece of advice that he gives to folks who have lost jobs: when you aren’t actively job searching use the time you used to spend working to volunteer for a cause that is meaningful to you. Keeping busy while meeting new people is a great way to keep your spirits up while also networking and showcasing some of your skills in a non-aggressive way.

I know someone who was fired from a job about 6 or 7 years ago. I don’t really know the circumstances of the job loss but I know it was emotional for this person whom I will refer to as “Z”. Z was/is single and had saved a lot of money so he was able to live for about 2 years off savings and by selling stock. He said he was looking for a job and I even redid his resume in such a way that it wasn’t obvious that he was unemployed. For some reason he was never able to find a job; I don’t know if he was even searching for a job but he says he was. He claimed to have even submitted applications at places like Loews and Home Depot but he still had no luck finding a job.

Over the past few years Z has become increasingly isolated, has given up things he used to enjoy (like going to movies), has gained a lot of weight, is probably an alcoholic, and has become bitter, angry, and is, frankly, no fun to be around. As far as I can tell he is no longer looking for a job and is just living off his father; of course he has no money of his own after being unemployed for so long. Z spends all his time alone with his dog. At age 36 it seems like a ridiculous (and preventable) situation for Z to find himself in.

I am relating this story because I think that what happened to Z could happen to almost anyone who lets him or herself get depressed about a job loss (or any traumatic incident). Z’s depression has happened in increments. When he left his job he was sad but he was excited about taking a little time off from what had been a tiring and demanding job. But he spent too much time alone, was not engaged in his community, did not have a group of friends to turn to for support, did not have any particular hobbies or interests, and he stopped taking care of himself.

Eventually, like a snowball rolling down a hill, circumstances and behaviors have culminated in Z becoming an isolated, angry individual who’s technical and social skills have atrophied to the point that he is probably unemployable.

Don’t let this happen to you. Take Scott’s advice and, if you are laid off, get out of the house and volunteer at any nonprofit you can find. Soup kitchens, churches, food banks, meals-on-wheels, animal rescue, or women’s shelters – pick the worthy cause of your choice. Extroverts will find this easier and more fun than many introverts will but whether you are a "people person" or not you have to force yourself to get yourself engaged with other people when you are unemployed. If you don't you could easily slide into a depression which will make it impossible for you to find a job.

Don’t be embarrassed that you lost a job – it happens to everyone at some point. Spend some time each day engaged in a job search and networking but also try to step away from your worries for a little while and offer help to others. You will distract yourself from your situation and you will also find that whatever your troubles there is someone else in the world worse off than you are. You will be able to practice acts of kindness while meeting other people who may wind up becoming friends or who might know of job leads for you.

Resist the temptation to isolate yourself and wallow in self pity. When times are tough you need a support group of some sort to help you keep your sanity. Volunteering is a great way to build a network and support system while helping others.

Be Generous With Your Network When Times Are Tough

I graduated college nearly 20 years ago and since then I have witnessed many ups and downs in our economy. It has been my observation that when times are good some people are more willing to extend themselves to others than they are when the economy is not so strong. I have noticed this particularly when it comes to networking because I make it a practice to try to connect my clients and friends with any of my contacts who might be able to help them in their job searches. And by "contacts" I mean recruiters, professional colleagues, former co-workers, personal friends, acquaintances, and individuals for whom I have done favors in the past.

When the economy is strong it seems that my contacts are more willing to engage in phone conversations or even meet with job seekers whom I refer to them. [I should mention that I don't make random referrals - referrals are always well thought out are are appropriately introduced once permission is obtained.] On the other hand when people start to fear for their jobs or when the economy heads downhill it seems that they become reluctant to take any time to talk to people who are in the job market. My theory is that when people don't know of any job openings they can feel uncomfortable about talking to someone who is looking for a job. I am not sure why this is but it's a trend I have noticed and I don't like it.

From personal experience I have found that when you extend yourself, even in a small way, to someone who needs a job you have made a friend for life. When I was a recruiter at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago back in 1990, many years before I started my resume writing business, I used to rewrite resumes for good candidates who walked in the door with badly written resumes. To this day, many of those people are still my friends and colleagues. I also returned all candidate phone calls including the dreaded rejection phone calls that I hated making. You know what? I found that while no one likes to hear that they won't be getting a job offer they would rather have a definitive answer than to be ignored.

I also used to refer good candidates who didn't receive offers from my company to contacts in other companies - you can't imagine how appreciative candidates were for a 2 minute phone call that I made on their behalf. A couple of those candidates have become very rich, successful, and powerful in their respective industries and guess what? They still remember a small kindness in stark contrast to other folks who ignored them or treated them disrespectfully when they were in need of a little help. Now that I have my own business, those people who had nothing to offer me back in 1990 but whom I treated with respect and kindness, send me many referrals.

These days a lot of people are nervous about the economy in general and their jobs in particular so they are starting to get their resumes together. Some people are also just starting to network which, of course, they should have been doing when times were good. But since they didn't I guess they have to start somewhere.

I have recently tried to connect a couple of my clients with some of my connections and my emails have either been ignored or I have gotten a reply that says something like this, "No, I don't want to talk to your client because I don't really know of any jobs in accounting right now. I think I was just lucky when I got my job recently. Sorry." This really annoys me because the contacts to whom I am referring are people whom I have connected with members of my network when they needed it. Quid pro quo my friends.

That is really what is driving this post. When times are tough you have to make the time to help others if you can. If you don't who do think will help you when you are in need? What comes around really does go around.

Yes, its tough to talk to someone who wants to work for your company when there are no job openings. But so what? You aren't responsible for creating jobs...all you have to do is listen and spend few minutes sharing whatever you know about your company or the job market or whatever it is the job seeker is asking about. You are just one link in the chain of contacts and information that a job seeker is gathering on his/her way to finding a new job.

Take the time (even if you think you don't have information to share) to be as helpful as you can to job seekers referred to you. Most of the time you will find that your 15 minute investment was time well spent. People in need are very grateful for the help they get and they often have very long memories.

Who Do You Think You Are Fooling?

Every once in awhile someone tells me what they want done with their resume and I just shake my head in wonder. I am referring to folks who think that with a little sleight of hand they can fool recruiters into thinking that their work experience, employers, or education are something other than what their resume says it is. The truth? You are nuts if you think you can really fool recruiters.

Here are some examples:

Example A
One client who had never worked in "Green Energy" in her life wanted her resume to include a list 10 or 15 seminars she attended (she wasn't a speaker, mind you, just an attendee) that were related to green energy. Her rationale? She figured that if she kept the seminars on the resume that recruiters would consider her qualified for positions in green energy. Her real problem? Her job is in sales but she couldn't tell me any of her sales goals/quotas over the past few years -- but she wanted her resume to claim that she exceeded quota every year.

It seemed to me that she was trying to perform a magical illusion and try to focus recruiters away from the fact that there was no substance to her resume. She didn't want readers to focus on the fact that she had no numbers to back up her claims of sales excellence -- she wanted them to focus on her supposed expertise in green energy. What she didn't realize is that recruiters have seen every magic trick in the book and are very alert to a resume that lacks substance.

I pointed out that (a) if you are a sales person and you list "exceeded quota" on your resume you can bet that any recruiter will ask the obvious question, "What was your quota and by how much did you exceed it?" and (b) No recruiter will think that a list of seminars you attended in a field other than your own makes you qualified for a career change.

Example B
Another client started her career in technology and worked her way up to a position of responsibility within a large and reputable tech firm. About 5 years ago this client decided to get out of tech and sell residential real estate because she figured that was the way to get really rich. She was very good at real estate sales and made a lot of money...until our recent mortgage crash. Now she wants to get back into technology. After we created her resume she wanted to leave off the names of the real estate firms she had worked for and replace the firm names with SALES AND MARKETING PROFESSIONAL. But, of course, she couldn't leave off the name of the reputable technology company at which she started her career so, therefore, the formatting/information placement on the resume would have been confusing and weird.

This client wanted her resume to be inconsistent in its formatting to try to hide the fact that she had been selling real estate for the past 5 years. I pointed out that simply by reading her job description and sales accomplishments any recruiter would see that she had worked in real estate...a smoke screen won't work. Ultimately, for the resume, we created the name of a sales/marketing consulting company for which my client is listed as "Owner" (she can create an official corporation if she wants) and listed the real estate jobs as sales consulting gigs. This isn't overtly lying because generally real estate sales is a commission job and she could, in fact, have created a corporation through which she was paid for her work. However, a smart recruiter is going to see that this client has been selling real estate for the past 5 years. Maybe my client will get calls for tech jobs or maybe she won't...but she needs to understand that her new resume won't fool anyone even though she is happier with the way her background is presented.

Example C
This is my favorite example and many people do this:

Just because you attended a continuing education class or executive education seminar at Harvard University doesn't mean you are a Harvard Grad. You aren't. And just because you list a Harvard University Executive Education class as the first of your educational credentials doesn't mean that anyone will think you were accepted at that school.

The fact is this: All of the top tier universities offer executive seminars and continuing education classes as a way to generate extra revenue and to give their professors additional exposure. These classes generally aren't highly selective, if your company wants to pay to send you to the class, Harvard will be happy to welcome you to campus. If your employer pays for you to attend one of these classes that is fantastic and you can certainly include it as "Continuing Education" or "Training" on your resume. But don't place the executive ed course above the actual university you attended and from which you earned your actual Bachelors, Masters, or other graduate degree. There is a difference between the degree you earned and any continuing education classes you may have taken - you won't fool anyone by combining them. And, in truth, after you have been in the workforce a few years no one really cares which school you earned your degree from - its your performance that counts.

So here are a few tips:

1. Think before you take the next step in your career. If you want to switch careers and sell widgets that is just fine but think about how you will explain that decision if and when you decide to return to your original career/industry. Recruiters are always open to rational and well-thought-out explanations for gaps on your resume or for non traditional career choices. But, don't try to pull one over on a recruiter because you run the risk that they will see through your "tricky" ways of presenting things on your resume and assume that you are a liar. If a recruiter sees something on your resume that raises a red flag the chances are excellent that the only communication you will receive is a rejection letter.

2. If you want to switch careers, create a resume that emphasizes any skills, responsibilities, and accomplishments in your previous jobs that are relevant to the new industry or job you are seeking. Don't do hokey things like list a bunch of books you read or seminars you attended that seem relevant to the new industry. That isn't to say that you can't discuss those things in an interview because you can and your attempts to learn about the new industry will be viewed positively. But the key is to make sure you look like a star in your current industry and to show the recruiter that you know which of your skills are transferable.

3. Be careful of presenting education or other academic credentials in such a way that it seems that you are pretending to be something other than you are.