Application Strategies
This is a critical part of the process. If you are at all unsure get proper advice and I don’t mean from some well-meaning backyard resume writer!
Keep in mind that recruiters and professional H.R. staff see thousands of resumes and have a very good idea which resume writer did yours. What does that mean to them – this candidate is incapable of writing a simple report about himself? Can this candidate read and write at all? Perhaps this candidate doesn’t have the confidence, knowledge or ability, to present his own case? This candidate has presented a standard, historical, duty based resume, probably prepared by one of the government-sponsored organisations to help the unemployed. Such a candidate probably doesn’t have much substance and there are thousands of applications just like it. Next please!
None of this may be true, but it is the perception you are giving to the person with the power to offer you employment and we are dealing with perceptions.
You don’t stand out from the crowd by hiding in it!
Gone are the days, when the employer was prepared to keep the “walking wounded” on the payroll. Today, you perform or you go, so it is critical that you only target jobs that you can do well. Wishful thinking is the road to disaster and the person who has to explain the disasters at interview is you.
To target the right jobs, you must have a thorough knowledge of your skills, strengths and weaknesses and what you have achieved in your business career, and this must be relevant to the needs of your chosen employer.
One of the skills you have probably listed in your application is likely to be “communication”. Make absolutely certain that your application is free of spelling errors and is correctly punctuated with proper use of grammar.
It doesn’t matter what the job is, you will need to communicate with managers, fellow workers, and customers. If you cannot communicate, you cannot resolve problems, cannot provide service and will be unable to pass on information to be acted upon with confidence. You will be a liability to decision makers and may place the company at risk by making very costly errors. OH&S, legal liability and responsibility, fiscal responsibility, etc; all are dependent on the capacity to communicate effectively.
More than seventy percent of job applications are rejected on this basis alone.
Make sure the information is relevant to the target.
Keep it simple, direct and powerful. Do not beat about the bush!
Restrict each paragraph to one thought and don’t use jargon, acronyms, slang or code.
Emphasise your achievements not your duties/responsibilities. Nobody cares simply about what you did. They want to know how well you did it!
Keep the writing style simple, uncluttered, to the point and uncomplicated.
Make sure all time periods are accounted for in reverse chronological order, with all the good bits up front.
The resume is your advertising medium. It must show how this product (you) is best suited to the needs of the employer.
Keep your application package to a manageable size; three to five pages are good for most purposes.
The fad of one page is just plain silly and I’ll tell you why. The organisation is seeking a competent person to solve whatever issues they face and they are going to spend thousands of dollars to do it. It is crucial they get it right. You bet they want to see more than one page! This decision is vital to them and if that decision maker gets it wrong his/her professional reputation is right on the line.
I know it all sounds complex! Actually, when you know how, it’s not as difficult as it first seems, but it does take a planned, organised and disciplined approach.
Like everything else – it’s easy when you know how, impossible when you don’t. But remember, you only ever need to learn it once.
