I know a lot of you are looking for jobs right now. Whether you already have a job or not, I know it's tough, and I know it can be scary. I've been interviewing people for many years, and I'm still doing it now, quite a bit. I've seen people do very well in their interviews and I've seen others blow it. I don't want you to be one of the ones that blow it, so I thought I would write down some of the simple things you can do (or not do) to give yourself the best chance to get the job, while these things are fresh in my mind.
Let me say that I'm writing this from the perspective of a hiring manager, so I can't give you tips on where to post your résumé, or what connections to make. Here's what I do: HR emails me stacks of résumés that have passed their screening procedures, and I sift through them, recommend whom to bring in, do interviews, and make recommendations on whom to hire.
Follow me below the Kos clef to see what I'm looking for...
RÉSUMÉ
The first thing is that your résumé has to make it to my inbox. In order for that to happen, it may need to get by a recruiter/HR person. Often, that person doesn't have a terrific intuitive feel for the subject area, and they rely on canned phrases to search for, and often those phrases are culled from the job posting. If YOU were the one looking to fill the position as posted, what phrases would YOU search for? Get those phrases into your résumé. If they're there, the HR person probably lets you through. Of course, if you send your résumé directly to HR, you can customize it and add a cover letter, which can be a good thing (see below).
After your résumé/cover letter gets to me, here are the things I look at:
1. Your objective statement - because it's at the top. Frankly, I think an objective statement can only hurt you. I wouldn't even use one at all. All it is is a way for me to eliminate you because you give me the impression you're looking for something that doesn't quite match the position, or you aspire to something that I'm not going to be able to fulfill. If you're applying for position A, don't tell me you wish to be A but also like B, have dabbled in C and D, and someday aspire to do E. That makes me nervous. If I'm sorting through a fresh batch of 20 résumés, and you give me an easy out like that in the first three lines, I may just take it. If you must have an objective statement, just be overjoyed about doing A, and leave it at that. But don't pander to me by mimicking the job description in your objective statement too closely. See what I mean? Just get rid of that thing. If there's no objective statement, I won't hold it against you at all. Look, I know what your objective is already: it's to get a job. I'm OK with that. I don't know why the objective statement is so fashionable right now. I really don't know where this came from.
2. Your skills. That's the most important thing to me. If you've got skills that actually match the position I've posted, you're ahead of the vast majority of applicants right there. Emphasize the skills you've got that match the position, and again, don't let them get lost in the weeds by overloading your résumé with too many lines. I might take 1 or 2 minutes to look at your résumé, and I might be a bit fried because I've just looked at 10 other ones, so don't let me miss the main attraction because it's buried somewhere on page 4.
3. Your history. First of all, don't apply for positions you're over- or underqualified for, because this is a waste of everyone's time. Aside from that, well-respected institutions you've worked/studied at will look good, but another important thing is timing. Have you jumped around from job to job every 18 months? Are there weird gaps where you go unaccounted for? Did it take you twice as long as normal to get your degree? If so, it probably won't eliminate you, but you'll need to be able to explain why.
4. Your use of language. Honest to goodness, don't misspell things and misuse words. This is the one document that you have had an unlimited amount of time to work on, and if I see that you have "lead" a group or you "recieved" an award, that is like biting into gristle for me. You led the group. You received the award. Just get that shit right. Also, don't give me Fiona Apple lyrics, like you asseverate or you're velivolant. I have a delete button, and I know how to use it. And don't give me a single-spaced, 9-point-font, 2,000-word treatise. I simply do not have time for that.
5. Your cover letter. This is a better place to put your summary/objective, because you don't have to cram it into 100 words or less. In fact, I just had someone today save himself on his cover letter. His résumé was a little dense, and so I missed some key skills. But when I read the cover letter, it did a better job of highlighting skills that mattered for this particular position. The cover letter, if you have one, should be very customized. I don't want to see a whole bunch of facts about you and then a generic assertion that your skills will be a good fit for my company. I want to see that you really do understand what the company is about, and that you're excited about the company's mission and specifically this position. That reassures me that you're not just carpet-bombing your résumé everywhere, and that you're not just going to use this position as a stepping stone to something else you really want.
INTERVIEW
Once you've gotten yourself an interview, whether over the phone or in person, there are ways to earn points in your interviewers' minds that other applicants will mess up. I guarantee you, they will. Your interviewers WANT you to do well. They WANT to fill this position with you. So don't disappoint them.
Here are the most meaningful positives cited by evaluators in candidate reviews:
Enthusiastic
Energetic
Smart
Good communicator
Good learner
Easy to talk to
If you get these things written about you, you are much more likely to get an offer. So how do you project these qualities?
1. Know what the company is trying to achieve, and be excited about it. I can't overstate this one enough. If you can convince me that you are totally on board with what we're doing and that you find it really compelling, you eclipse more than half of all applicants right there. This is profound but very simple. Just go to the company's website, read their press releases, understand their mission, and come into that interview ready to represent. If you convince me that you know what we're doing, you're pumped about it, and you give me a credible reason why, I'll be willing to overlook some shortcomings.
2. Don't give me two-word answers. Don't make me as an interviewer work to get information out of you, or give me such short answers that halfway through the interview we're both out of material. You are not just here to play goaltender to fend off questions. You need to wake up the gift of gab here a little. When I ask you about your last job or two, you need to sound competent, and you need to give me complete answers. You need to be able to make me understand what you were doing and why it was important. If you can seem excited about that, too, all the better. The bottom line is, however you do it, you need to engage me. Talk to me about something for real. Communication is an important part of almost any job, so this is a good test of almost any applicant. And a surprising number of applicants - maybe 1/4 to 1/3 - really blow this. And if you blow this, you are toast.
3. Ask thoughtful questions. When I ask you if you've got any questions for me, you need to have some good ones prepared. Show me that you have thought about this and that you really give a shit. If you know enough about the company to ask several intelligent questions, you're on my 'A' list.
4. Be courteous. Smile. That's an easy one, but some people can't help themselves, and they will mess this up. If you come across as smug, cocky, evasive, or cynical, it is going to hurt you. Don't lean back in your chair, don't diss your former employer, don't tell me how great you are. Just be friendly and real and act like this interview and this job mean something to you.
5. Do your homework. If there are any shortcomings in experience or knowledge you might have, show me that you have begun learning about those things. I had one recent applicant who didn't have much experience with a particular technique central to the job (though she did have lots of experience in related techniques), but when she came to the interview, she had clearly read a lot about it, was conversant in it, and even brought some literature about it with her. She got the job over more-qualified people because she had the right attitude. She didn't just tell me she was a good learner; she illustrated it. That's the stuff I want to see.
REFERENCES
Don't discount this - it's very important. We HAVE to check three references on you, and the best ones to have are direct supervisors and/or well-respected people. It can't just be peers. I know that what they say is beyond your control, but be sure to make good choices here. I don't care what form the references are in - phone, email, LinkedIn, doesn't matter.
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So there you are - in summary, if you're qualified for a job and you're up against a few others who are as well, the way you break the tie is with enthusiasm for this particular job, intelligent questions, and a great attitude.
I'm telling you, if you go into that interview with these things in mind, you're going to have a great chance. You will have given yourself the best possible chance to GET THAT JOB.
Good luck out there! You can do it. I'm ready to interview you, and I want you to succeed.