Roger's Job Hunting Clinic
Resume
First of all, understand the purpose of a resume. It is NOT to sell you to prospective employers. The purpose of a resume is to get you past the FIRST step in the hiring process. That step is the HR person (or some equivalent) who's job it is to
reject applications.
Understand, HR spends most of its time rejecting people, so that's their main focus. You don't want
anything in the resume to make you rejectable.
- Don't make a general resume, tailor it to the individual job and company.
- Look for a good *current* book of resume examples. Often the lowest levels of HR workers will be the first filters and they still believe what their profs in college told them.
- Making the resume more than one page might make you rejectable to some, (see above) so keep it short. Besides, if it's too long, it might just get rejected as being too much trouble, especially if they have a lot of applications.
- Make sure you fulfill the minimum job requirements.
- If you have other qualifications, list those too, but be careful. Having too much may get you rejected as being over qualified.
- DON'T EVER lie on your resume.
- Make sure you spell the company's name correctly.
- Don't do anything weird to try to make you stand out. They've seen it all and will not be amused.
- Pay scale: This one is tricky. If they don't list a pay range, don't list a required salary. This is a sure way to get kicked. If there is a pay range listed, aim for the center or slightly below. Most places keep their actual pay at the center of the range. New hires are generally slightly below this to give them room to give a pay raise after the probation period. WHEN IN DOUBT, LEAVE IT OFF.
- List your experience, but don't list dates, especially if there are gaps. Gaps make them wonder what you've been doing with yourself in the interim. Even if you've got more, list the latest 3 or 4 jobs that are relevant to the job you are applying for. Listing your experience at a day-care will not get you much when applying for an office job. However, if that's all the experience you have, list it. Hopefully, your educational qualifications will make up for it.
- Note: Have an additional list available (say in an interview) with ALL of your job experience in reverse chronological order with dates.
- Don't put references on your resume if you can help it, unless that person works at that company.
- Again, have a complete reference list available if requested.
First Interview
The first interview will most likely be with an HR person. Again, since HR is looking to weed out applicants, your goal here is to do nothing that will get you rejected. Again, you aren't trying to convince this person to hire you, they can't. That's not their job.
You'll also likely have to fill out an application at this point. HR requires the paperwork, even though you've got all that information on your resume. So this is where your additional lists come in. Have your complete list of educational and job qualifications in reverse chronological order. Have a list of 6 personal references and 6 professional references. You won't need that many, but it's doesn't hurt to be prepared. Have their names, addresses, and phone numbers. Nothing looks so inept as asking for a phone book to look up a phone number.
Dress appropriately. What is appropriate? Look at the kind of dress the position requires and dress up a step or two. So if it is factory work, dress in business casual. If the job dress is business casual, wear a suit. Generally, over dressing is not an issue, but you might be uncomfortable if your interviewer is in business casual and you're in a tuxedo.
I got my first job out of college as a computer salesman because I was the only one who wore a suit. The others dressed like the computer geeks they were.
It goes without saying that you should be clean, groomed, and smelling fresh (neither BO or over-powering cologne).
Strategy here is to basically answer the interviewer's questions without volunteering too much extra information. It's the extras that can trip you up. Don't go for humor. Humor varies from person to person and yours may not mesh. Be pleasant, be succinct, and get out of there as soon as you can.
If the pay rate question comes up, try to dodge it. Tell them you assume the pay will be appropriate for the job. If they insist, ask what the posted range is and strike for the middle. Shooting low isn't generally a problem because most places have a pay rate they are planning to pay anyway. Asking too much, however, will reduce your chances of being called back. And remember, that's the purpose of this interview from your standpoint. The HR person won't have any say in what you get paid anyway.
Be prepared for the "HR" or "psych" type questions: "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be and why?" HR people love those. See if you can find a current interview preparation book. They may have lists of these.
Lastly, practice your interview with someone else. Pretend you are in an actual interview and play it straight. If you know an HR person in another company, see if you can enlist their help.
Second Interview
This is where you really want to impress the person interviewing you. He or she is the Decision Maker, and quite likely your prospective boss. Your purpose here is to impress this person, but you have to do so in a particular way. Always keep in mind that the DM wants to hire you to make HIS job easier. So don't talk about what you want to get out of this job. Always focus on how hiring you will make
his job easier, will make
him look better, will get
him that next promotion. Obviously, you won't be so crass as to actually say these things, but always craft your answers so that he can see these things for himself. He'll be looking for that anyway.
If he's interested in your qualifications, this might be the place to present him with your complete list, but ONLY if he asks for additional information.
This interview is also the place to remember that the less said, the better. Answer questions clearly and succinctly and don't spend a lot of time elaborating. The more you talk, the more likely you will slip up and say something stupid.
In fact, it's a really good strategy to get the DM talking as much as possible. Most people love to hear themselves talk and you'll make more points by being a good listener than a good talker. If you can get them talking enough, they'll be impressed by how intelligent you are without you having to say anything.
The DM may not be as comfortable interviewing as the HR person because that's not his job. But be prepared for a question that gives you a scenario and asks how you would solve it. Interview books can help with these too.
Also be ready to ask questions of the DM. Near the end of the interview, he'll probably say, "So, do you have any questions for us?" Have some questions ready that pertain to the department or the company rather than specific to the job. It will make you sound like a team player. Everybody loves a team player.
Get out of this interview as quickly as you can without rushing it. The DM is generally very busy and won't be impressed with you hanging around and chatting. Of course, if the DM initiates the chat, play along. Whatever it takes to make him comfortable with you.
REMEMBER: He's hiring someone to make his job easier and to make himself look better. If you always keep that uppermost in your thoughts, you'll go a long way toward getting that job.
