I’ve got a lot of posts in the works but haven’t been able to finish them up due to a sick little tyke in the house. Sick kids are the worst, I mean he’s been great, a perfect champ about it, it’s just the dealing with it [fevers waking everyone to watch Kung Fu Panda at 4 a.m. and wait for them to go down] that is rough. Sitting in M.D. waiting rooms for over an hour with sick kid is the ultimate in purgatory, other than the real purgatory, if such thing should exist, and if it doesn’t, well I’m going to say that the waiting room is good enough to count.
One of my tasks at work is to find and hire our volunteer interns and other staff. There has been nothing better for my career than this position – reviewing hundreds of candidates on paper and less but a significant amount in person to find out what it is that makes one a good candidate, one who gets interviews, one who gets the job.
So, from that, here are my tips on resumes and cover letters:
1. Present Yourself Properly.
Every resume should come with a cover letter and vice versa unless your resume is so damn clear about why you are a perfect fit that it reads as a persuasive argument itself. Practice point: It won’t. Unless you go to Harvard or Yale and your last three positions were perfect build-ups to the position you are applying for, it absolutely won’t be enough. Write out a proper cover letter, in proper format as you should have been taught in elementary, include it in it’s own document or in the same document as your resume. Limit your resume to one page unless you are really, really experienced and tailor the experiences you’ve had to fit the position for which you are applying. Always proof read your letter to make sure you’ve addressed all of it to the right person, position, and organization.
In a competitive city like New York, and these days, every position everywhere is becoming competitive, a failure to cover these basics can get your application thrown out before any of the substance of it is considered. You can skip references or a writing sample and get away with it, but not a great cover and resume.
2. Tailor Yourself Like a Finely Crafted Italian Suit.
Your letter should be a quick, clear and compelling argument about why you are the perfect fit for the position. Make it easy on HR (or me) by just getting to the point. Explain why you are personally interested in our position at our organization and how your experience is going to make you a great employee. Cover the main points of this – not every detail. The interview is for detail. Your cover letter should show you understand 1. who you are, and 2. who we are, and 3. how we are a great match. It should be one page unless you are writing really well and it’s an organization that appreciates earnestness. I’ve let just a couple two pagers sneak in.
Practice Point: If you cannot succinctly make a compelling argument about why you are the best candidate for the job, the person reviewing your application is not going to do it for you either. Take the time to practice explaining to yourself why you are the best and then put that argument down for your future employer.
Well, I could go on, but these are my main criteria and I need to get back to work to start scheduling interviews. I sort out all applications based on these issues before delving into real substance and ranking applicants that way. Do I perhaps miss qualified candidates because they didn’t present themselves well? Yes and no. There may be great people who could do the job just fine, but if they can’t present themselves well then on one important level they aren’t yet qualified. If I had only ten applications to review, the benefit of the doubt might come into play, but in a competitive market where there are 200 applications for every one position, BOD is inapplicable.
Well, anyways, much love to you as you enter the weekend. We are going to emerge from our hibernation and take Gael to the Met for his first high cultural experience (hope he stays awake) and Uncle Mike is going to take Rome to his first movie. I hope he picks Rin Tin Tin over Girl with the Dragon Tattoo because, I mean, he’s only two and really should see the original series first.
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Great post! I’m going to make Scott read this. I have been interviewing a lot of people recently too, but I don’t think I have received even one cover letter in the 50 plus applicants. But I think you make a good point in that if you can’t clearly communicate why you are the best candidate for the job in a few paragraphs, neither can the person hiring you.
I also think of finding a job as a numbers game. If every job you are applying to has 30 candidates of similar experience (which is becoming the norm nowadays), then you need to apply / interview with at least 30 open positions to get just one job offer. And, ideally, you want more than one job offer.
I read this post when you wrote it, and came back to it as I was forming a cover letter of my own to make sure I hit all the right keys. Thanks for the great advice!