Another in our series of blog posts designed to help you (recruiters and hiring managers) help candidates. You don't have time to give every candidate an 'Applying For Jobs 101' tutorial - just send them this link!
It's been a while since the last installment of Egregiously Bad Candidates, but the past week or two has seen a sharp increase in the number of unsolicited emails from job-seekers who don't know the cardinal rule of applying for jobs: Imagine you're reading this letter/resume for the very first time. Does it really communicate what you want it to?
Sometimes when you close a door, you should close the window, too
We've all been there: You're unemployed/about to be unemployed, the job market is depressed, and you're starting to panic. You're at the point where you're ready to take 'anything' as long as the salary meets your basic living expenses, and you're worried that if your resume and cover letter are too specific, you'll lose out on other opportunities.
But it doesn't really work that way.
PROTIP: If no one in the office can figure out what it is you do, it's unlikely we can help you find somewhere to do it
Today's gem:
TO: info@head2head
FROM: [name redacted]
Hello,
For the past 17 years, I have enjoyed working in the financial and education industries servicing various other industries while gaining valuable experience and knowledge in such areas as P&L management, product development, sales and marketing, strategic planning/execution, product pricing, team building and negotiation amongst external clients and internal departments....As an impact player who has had a history of success at every level, I look forward to working with you and your staff in finding my next success story....
OBJECTIVE: Senior management position - Plan, organize, and direct through a management team business development/operation activities and initiatives utilizing my executive management experiences with developed abilities in team leadership, strategic visioning and P&L management. This will contribute to enhancing profitable sales volume through process and performance improvements while maintaining customer satisfaction.
Salary Expectation: $110k - $170k plus incentives depending upon the overall package and level of challenge.
Um...but what is it you do, exactly?
The more vague you are about your skills, experience and desired job, the more difficult it is for a recruiter or potential employer to understand just how you'd fit into the organization and how you'd contribute to overall business goals.
A $60,000 salary range just makes you look desperate
You (the job-seeker) may think that using a range like this will make you look senior ("By saying $170k at the top end they'll know I'm a senior executive!"), flexible ("There are more jobs at the $110k level so I don't want to lose out on those opportunities!") and not entirely motivated by money ("A big range shows that I will consider the right opportunities, not just big paycheques!").
Not so much.
What the recruiter sees in a range like that is someone who (a) doesn't really know the marketplace for their skills/experience; (b) probably doesn't have a realistic grasp of their value in the market; and (c) is so desperate for work that they'll basically take anything.
1 interview for the perfect job is more effective than 25 discarded applications
Job-hunting really isn't a numbers game, especially at the senior levels.
Spending 4 hours refining your resume and cover letter for one specific job (for which you know you'd be a perfect fit) will always generate better results than spending 16 hours sending generic resumes and cover letters to hundreds of jobs for which you aren't really a good fit.
And here's another thing to consider: Applying to hundreds of jobs per day without getting a single response is more demoralizing than only applying to one or two jobs per day!