Foot In The Door Getting The Interview

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Foot In The DoorGettingThe Interview
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The Facts

• Cisco Systems Job page gets 500,000 visits per
  month
  
• Microsoft gets more than 12,000 resumes per
  month
  
• American Express screens 3,500 resumes monthly
• 10,000 Web sites offer job postings.
• More than 1.5 million resumes online.
• 30 percent of Internet users are looking for a
  job online
  

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Types of Organizational Fit

• Person-Job Fit
• Degree to which the applicant has the necessary
  knowledge, skills and abilities and competencies
  to do the job functions
  
• Person-Organizational Fit
• Degree to which the applicant matches the values,
  beliefs and ethics of the culture.
  
• Person-Group Fit
• Degree to which individual fits within a work
  group.
  

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Sequential Selection Process
Stage 2 Selection Reasons to Accept Person- O
rganizational Fit
Risk Averse
Stage 1 Screening Reasons to Reject Person-Jo
b Fit
Risk-Seeking
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Purpose of the ResumeAnd Job Letter

• Applicant perspective
• To demonstrate you meet or exceed minimum
  qualifications
  
• To highlight key competencies
• To separate your resume from the masses
• To get your foot in the door
• To demonstrate value-added attributes
• To Sell Your
• Personal Brand

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Purpose of the ResumeAnd Job Letter

• Employer Perspective
• To assess whether candidates possesses minimum
  qualifications
  
• To narrow down applicant pool
• To identify inconsistencies or gaps in
  employment history
  
• To determine if people are lying about their
  credentials
  

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Accredit Your Job Worth

• Cover Letter
• Summary of Qualifications
• Links to Specific Company
• Resume
• Functional AND Chronological
• Specific, vivid adjectives
• Concrete Examples
• Portfolio
• Executive Briefings
• Code Samples
• Planning Documents
• Class Report

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Potential Resume Components

• Identification and Contact Information
• Career Objective (optional)
• Key Competencies
• Work Experience
• Education
• Honors (optional)
• Life Experiences/ Interests/Community Involvement

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Types of Resumes

• Chronological
• Functional
• Combination
• Electronic

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Chronological

• Job by job listing of each job you've held
  starting with your most recent job and going
  backwards.
  
• Strong work history
• Worked for each employer 2 years or more
• Only a few gaps of only a few months between each
  job.
  
• Several years of employment in the field or type
  of position you seek.
  
• Positions show job growth.

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Samples Employment

• 1992-1997 Oliver Health Services (Oliver
  Corporation)
  
• Generated 5 million in annual revenue for
  Northwest branch.
  
• Positioned Oliver to win new contracts worth 16
  million in annual revenue.
  
• Sold high tech home health care services
  including disease management and early discharge
  programs, acute and chronic infusion therapies,
  high risk women and pediatric health programs.
  Client domain included managed care
  organizations, hospitals and physicians
• Success Award Winner for exceeding performance
  targets
  
• 1996 President's Club Award Winner (Top 20 of
  sales personnel)
  

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Functional/Skill-Based

• Uses skill headings but does not include a work
  history.
  
• A functional/combination resume uses skill
  headings but also includes a work history.
  
• Erratic work history.
• Gaps in employment.
• Short work history
• Making a career change and your past work history
  and job titles don't match your job objective or
  salary level.

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Samples Key Competencies

• Medical
• 15 years of medical sales experience in the
  managed care, hospital, physician group and
  pharmaceutical markets
  
• Sales Prospecting .
• Positioned Oliver to win two prestigious
  contracts worth 16 million in revenue for
  Northwest branch office.
  
• Successfully led roll-out of Collastate
  Homeostatic Sponge and led entire region in
  total sales (5.5 million)
  
• Customer Relations
• Excellent client relations skill leading to
  broad-based and long term relationships.
  
• Teamed with physicians to conducted client
  assessment and follow-up analysis to develop
  customized stimulators

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On-Line Resume

• Electronic Mail
• Plain Text (.txt) -- ASCII only files
• Rich-text (.rtf)
• Hypertext (.html)
• Compressed files
• Electronic Forms
• Personal Web pages
• Scannable Resumes
• Your own domain name
• Personal homepage

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On-Line Resume

• E-mail Address
• WildOne versus JaneSmith
• Signature
• Easy to spell
• Avoid Cutesy
• Your own domain name
• Personal homepage

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Elements Of Your Resume

• Heading
• Objective (if desired)
• Core Competencies
• Employment data
• Key functions
• Job Skills
• Accomplishments/ awards
• Education and Training
• Personal Data
• Qualification Summary

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The Buzzword Resume

• Use the buzzwords to solidify your standing in
  the Industry
  
• Developed JIT inventory control system using
  A-B-C hierarchical
  
• Use their buzz words
• Terms in advertisements
• Homepage
• Mission Statements
• (e.g. evangelist, guru, independent contributor)

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Individualize Resume

• Use a customer driven approach
• Individualized For EACH Company
• Insure you have clearly delineated that you meet
  the companys minimum qualification
  
• (e.g. 3 years C experience)

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Quantify Accomplishments

• Include specific concrete numbers
• Numbers (10 increase, staff of 15)
• Dollars (1 million),
• Percentages ( 15 increase, Up 125)

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Original Job History

• Experience
• Manager, Freddies Readymart, Nanhassett, NY
• Supervised employees, trained cashiers.
  Responsible for inventory control. (1992)
  
• Manager, K-Mart Stores, Long Island City, NY
• Responsible for camera department, hired
  employees and supervised night shift (1991)
  
• Distribution supervisor, ABC Stores, Ithaca, NY
• Oversaw all deliveries to 17 stores. Controlled 7
  truck drivers. Assisted customers ( 1990-1991)
  

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• Experience
• Manager, Freddies Readymart, Nanhassett, NY
• Hiring, firing and staffing authority for 5
  full-time and 22 part-time employees. Designed
  and delivered 8 hour in house training for
  cashiers. Coordinated inventory control system
  10,000 SKU items. Weekly sales of 100,000
  in1999.
• Accomplishments
• Increased customer satisfaction ratings by 3
  points in five months.
  
• Reduced shrinkage by 25 in a six month period.
• Received commendation for store cleanliness.
• Increased weekly sales by 50

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Two Words Not to Use

• Entry Level

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Dont Lie

• Lie or Exaggerate
• Ward Howells executive search firm found that
  among executive candidates
  
• 65 lie about their academic credentials
• 43 lied about job responsibilities
• 42 lied about previous compensation
• University of Pittsburgh found
• 29-35 of medical students lied about research,
  presentations and articles.
  

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Cover Letter

• Proper Business Format
• Crisp and clean, no spelling errors
• Addressed to a specific person
• Original letter with specific reference to the
  company
  
• Provides relevant information
• Summary of your skills
• Concrete example of value added
• Sells your brand to the reader?
• Impress reviewer with applicants focus
• Clears up any questions from resume

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Include Quotes

• Personal Statement
• The secret of success is consistency of
  purpose
  
• To exist is to change, to change is to mature,
  to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly
  - Henry Bergson
  
• We are what we believe we are.
• If you win the rat race, you are still a rat.
• Quotes from References
• Tom is the brightest student I have ever known
• Ally always completed projects on schedule --
  even the toughest ones
  

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The Postscript Technique

• Highlight a marketable skill by adding a
  postscript
  
• P.S. I was the first intern at The Boeing
  Corporation to be named employee of the month.
  And I won it not once but three times. I am
  looking forward to bringing the same level of
  commitment to you at High Flyers.com

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Life Experiences Section

• Employers want people who are well rounded and
  have diverse interests
  
• People like people who are like themselves.
• Conversation starter
• Samples
• Won Best in Show at the superbowl of dogdom, the
  Westminster Dog show with Scottish Terrier Ch.
  Gaelforce Postscript
  
• Correspondent for the National Enquirer
• Avid runner. Successfully completed 5 marathons.
  Improved personal best time each run.
  

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• Accredit Your Qualifications
• Gives a Competitive Advantage
• Demonstrates Creativity
• A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

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• CD ROM or disk containing examples of your work
• Business Plan or analysis
• Class Project (e.g. Compensation study, executive
  briefing)
  
• Computer code,
• Power point presentation
• Product Design
• Web page (make sure it is perfect and links
  work)
  
• Fleshed out example of your solution to a
  particular problem

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Appearance Of Resume

• Are there spelling errors?
• Is everything in proper tense?
• Is it printed on good quality bond with matching
  envelope and cover letter
  
• Is the printing readable?
• Does it provide relevant information?
• Does it ramble?
• Are the entries consistent?
• Overall cleanliness, legibility?

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Did They Really Say That?

• "Please note that I have a Fortune 500
  pedigree."
  
• "Worked in hospital as a candy striper."
• "Great eye for derail.
• "Currently unemployed because of self-inflicted
  toe sprain."
  
• "I have incredibly entertaining hair."
  
  
• "Education Some."
• "Responsible for all customer complaints."
• "Finished eighth in my class of ten."
• "References none. I've left a path of
  destruction behind me."
  
• "Sex often. Marital status often. Children
  various."
  
• "It's best for employers that I not work with
  people."
  
• "Wholly responsible for two (2) failed financial
  institutions."
  
• "Reason for leaving last job maturity leave.
• "Note Please don't misconstrue my 14 jobs as
  'job-hopping'. I have never quit a job."
  
• "The company made me a scapegoat, just like my
  three previous employers."
  
• "I have an excellent track record, although I am
  not a horse."