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Two years ago, when I first started
hiring interns, an eager application came in my e-mail
inbox. I was excited. The college junior wrote a nice
note explaining how he had heard about my internship and
then attached a cover letter and resume for me to
review. I immediately opened the cover letter and was
impressed. The formatting was proper and the sentences
were relatively well-written. I actually consider myself
more lenient with college applicants because I know they
aren't experienced in applying for jobs, so some of the
word choices and tone didn't bother me as they would
other hiring managers. But then...
There it was, in the very last
sentence - the deal breaker that put his resume sight
unseen in the "I don't think so pile." He closed the
letter by saying, "I'd really love the opportunity to
work for Bank of America." Hmmmm. Last time I checked, I
was an online start up company, not one of the nation's
biggest banks. Clearly, he had re-used his cover letter
on me but had failed to proof it. After two days, I
e-mailed him the mistake he made and gave him a chance
to make it up by meeting with me. He turned out to be a
great candidate and did work for me for a semester.
However, I can tell you right now, most employers aren't
that forgiving.
Here's the deal: In this economy,
hiring managers are literally getting 1000's of
applications within days (and in some cases, hours!) of
posting them. So, they resort to weeding out tactics to
help them pull together a short list of people to
consider. One common technique is to simply throw any
e-mail, resume or cover letter with a typo into the
circular file (a.k.a. the waste basket). Another is to
weed out any on fancy paper or with crazy formatting or
designs. And, I've even heard of one hiring manager
trashing anyone who starts their cover letter with, "I'm
responding to your ad as seen in..." Is this fair? No.
But guess what? Hiring isn't fair. In fact, my
colleague, the best-selling business author, Dale Dauten,
says it best: "Hiring IS a process of discrimination."
So, why do you want to decrease your chances of getting
hired even further by making mistakes that can get you
removed from the process?
Here are 3 reasons why you won't
get considered for the job:
#1 - Sending out cover
letters or resumes with typos and formatting errors.
SOLUTION: Have a second set
of eyes (that you trust) look at your materials. Then,
save them as pdf files so that when you send them their
formatting doesn't get screwed up in the event the
hiring manager uses a different version of software to
open your documents.
#2 - Being boring,
self-absorbed or pretentious in your cover letter.
SOLUTION: Cover letters are
NOT about you. They should be about the company you are
applying to and why you think they run their business
well. You should use examples from your personal
experience to share why you are impressed by them - just
be sure to use your own voice. Trying to use big words
to sound professional is going to backfire. Be
authentic, sincere and polite.
#3 - Using a multi-page
resume out of college.
SOLUTION: Unless you
started working full-time at age 13, you do not have
enough experience to put on more than one page. Stick to
the facts and list only quantifiable, relevant
accomplishments.
There are actually a lot more DOs
and DON'Ts when it comes to resumes and cover letters
for students and recent grads. What would you suggest?
Post your thoughts
here.
J.T. O'Donnell is a nationally
syndicated advice columnist, author and founder of
CAREEREALISM. Her work has been recognized by leading
sources including, CareerBuilder.com and
BusinessWeek.com for it's timely, cutting-edge job
search and career strategy advice for young
professionals (ages 18-40). For more articles, visit her
at
www.CAREEREALISM.com. |
