Ok, you've tried everything - You're
emailed your resume out; no one is calling you
back. It's ok, you're not alone. For every 100 resumes you
mail out, statistically you should get 10 interviews and one job offer.
However, these are rough averages. To stack the decks in your
favor and stand out from the others, below are the top seven tricks we've
found for getting your resume to stand out.
1.) Use a different color paper for mailing your
resumes. Chances are, you're using a cream, white, or gray paper
color. Yes? So is everyone else. Be creative, and use a
non-resume paper. Be original, and stand out. With that
said, should you use hot pink? No, remember you're applying for a
professional career - but do choose something less common than white,
cream, or gray.
2.) Use a different size paper for your resume. Why
you ask? Have you ever shuffled a stack of papers. Do you
ever have one/a few pieces of paper that your shuffling are a different
size than the others. They stand out right? Of course they
do, they stand out from the rest - it's simple, but it does make your
resume stand out.
3.) Inside contact - If you're interested in a specific company,
get an inside contact. This means proactively trying to meet
someone from the company, or a friend of a friend situation.
People hire people they know - its comfortable. Therefore, do
whatever it takes to get an inside contact.
4.)Certified Letter - Have you ever sent a certified
letter? All it requires is going to the post office, and paying a
few dollars to send it certified with confirmation. This means
that the recipient of the letter must sign for it. And I'll bet
that they'll sign - they're curious, and want to know what it is.
By sending it certified to the hiring manager, you're insuring that your
letter has reached its destination - it has reached the hiring
manager. This is a huge plus, as usually the hiring manager's mail
is filtered through a number of gate keepers.
5.) Send your resume with a gift. Yes, a gift. Head
over to the local florist, pizza place, etc - get creative. Pick
out a nice bouquet or lunch, and deliver it to the office with your
resume. If you do the pizza, here's a tip - put your resume in a
zip lock bag and tape it to the inside of the box.
6.)Deliver the resume in person. What do you have
to lose? Walk into the office, and ask for the hiring manager (by
name). Just say you need to discuss the current job opening with
him. Sound crazy? It works - they will see you as being
determined, proactive, and outgoing.
7.) The post-it note trick. In larger companies (and
sometimes in medium/smaller companies) a secretary or an office
assistant will open the resumes for the employees. This person is
responsible for screening for junk mail and to weed out non-qualified candidates.
Therefore, here is the trick. Take a regular Post-it note, and
write something like "This one looks good! - J", and attach it
to your resume. Who is "J"? Who cares! The
point is that the hiring manager will get a resume with a Post-it note
on it, stating that it's good. Therefore, they are more likely to
pay close attention to the resume at the direction of another
employee. By the time the person realizes its not a note from
their mail screener, you've already gotten your resume reviewed - is it
deceptive? - no, its effective and innovative advertising.
What you get:
Massive Exposure: to over 1.5 million employers & recruiters.
Job Search Report: of all job banks your resume was posted to.
Job Matches by Email: of new job opportunities and job listings.
Spam Protection: keeps your personal email box safe.
Identity Protection: posts your resume information confidentially.
Centralized Log in: to all your job search website accounts.
Electronic Resume Posting: on up to 90 job search websites.
Resume advice
The first rule of resume writing is that there are no hard and fast
rules. Your resume is your sales tool. You are the one who ultimately
decides how it should be organized and what information it should
contain. Here are some suggestions to assist you in getting started.
Before sitting down to draft or revise your resume, reflect on your
targeted audience. Are you writing to a law firm, small nonprofit
organization, large government agency, multi-national company, or local employer? Find out as much as
you can about the types of projects in which you would be involved if
hired. Based on that information, determine which skills you should
highlight. For example, are your writing and research skills most
important, or your communication and negotiation skills? Review your
prior experiences to determine which ones best demonstrate the skills
and attributes sought by the employer(s) to which you are writing. Your resume is your first opportunity to highlight your background
and experiences in a way potential employers will find compelling.
Because you have been in the working world for some period of time, you
no longer need to be concerned about your resume being more than one
page in length. However, do not take that to mean that your resume
should be an exhaustive biography. To the contrary, use your resume to
describe those experiences relevant to the job you seek. Employers
consider your resume an example of your work product. As such, it must
be concise, accurate, error-free, well-organized, clear, easy to read,
and visually pleasing. Keep in mind that all information on your resume
is fair game for employers to question during your interviews. -Yale Law School Alumni
