The Smart Way to Apply for Positions – and Hear Back!  

Every once in a while you may find yourself looking for a new opportunity — whether you have decided it is time to move on from your current role, or you were laid off and now need to look for a new opportunity.  Either way, the process can be very stressful – even if you’re great at your job, you have received solid performance reviews, and your previous employers still say they would love to have you back if they could. So, why on earth is no one calling you about your resumé?

Here’s why: you, and everyone else, are (potentially) just needles in a haystack. Depending on where you are in the country and where you want to apply, there could be dozens or hundreds of applicants applying to the same role. And unfortunately, your needle isn’t always as shiny as you would like it to be; your resumé gets a thirty-second glance if you’re lucky, and sometimes what the recruiter sees in that glance isn’t enough to get you a call.

So, following are some tips on what to do to make your “needle” absolutely gleaming, and stand out from the rest.

Resumé Basics: Smart Ways to Get Started

• First, only apply for jobs for which you are qualified. To know for sure if you are qualified, read the entire job description before you apply, and make sure you meet the minimum qualifications listed on the job description. If you don’t have at least 85% of the minimum qualification, don’t apply.
• Have someone else proofread your resume.  Make sure there are not any errors whatsoever on it!
• Remember that it needs to be interesting: it should tell the recruiter about your accomplishments,  not read like a job description. Your job title tells a recruiter what job you held, but the details below the title should tell why you were a valuable part of the team. Use your past performance reviews to help you articulate your achievements.
• Use numbers!  Quantitative details puts facts behind statements. If you can incorporate them into your resumé, do so, but make sure they are real, and that you can speak to them when you are asked.

Brilliant Follow-up Strategies

• You know that old saying, it’s not what you know, but who you know. It’s true, especially in a competitive job market. Simply applying for a job will rarely land you the role. You need to connect with the hiring manager or the recruiter who is managing the requisition.
• But, how you ask? Via social media, i.e. LinkedIn and Twitter. So find the person, send them a friendly note that you have applied for the job, and mention that you would appreciate a short conversation to discuss the opportunity to see if your skills set is a match. Boom! The phone will ring!
• However, handle the process professionally: if you have identified or know the person that is hiring for the requisition, don’t be a stalker. Bottom line is if they are moving slow, that is a sign of how the company works and if you can’t handle it, you probably shouldn’t work there. Hiring can be a very lengthy processes. You must have patience. So, if you feel you must follow up, here are some simple things to remember:

• • • If someone has committed that they will get back to you by a specific date, make sure you reach out to them after that date — preferably forty-eight hours after that date. People get tied up all the time, meetings get moved, people are out of the office – so forty-eight  hours past a commitment is a reasonable timeframe to ask.
    • That said, again, professionalism counts, so don’t call multiple times a day and either hang up or a leave messages. Instead, call one time, early in the morning, and leave a voicemail if you don’t get a live person. And again, give them forty-eight hours to return your call.
    • If someone tells you they are making a decision for an offer by Friday, and you don’t get a call and a week passes, it likely means you didn’t get the job. If you need some closure, it’s okay to follow up (using the parameters above), but don’t be surprised if they have moved on.
    • It’s wise to be prepared for an interview when you get the call; however, I highly recommend not interviewing on the spot when the recruiter calls you. I would schedule a future date where you can prepare for the interview. This gives you time to review the job description (read the entire thing again), think about your strengths, and link them together. Some things to remember: typically, interviewers are looking for specific examples (via a behavior-based interview) of how you achieved your success. Be prepared to tell your story. Try not to talk about what your team accomplished, but what you accomplished as an individual.

If You Don’t Get the Job…Be Resilient, and Remember These Points

• If you aren’t selected for the role, ask about other opportunities for which you could be qualified. It’s important to leave a good impression when you are declined, because you never know when you may be the right candidate for another slot.
• Bear this in mind: when companies are looking to hire a new member to the team, they just aren’t filling a job, they are looking for someone special and unique to round out their team. Your skillset might already match someone in their crew, and so they need someone different right now. That doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t be considered in the future, but it also means that they are looking someone who wants the right career, and not just a job.
• Company culture is one of the major factors to consider when looking for a new job. The interview process can tell you a lot about a company. If you get frustrated with the application process, you will likely get frustrated with other processes in the company. Some candidates are the perfect fit on paper, but their personality just doesn’t match with the team. It’s important to remember that there are two different cultures: the company culture, and the culture of the team you will be joining. You have to be able to fit well into both.

Using the pointers above, you should be able to handle the resumé–submitting, follow-up and interviewing procedure with a better sense of grace and savvy.   Above all, throughout the sometimes arduous process, stay positive and use common sense!