By Cynthia Wright, Author, Sr Technical Recruiter
Competition is fierce and employers can pick and choose who they want to hire. More importantly they can select who they do not want to hire.
Professionalism does not stop at a well-crafted resume and a great suit.
Despite the state of the economy, many candidates still make serious (and preventable) mistakes that hinder job search progress and often prevent them from receiving a job offer.
These are the top five behaviors you should avoid in your job search.
# 5: Unprofessional or suggestive e-mail addresses
A finance candidate sent a resume with the e-mail address: hotchick@domain.com. The candidate may have been looking to stand out and get noticed. She definitely did but not for the right reason. Have two e-mail addresses, even if you need to establish one just for your job search. Use the professional one on your resume.
# 4: Unprofessional or annoying answering machine messages
Consider this scenario: A hiring manager calls to invite you in for an interview. You are obviously a candidate the manager is seriously considering. The call is answered by an answering machine featuring a young child who can barely be understood. It’s cute to your friends. It’s annoying to a hiring manager. Even worse, the machine emits loud music or a strange message. That is an equally annoying turnoff, which may cause a prospective employer to move on to the next candidate.
# 3: Disconnected telephone or e-mail
Consider a true story: A candidate who had been unemployed for quite some time interviewed. The company liked him and prepared an offer. When the Recruiter called, his home telephone number had been disconnected. The Recruiter sent an e-mail, which was returned as undeliverable. Luckily for the candidate, the Recruiter knew someone who knew the candidate and provided the correct number. The candidate mentioned that he had moved and neglected to tell the phone company or his e-mail provider that he moved and his information changed. Fortunately, he is now happily employed. Needless to say, he almost missed out on a great job offer because he neglected to do a few simple things.
# 2: Bad proofreading
Proofing both your resume and cover letter is important and can be a deal breaker when searching for a job. If you feel that your proofreading skills aren’t strong, ask other people to review your resume and cover letters. Often, others can catch mistakes you may miss. Everyone makes mistakes, including recruiters and hiring managers, but, making more than one mistake on a resume or cover letter can make an employer question your attention to detail. This is especially important for candidates in finance, accounting, or any other profession where you are dealing with large sums of money. Edit and proofread your paperwork… more than once.
# 1: Failure to observe proper etiquette
ALWAYS send thank you letters after an interview. Most candidates think this is trivial, but it is an important part of the interview process and is proper business etiquette. Nearly two-thirds of candidates neglect this crucial step. Not doing this can easily cost you the perfect job offer. Some helpful hints regarding thank you letters:
- E-mail thank you letters are fine.
- If you interviewed with more than one person, send each person a different thank you letter.
- If you don’t have the interviewers e-mail addresses, call the company and explain to whoever answers the phone that you interviewed and would like the e-mail addresses of the people you met. Chances are they will share this information with you (Note: It’s always a good idea to get business cards from everyone you meet with).
- Keep your thank you letter to one page. On the first paragraph, thank the interviewer for their time and mention the position you interviewed for. In paragraph two, reiterate your skills and how they fit the position. The third paragraph will tell the interviewer(s) that you are very interested in the position, and will follow up with them in a week.
About Cynthia Wright
Cynthia Wright is an experienced Recruitment professional with 16 years of Recruitment experience in both corporate and agency environments. She is currently a Senior Corporate Recruiter with a large defense company. Cynthia has interviewed and hired hundreds of candidates in disciplines such as: Engineering, Finance, Marketing, Sales, and Information Technology.
For five years, Cynthia wrote a weekly column called The Wright Stuff for The Telegraph (Nashua, NH) and is a contributing career expert for The Employment Times in New England. She also wrote a syndicated column with Knight Ridder’s News2Use feature and continues to publish her columns nationally. Her book, 366 Tips for a Successful Job Search is available through Rosstrum Publishing www.rosstrumpublishing.com, www.amazon.com and other fine booksellers everywhere.
Cynthia can be reached at thewrightstuffnh@gmail.com.
Lots of good basics here, you are another great addition to this blog.
Regarding the phone: I switched to exclusively using my cell phone on my resume. This way, the family does not have to be impacted by my job search, and I have full control over my “brand” via my outgoing message. In addition, I would suggest only using one number on your resume. People want the easiest way to get in touch. they aren’t going to run through a list of numbers trying to catch you…unless they are selling something! Another thing to consider is Google Voice or similar options, as you can forward this # to any other phone. Hence, if you are on vacation outside of cell range, you can forward your calls to the closest land line.
As a hiring manager, I would have had serious second thoughts about the example in #3. You are a candidate for a job, and you didn’t think about letting them know you have new contact information? Where are the priorities? Do I want this person working with my clients?