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.

» Read more: Interviews: What Recruiters and Other Job Screeners Tell Me