Posts Tagged ‘cover letters’

Q & A: The Hiring Process

January 14th, 2010

By Joe Redshaw

Give insight to what happens once a candidate hits the apply button online

The resume/application goes to a database of some sort and it is up to the recruiter or HR person to read the resume and determine if it is a fit or not.

What tools are you using to scan resumes?

Eyes… I also may hit “control” and the “F” key. This opens up a box and lets me search for key words. Some companies have software in their applications and databases that does keyword searches and puts resumes higher up on the list of submittals. To get your resume to the top, when reading the job description make sure everything they put in the job description is on your resume (ONLY if it is true). If you can say “yes, I did that” to something on the job description and it is NOT on your resume, then they will not assume you did it.

How long typically is your process to hire someone from start to finish?

Most companies try to hire ASAP, but you wouldn’t know that from the outside. Under 60 days is good, but it depends on way too many things… what is going on inside the company, with the specific group and hiring manager. Some managers have a quick time to hire while others just seem to take forever. There is no real answer for this. The best thing to do is just to ask in an interview when they would like someone on board for the role.

What social media tool are you using?

My company uses Twitter and Facebook

About Joe Redshaw

Joe Redshaw is the Corporate Recruiter for Gomez, the Web Performance Division of Compuware. He has been a recruiter for almost 10 years and has experience on the agency and corporate side. Joe has screened thousands of candidates and has agreed to provide NEJS his perspective on HR/Recruiter practices.

No comments »

Posted in Interviews

Tags: cover letters Hiring practices job application

Resumes: 10 Things I Look for When I Screen Resumes and Cover Letters

January 11th, 2010

This article appeared originally in Work Coach Café. It gives the job seeker a view to what a potential employer is thinking about as they review your information.

By Ronnie Ann

So what do I look for when I screen resumes and cover letters?

Here are the ten things that make a candidate’s application stand out for me:

1. Well-organized, professional appearance

You may think that’s obvious, but I’ve seen lots of resumes that look sloppy. Or hard to read. Or thrown together. Or scrunched up as if I wouldn’t notice they’re trying to squeeze it all into one page. By the way, you don’t have to do that…especially if you have lots of solid experience you want to highlight and truly need more than one page.

But you also don’t want to pad it with the same old same old again and again; if that’s all you have, one page is more than enough. For example…if you’re an analyst, no need to simply tell me you did analysis at each job. I get that. Tell me what type of analysis and the result. Show me something interesting for every job you list that helps you stand out from the masses! Now THAT’s worth an extra page.

Also know that sometimes when resumes are scanned, the first page gets viewed the most, so let that page be loaded with your best stuff even if you have to create a Highlights section at the top to do that.

And don’t forget to check out sample resumes and cover letters to see what great ones look like. The thoughtful use of bold, spacing, formatting, and different fonts can make a resume come to life for the reader.

2. Relevant skills

Resumes and cover letters need to be tailored to the job. Sending out the same resume and cover letter to everyone, hoping they will take the time to figure out who you really are, is a waste of everyone’s time. If you do that, you really are asking me to find a needle in a haystack. When I have a hundred or so resumes to go though, I appreciate those people who take the time to carefully highlight skills that match the actual job requirements as listed in the ad.

You can create a section at the top of the resume for this if your most recent jobs don’t exactly match the new job. Also use bullets on your cover letter to bring my attention to these all-important skills.

No comments »

Posted in Resumes

Tags: Cover Letter cover letters resume Ronnie Ann Screening Work Coach Cafe

Interviews: What Recruiters and Other Job Screeners Tell Me

December 3rd, 2009

By Judit Price, MS, CDFI, IJCTC, CCM, CPRW

I recently returned from a series of conferences in which I took the opportunity to meet with recruiters and HR professionals to discuss job trends and hiring practices. While the “old days” of vast opportunity are probably gone forever, companies are hiring. Consequently, I wanted to know what characteristics were considered important when deciding which candidates to interview and subsequently hire.

Needless to say the list is long. Clearly, candidate scrutiny has never been greater with organizational compatibility, strong team capabilities and a capacity to begin producing quickly topping the list. Recruiters and hiring managers will look for some other factors that help determine which candidates “make the cut” as they move through the process.

Relevant experience is the door opener, but the closers certainly include these three important factors.

Starting with the resume, a number of people particularly stressed the importance of demonstrating flexibility in the resume. We live in a very dynamic business environment, subject to enormous competitive stress on a global scale. That calls for an organization that is highly flexible, capable of changing direction quickly to respond to whatever is required to survive and grow. Consequently, finding employees that exhibit these qualities of flexibility, responsiveness and innovativeness is prized. It is important to showcase on the resume accomplishments that demonstrate these areas of concern.

When responding to ads, whether online or not, take a good look at the criteria for the job and respond to the specifics. Response letters filled with vague generalities will not work. I suggest two columns, one labeled “You need” and one labeled “I have”, with a point-by-point response that is easily readable and on target. Job screeners see thousands of inquiry letters and have neither the patience nor endurance to wade through a letter and try to figure out the substance of your response.

No comments »

Posted in Interviews

Tags: cover letters interview interview questions interview tips interviewing job search resume