Branding, On-line Resumes & Volunteering

Three Valid Points for everyone to consider

In beautiful Palatine, Illinois, at Harper College's monthly Career Stimulus Program, I heard a speaker talking on the subject of marketing and branding. This is a key area of interest for many in job transition. With so many millions of people out of work, how do you stand out from the rest? This speaker challenged the audience with three ideas to consider.

Jonathan Salem Baskin, author of the books Branding Only Works on Cattle, and Bright Lights and Dim Bulbs, made a point that went something like this... applying to jobs posted on the internet is like writing & mailing a letter to Santa. His point deserves serious consideration. 

What is the return on investment (ROI) from applying to jobs on line? How many applications are even acknowledged even in an electronic automatic email response? Now compare this with the response rate of a letter to Santa? How often does Santa actually respond to the letters sent around Christmas time? 

I would say that you cannot ignore internet job postings, but you really need to consider the ROI question. Think about the about of time you put into this effort and the likelihood of actually landing an interview from this source. If you are spending an hour or two per week that is probably appropriate. Remember that your highest ROI is networking with people, people currently working in an organization. So it makes sense to pursue internet job applications off hours when you really cannot be meeting with or talking to people. I suggest later in the day or earlier in the morning depending on your schedule.

Jonathan made another point that really hit home. He said that resumes are all alike. They are all about what has been done in a career. Resumes do not tell the hiring manager what you're going to do for them. Now, it is true that we cannot abandon resumes, but we need to do more. I help my clients understand that the resume is a calling card; it's the interview where the magic happens. I explain that the job seeker needs to bring past successes into the interviewer's experience by telling a story that paints a picture of solving the company's problems, or doing what the organization needs done.

Jonathan also stated that everyone is looking for a job today. Not just the "so called" unemployed but everyone. Some are working at a company collecting a paycheck and others are working to find a job, but not collecting a paycheck. But, everyone is looking! The competition is huge! So the job seeker needs to be even more creative and forward thinking. He suggested to look for ways to find out what a company needs and ask for the chance to do it; he challenged the audience to consider volunteering to work without pay to prove your value. I had to admit that the suggestion is intriguing. It would be prudent to put a time limit on the offer though. 

Harper College in Palatine, Illinois is a A++, two year, Community College that offers a unique opportunity for job seekers. Their Career Stimulus Program is an excellent experience for those who have never received outplacement services.

Custom Resumes vs. A "General" Resume

When it comes to resumes, your resume is a tool: it's marketing material. It is not designed to get you a job; it’s function is to layout your skills, abilities and experience in order to get you an interview.

You will hear that you need to customize your resume in order to get it seen by the hiring manager. This is a very compelling statement especially if you have applied to many job postings and received zero responses. You think, "It must be the resume that has failed to get anyone’s attention; therefore if you customize your resume you’ll get more interviews."

But what are the facts? For any posting an average company may receive 200 applications and as many as 500. Crain’s Chicago once reported:

The new Wal-Mart Stores Inc. location opening Friday in suburban Evergreen Park received a record 25,000 applications for 325 positions, the highest for any one location in the retailer’s history, a company official says.

So if this is true, will a customized resume fair any better than a good general resume? The competition is staggering. What will really make the difference is having a person on the inside of the company get your resume flagged and separated from the 200. This is where networking comes in.

I suggest that a single strong "general" resume used in concert with networking or drilling into a company will serve you better than customizing your resume for every job posting. What if a company is using an electronic tool to cut down the number of resumes. In this case does a customized resume help when no human set of eyes are going to review the resume?The software's selection criteria is based on key words which should already be in your "general" resume. If not then you can update your resume to include missing key words or experience.

Utilize a well written "general" resume containing the accomplishments, experience and appropriate key words will save you the time of customizing your resume for each posting, time that would better be put to use networking. Plus, with a dozen or more customized resumes you have the added issue of keeping track of who you sent which resume to.

Network with people working at companies and businesses that are in the position to recognize your skills and abilities. Spend that time with people that can see the value you represent as a future employee. When you realize that only about 20% of jobs are advertized in news papers, the Internet and with recruiters, customizing your resume for every application is a lot of work, time and effort for such low probability of your resume being selected and reviewed.