Tips help job seekers stand out from others in sea of candidates
Dear Sam: My son graduated in May and has yet to find his first career position.
We invested upward of $185,000 on his undergraduate and graduate-school education, and he stepped out of school with the same resume as every one of his peers. He completed three internships during his academic journey, held two different part-time jobs (full time during school breaks) and earned dean’s-list honors every semester.
How can he not be getting called for a single interview? He is charismatic and communicative, so I know if he gets an interview, he will represent himself well. — Want-to-be Empty Nester
Dear Want-to-be Empty Nester: I hear this routinely, and it is one of the key reasons I am so passionate about helping entry-level candidates take their first step into the professional arena. New grads often walk out of school with a resume that’s identical to their peers’. They were likely taught to use a standard approach and resume template, but it’s also possible they went to career-services professionals who have very limited resources to help a significant number of students.
First, does he have a good resume? Compare it to other resumes on websites like mine to see if you need to start with the basics. He has great experience and obviously has a strong academic record and should be armed with letters of recommendation from each of the internships and jobs — so he should be juggling a busy interview schedule. Make sure that his brand is represented optimally, saturated with appropriate keywords and reflected both in print and on professional-media profiles.
Second, is he distributing his resume wisely? Make sure his distribution strategy (aka “job search”) is more than simply hitting “apply now” online. He should be tapping into his network, leveraging online networking sites, soliciting informational interviews from companies in the industry he is interested in and digging deep to go beyond the surface-level open market. These are the first two things I would recommend he attack. Once he gets those right, he should have a solid base on which to pivot and turn this job search around.
Dear Sam: I am a self-employed contractor and am working for a former employer. A year after my position was eliminated eight years ago, I was recruited to return and, albeit in a different department, have been performing similar accounting and finance work for the past seven years. I have since applied internally for multiple full-time positions, because my current role has diminished in hours, but am not able to secure an interview.
I am now taking my search outside of my longtime company and am concerned about how to tell a potential employer why I am not seeking to turn my contract role into a full-time position. — Janet
Dear Janet: I am sorry you are struggling to get noticed internally. Have you approached your supervisor and asked him or her how you can get on the radar of a decision-maker? Does your resume convey the value you added when you were a regular employee, and also as a contractor?
I often find that internal candidates don’t feel compelled to explain their roles and the value they have added, falsely thinking their audience knows exactly what they have done for the company. I would investigate the internal opportunities a little more, making sure you fully understand the hiring policies, and hopefully, you’ll start to “ping’ on the radar of a corporate influencer or decision-maker.
When you decide to look externally — which you should do in order to diversify your distribution strategy — you can simply explain that you have been at the company for more than a decade and are exploring new professional challenges. There is no need to go into detail about not having been called for an interview.
Any potential employer will understand that after 10-plus years with an employer, we often look for ways to stretch ourselves and continue to learn and develop professionally. Also, make sure your candidacy clearly communicates your value to an external audience, just as it should for those internal opportunities.
— Samantha Nolan is a certified professional resume writer and the owner of Nolan Branding, a full-service resumewriting firm. Email resume or job-search questions to dearsam@nolanbranding.com. To find out more about Nolan and her services, visit www.nolanbranding.com, or call 614-570-3442.