What the Heck Do I Do?

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water – we reviewed a sample resume from a major resume-writing firm and found 22 errors in the resume.

What is most interesting: those 22 errors are not subjective – they are undeniable and relate to four areas: grammar, punctuation, typos, and non-parallel sentence structure. Does anyone but that forever single and starchy English teacher of yours really care? Well, yes. In this day and age you must be pretty much flawless with your resume; you are competing against 300+ other applicants in many cases, so the difference between “good” and “great” is the difference between landing an interview and not landing an interview.

So, how do we find a great resume writer? I won’t bore you with the usual dribble (find a specialist, check references, etc.); here’s the “new stuff”:

1.) Make sure the resume writer has either an ACRW certification (Academy Certified Resume Writer; this is considered the hardest certification to get) or a NCRW (Nationally Certified Resume Writer; also very hard to get this certification).

The person who wrote the above-noted resume? She had no ACRW or NCRW. There are “other” professional resume associations and I think they are worth, well, warm spit. They need to be sterilized – you get the picture. I can’t imagine why they don’t send me Christmas cards. . .

2.) If we don’t get the reader to whisper “wow” in the first 15 seconds or so, we ain’t gonna get an interview. I am using the word “ain’t” here to see if any non- ACRW/NCRW’s call me. How do we get the “wow”? Here are some thoughts:

Challenges – show a challenge you overcame that is something similar to what the reader (an employer) is facing. Use terms like “Faced with. . .” or “Challenged by. . .” and DRAW UP THE MONSTER. This will resonate with a reader facing a similar monster today. They figure if you overcame this beast once you can do it again. 

Take the test: want to scare yourself? Take a look at your current resume; I bet you’ll find your current resume is 90% action statements, 10% results, and 0% challenges – this means we’re missing 1/3 of a story!

Another wow-inducing concept: numbers/stats. You should have at least 3-4 sales achievements that are so awesome the reader whispers wow. Don’t bury those stats in the resume; put them near the top – put them where the reader will spot them in the first 15 seconds.

Referrals/Endorsements. We no longer buy things the way we used to: we don’t buy a car because we saw a car commercial (that interrupted our evening) on T.V. We buy a car because we talked to someone who owns that car. Referrals are everything. As is trust. Just ask marketing guru, Seth Godin.

One of the best ways to get a “wow” is to put a very brief endorsement of yourself by either a Dr. (preferably a specialty Dr.) or a sales rep (who works within the industry niche you are targeting, e.g. Ortho) on your resume – probably up in that 15-second “window” at the top of the first page of your resume. Something like, “As a medical professional, I know what it takes to be an elite sales rep – Jane Doe has the traits of those elite performers and I know she’d be a great asset to your sales team.” – (Dr. XYZ).

Go kick some butt.

And I should say a “retained” recruiter. Let’s talk about the difference between retained and contingency recruiters as they are two different animals. You want to zero in on retained recruiters. These are the folks who typically sit physically with the HR group at larger employers (e.g. Medtronics). They are paid a salary – sometimes a commision based on performance as well. They are often 1099 contractors who represent a certain function – in our case, medical or pharma sales.

Contingency recruiters: some people are going to shoot me for what I am about to say, but what do I care – I live 10 minutes from my MIL so I like to live life on the edge. Contingency recruiters are much like travel agents. Remember travel agents? They were a middle man between you and the airlines. Now travel agents are pretty much gone from the scene – likewise with contingency recruiters – employers see them as middlemen who are cutting into their profits.

So, with our focus on getting found by retained recruiters, how can we get their attention? Here are 2 Great New Ways. 

1.) If you are submitting a resume for a posting at a major employer’s website, you will likely have your resume scanned into an HRIS system – this converts your Word document (which you probably sent by e-mail) into a digital form. So – in your cover letter – in the first bullet point of reasons that employer should consider you, write a 100% customized reason mentioning at least 3-5 very specific key words that are found in the job posting you now pursue.  Why? Because some poor person in HR will be handed the job description by their boss and told to go find candidates in the HRIS system. (By the way, I’ve done consulting on buying these systems with 2 major employers, so, yes, I really am a geek). That poor person in HR (let’s give them the moniker of PPHR), will plug in key words like: ortho, neuro, cardio, medical devices; perhaps names of major customers the employer is targeting; and “always” will be seeking someone based on a geographic element.) So, here’s a head’s up: if you live in Granville, OH, mention “Granville, OH (greater Columbus)” in your address because no one will likely put in “Granville” as in an HRIS key word search.

2.) Scratch my back and I’ll . . . Imagine being a recruiter seeing resumes come in all day when suddenly one resume comes in via e-mail with the subject header: “Seeking your Ortho Sales Role in NYC; can also help you find candidates” Would the recruiter notice? Yup; and they do – we’ve tested this. Get a group of people you are not directly competing against, and have them in your portfolio of potential “star” candidates to provide to the recruiter. You will get noticed; follow up with a phone call to the recruiter, “Yes, I am that 1 person in the last 3000 e-mails you got who offered to actually do something for you.” The word ‘altruistic’ comes to mind here – but, this is actually just smart relationship building.

Happy hunting. And remember: if you follow the rules of today’s job search, you will be invisable. Time to break the rules.