Recruiter Diaries

Resume Do’s and Don’ts

ayousu5 — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:20:38 +0000

Most recruiters spend about 45 seconds reading through a resume, which is all they need to pick up on key terms and information about your work experience. Having scanned over 60 -80 resumes a day, I can definitely share some resumes do and don’t s

Keep your resume simple. Avoid using too many boxes or lines to separate each part of your resume. Instead, opt to differentiate each section of your resume by using a bolder font, slightly bigger text, or italics, to keep the formatting clean and easy to scan.
Make sure to include a clearly defined objective at the beginning of your resume. Your objective should be concrete and it should be tailored to the job at hand. Avoid vagueness in your objective such as “To gain a position where I can contribute to your organization” or “An entry level engineering position that will fully utilize my knowledge and skills.” Use concrete and defined objectives such as “ A software engineering position, specializing in programming and testing new applications”

Use as many key words and adjectives as possible. In fact, make sure that each new sentence in your experience text, starts off with an adjective. Instead of saying “responsible for testing and programming new software” say
“tested and programmed new software”. Here are some examples of action words that you may want to use on your resume “Executed, Facilitated, Documented, Ensured, Organized, Planned, Scheduled, Managed, Directed...”

Include a summary of qualifications either at the beginning or end of your resume that highlights computer skills, and soft skills that may be relevant to a position.
Make sure that Formatting is uniform! Many times candidates have been looking at their own resumes for so long that they overlook small details. Always have someone review your resume before sending it out, to get a fresh take on it.

Phone Screens

ayousu5 — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:43:12 +0000

More and more, recruiters are using phone interviews as a way to screen out candidates before going as far as a ‘face to face’ interview. If you’re being called for an ‘on the spot’ phone screen-hats off to you! You’ve probably beat out a long list of candidates whose application was acknowledged at best, by an automatically generated email, thanking them for their interest in the position. Phone interviews, may be annoyingly impersonal, but they are usually the first step in any recruitment process. To help you from making deal-breaking mistakes on a phonescreen, here are the three situations I most frequently encounter, as a recruiter, that should be avoided by every candidate.

1. Candidate cannot remember the job they applied for

Searching for a job can often feel like a full time job itself and with the internet resources available to job seekers, it’s very simple to send out dozens of resumes each day with the click of a button. If however you’re sending out more applications than you can keep track of, it signals that your likely to sell yourself into any available position, even if your qualifications don’t match. Make sure to keep track of the companies and positions that you’ve shown interest in, otherwise good luck selling yourself into a job you only vaguely remember applying for.

2. Lack of Energy/Enthusiasm

Phone screens can be difficult because most candidates don’t realize how dull they may be sounding. Monitor the tone and pitch of your voice to avoid sounding monotonous. Keep in mind that your personality and your ability to fit into a dynamic work environment are part of your qualifications, so make a conscious effort to sound energetic and friendly in that first conversation.

3. Lack of Focus

Although you may be eager to receive a phone call from a recruiter, if you’re in the middle of something it’s better that you ask to be called back during a time where you can give your undivided attention. When a candidate is not listening to questions or is asking me to hold on while they quickly tend to another task, I feel compelled to wrap up the conversation quickly and move on to the next candidate.

To most job seekers avoiding these three things may be common sense, but surpsingly, a majority of the candidates I communicate with on a daily basis, will make atleast one of these mistakes When a recruiter is placing around 15 calls a day it’s easy for a candidate to get lost in the mix, and sometimes its more simple than you think to leave a good impression.

Steve Jobs:How to Live Before you Die

ayousu5 — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 06:46:07 +0000