Top Ten Job Seeker Mistakes – #9

Mistake #9 is “Thinking that your resume is a secret weapon.”

I am constantly amazed at how often the first response in job seeker meetings is to review resumes.  Let’s review when most people typically use a resume.

• When sending in a response to a job board posting.
• When applying for a specific job through HR
• When going through interviews with a company
• When working with an external recruiter
• When seeking temporary work through an agency

All of these are legitimate uses of a resume. So what is the mistake?

First, how many jobs do people get through these sources? Experts say less than 20%. So, going these routes is wrong 80% of the time.

Second, how are you applying for jobs? If through the internet, key words are used that are likely different words than you are using resulting in NO ONE actually looking at your resume.

Third, if your resume does get in front of someone’s eyeballs, how deeply will they examine the resume? The answer is an average of TEN SECONDS!

The point is that, in my opinion, the resume is a valuable TOOL, not a magic weapon. Further, that a tool is to be used only when you need that tool.

So, for 80% of the time, when is the right moment to use the resume tool? It is when:

• The decision maker, whom you have networked into, is interested in hiring you and needs a resume to review or to send to HR to start the process.
• A network referral requests a resume – which should be discouraged. Your goal is to get a meeting and use a marketing document.
• You are being lined up for employment interviews and people will be checking out your background and credentials.

For 20% of the time, if applying to internet listed openings, the resume is the tool of choice but certainly not a magic weapon.