Send Us Your Resume. Yeah, Right!

This may be the biggest “Blow-off” ever, or is it?  Everyone who has ever looked for a job shares this feeling.  The preverbal black hole. However, you can improve your results if you understand its inner workings.

Stand-out with a powerful subject line.  Give recruiters a reason to open your email while skipping over other people. Does your subject line make recruiters want to open your email over someone else’s email?  “5 Reasons Why I Should Be Your Next Employee” is better than “Resume you requested.”

Include Key Words from their job posting. In your “5 Reasons” email and accompanying resume, include keywords from their job posting. These keywords will be the ones the recruiter will search by to determine which email to read.

Know the process. Understand the game.  Resumes and applications are collected, entered into a database, and retrieved for consideration when they have enough selection to make a choice.  This means your online application or resume must include the keywords recruiters will use in a search to retrieve qualifying applicants. Next, they will look for information in your application or resume that relates to the keywords in their job requirements. Again, think keywords.  In which jobs did you use the skills they want to see? Where and for how long?

Lastly, you must outshine your competition. Yes, landing a job is a competition. So, where possible, the information you submit should better reflect or address their job requirements than your competition does. You may have fewer skills but present them better, making your skills easier to find, and you win! Use the company’s own language and keywords where they match your experience.  Make it look like you were made for their job.