6 Steps to Put Your Resume in the Right Hands
E-mail and snail mail your resume and cover letter to the source
By Mark Bartz of The Ladders
Put away your wallet. You don't need to drop hundreds, or many thousands, of dollars to blindly blast your resume and cover letter to the right employer. Here are six easy steps that will save time and money, and land you interviews in the unadvertised job market. This information comes from your peers, especially sales and marketing professionals: We followed up with (literally) hundreds of them during their job searches to learn the latest best practices for resume distribution. This information also comes from major employers who source us for America's top sales and marketing talent.
If you follow these steps you can expect a 6 to 9 percent response rate as opposed to the 1 to 2 percent response rate using the normal resume distribution methods.
Step 1: Submit your resume initially by e-mail. Set e-mail type to HTML, not plain text. Don't convert your resume to a PDF. Set your spell check so you can't send anything out without first spell-checking your message. And don't use an e-mail stationery; use a white background — no color or graphics. E-mail each employer individually — anti-spam software is set to recognize and reject mass e-mail sends. Word-wrap your sentences at 60 characters — this prevents those awkward-looking e-mails with fragmented sentences.
Send your cover letter (with contact information) in the e-mail body and your resume as an attached document. Be sure the cover letter is addressed to the recipient or Attn: HR. Your subject line should be "Resume of (Your Name) for (Job Title)." If you can, set your e-mail options as follows: the importance to 'high,' the sensitivity to 'confidential' — almost no one does this and it gets you noticed. In the body of the e-mail, be sure to state that "I am pursuing a (fill in the blank) role with your organization." And, "I've attached my resume for your review and look forward to your response." Finally, run anti-virus software frequently! Annoying little viruses may be interfering with your "open rates" as most companies run server-side anti-virus products.
Step 2: At the same time you're e-mailing the employer, mail them a hard-copy resume. Print using a laser printer on 24-lb. white paper with a lumens rating of at least 90. Don't use 'resume paper' unless you're presenting the resume in person (it doesn't scan as well as plain white paper). Mail it flat in a gray envelope: Folds don't scan well and white envelopes may become soiled moving through the mail. Hand-write or computer-print addresses on mailing labels — and be sure to use a waterproof (non-smear) pen.
Step 3: Send a follow-up e-mail to the same e-mail address you used in Step 1. In the e-mail subject header, put: "Follow-up to resume of (your name)." In the body of the e-mail, paraphrase the following:
"Attn: Human Resources: I am following up to be sure you received my resume, and to see if there is an opportunity for an interview. I am seeking a role in (fill in blank) with your organization. I look forward to meeting you in person, and I welcome your referral to any colleagues who may be interested in my unique background and skills."
Step 4: Mail a follow-up card, using the verbiage above; hand-write the note. If your handwriting is like mine (terrible!) then slow down and print the note. Use the 'thank you' blank cards they sell at stationery-supply stores like Staples, Office Depot, etc., which price out to about 50 cents each plus postage. You should get a better response with those notes vs. not using them!
Step 5: Some discreet guerilla marketing tactics: If you find an employer asking for resumes by fax but not disclosing who they are, call that fax number but change the last digit in the phone number (it will likely be a person sitting next to the fax machine); use your finesse to ask that person for an appropriate contact name within HR or the division you're targeting. If you must fax, set your fax mode to "fine." You'll likely find your fax machine currently in the "standard" mode — switching to fine mode will slow down the fax but typically doubles the clarity of the recipient's fax — test-send once to see the marked improvement for yourself.
Call the department you're considering working for and ask them to recommend a professional association for you to join. Attend meetings of that professional association as a visitor, but be sure to get training on the latest techniques in networking and informational interviewing before you try this! This sort of networking requires a light touch, particularly for the full-time job seeker.
Even if you have a contact in the organization, always phone the front lobby of the company to ask for names of HR or the appropriate hiring manager — it goes without saying to get names and titles correct. Remember there's a high turnover rate of employees at all levels these days — 50 percent every 2.4 years according to the Department of Labor — so gathering accurate contact names can be a chore but makes a much bigger impact.
Step 6: Resend your updated resume every few months while you're conducting a search, because most employers purge their resume databases at regular intervals. How often? It depends on the employer. We've seen Fortune 1000-level employers purge resumes older than 90 days; they need to because they receive an average of 400 resumes daily. A second reason they purge their files is to avoid legal discrimination (EEOC) suits. Regulatory compliance is also one of the major reasons larger employers use resume scanning software called Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) or Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
Happy hunting! And of course, if you still want to spend that extra resume distribution cash, there are always charitable funds. Please let us know if you have your own insight to add to the above...we're always looking to refine our most current information.
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