Your Resume - What Employers Want to See
I think employers were more willing to take risks with less qualified candidates then (letň€™s say, pre-1998) than they are now. Hiring managers and recruiters recognize that online resources can provide them with exponentially greater access to candidates today than in years past. Itň€™s not that the talent pool is deeper, itň€™s just more accessible (and more public) than itň€™s ever been. So the same company that might have been willing to take a chance on a good candidate from a different industry ten years ago now wants someone whose experience matches their position as closely as possible. I am a big believer that the best candidates for a particular position are the ones who would be taking a step up in their career by accepting. They are inherently motivated because theyň€™re improving their pay, adding to their responsibilities and increasing their exposure. But today employers want over-qualified candidatesň€”people who are actually taking steps down in their careers or at the very least, making lateral moves. Most employers will not admit to consciously doing this, mind you; but they do. They want to know with as much certainty as possible that the candidates have ň€śbeen there and done that.ň€ť They want people with track records that mirror the exact challenges and expectations of their opening, particularly if theyň€™re working with a third party recruiter to fill the position. The employer feels theyň€™re paying big bucks for the recruiter to minimize their risk; therefore they should deliver candidates that are tailor-made for their role.As an independent recruiter, it is my job to provide the client with the candidate solution they want. Every client knows the type of person theyň€™re looking for, even if theyň€™re not always able to describe them in great detail before we begin the search. They may need to evaluate a couple candidates before they can put into words their exact preferences, particularly when itň€™s a new position. Keep in mind the candidate solution our firm provides is the one defined by the client, and in my opinion itň€™s not always the one that may be the best long-term employment solution. As I discussed in a previous article (ň€śRemember: Youň€™re hiring them to work for you, not to date youň€ť), many hiring managers allow their own personal biases to influence they way they evaluate candidates (often referred to as ň€śgut instinctsň€ť) resulting in bad hiring decisions. My job is to provide the client with candidates that have a documented track record of success. The majority of companies we work with want candidates either from their own industry or industries that are a close parallel. Drilling down even further, they want to know that the candidateň€™s daily, weekly and monthly activities overlap with the expectations of the new position. This is why having a thorough, well-defined resume is imperative for todayň€™s job seeker looking to advance their career.
I believe the criticism that most resumes are long-winded, over-inflated exaggerations of unspectacular accomplishments is completely unwarranted. Coming from someone who looks at thousands of resumes a month, the average person is more likely to sell themselves short, thereby limiting their potential opportunities than they are to misrepresent themselves on paper. Over the next couple weeks Iň€™m going to be breaking down the modern resume and showing you how to increase your exposure and open up new doors in your career.