How Should You Follow Up Your Resume Submittals?

A job search, like any other marketing effort, requires repeated product exposure to the buyer. For this reason follow-up efforts are critical to successfully obtaining interviews and ultimately landing the job. No matter how well your resume is written, the belief that submitting it will get you an interview with no further effort is a mistake that must be avoided.

Prior to obtaining any interview your follow-up should be by written correspondence (email, or snail mail if necessary). It is very difficult to make a meaningful connection by phone with the individual who has your resume that will effectively market you at this point in the process. A follow up letter will provide an opportunity to re-establish your marketing brand, reiterate your interest in the job, place your greatest strengths in front of the employer, and to ask for that interview once again. This must be done in a manner that avoids the appearance of repetition and maximizes your value to the employer.

A follow-up letter should be sent out (together with another copy of your resume) when you haven't heard from an employer within two weeks after submitting a resume and cover letter and you fit the open position very closely or a response was promised by the specific employer. You should repeat this action again after the fourth week unless you have received a rejection letter or the position has been closed.

Copyright © 2009, Michael G. Kelly

What good is a Cover Letter to Job Seekers?

Job seekers often send a resume out without a cover letter. This occurs frequently in today’s web search environment where resumes are sent out with a mouse click. This is perhaps because of the ease of sending out resumes quickly to many employers, causing an attitude or belief that a cover letter is unnecessary. Some Job seekers tend to wonder just how important it is to include a cover letter.

A cover letter is necessary for one simple reason: over 99% of resumes that are sent without a cover letter are discarded without even being read!

A cover letter differs functionally from a resume. While a resume is a document that provides a broad-based view of your entire career, the cover letter is much more specific and targeted. A cover letter is specifically designed to team up with your resume to get you an interview by highlighting your skills, experiences, and achievements; identifying your value to the specific organization; capturing the prospective employer's interest in you; and motivating that employer to invite you for an interview. It is an opportunity to sell your qualifications and successes, demonstrate your expertise, and create excitement and enthusiasm that places you above the competition.

The days of treating a cover letter as a mere formal request to review a resume and grant an interview are gone! Cover letters are an integral part of your self-marketing and branding to employers. Don’t send a resume without one!

Copyright © 2009 Michael G. Kelly

Content and Format Considerations for Resumes

Once a person sits down to write a resume there are two initial considerations that must be made in composing it. First, the writer must determine what to include in the resume. Second, the writer must determine how to effectively present the included content.

In order to determine what to place in a resume, the writer must determine the “personal branding” of the resume. Most job candidates write their resumes with little or no consideration of personal branding. Like a consumer product, your personal branding is the key to giving you a distinct competitive advantage in the job market. Personal branding depends on a number of considerations including the job sought, professional background, job history, age, skills, accomplishments, and personality.

Once you have determined content you must determine how to present it. Many of the same considerations for including content figure into its presentation. For example, if you have employment gaps you must deal with them in a way that de-emphasizes them, and emphasizes your strengths instead. Your personal brand is the key to formatting and must be established within 10 to 15 seconds. Your content must be consistent with your personal brand and answer the ultimate question each employer asks when scanning your resume: “WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?” This approach will allow your resume to avoid the circular file and get you into the interview room.

Copyright © 2009 Michael G. Kelly

Should You Write Your Own Resume?

A resume is a document that serves as a statement of your skills, qualifications and accomplishments to prospective employers. A resume is not a matter to be taken lightly. Resumes that simply list a summary of experience, responsibilities with each employer, and education credentials, are no longer sufficient to compete in today's job market. Your resume is perhaps the most important part of a comprehensive job search strategy to get you in front of employers that are appropriate for your level of knowledge, skill and accomplishment.

The decision regarding whether or not to write your own resume depends on your ability to effectively assess your strengths, abilities and experience, as well as your ability to communicate these qualities in an interesting and succinct manner to a potential employer. These factors mean more than producing a document that is without grammar or spelling errors that would otherwise disqualify you. It means grabbing an employer's attention within the 10 to 15 seconds they are initially willing to invest in scanning that resume by creating a desire in them to read further. Lastly, that further reading must sell the employer on calling you for an interview.

Even if you think you can do these things it may be advantageous to use a professional resume writer since professional resume writers write resumes for a living. Most people write their own resume only when they feel compelled to do so out of necessity (job loss or fear of the same, or job dissatisfaction). Finally, professional resume writers know what recruiters and employers are looking for. This is knowledge you can leverage.

Copyright © 2009, Michael G. Kelly