Wanna know why your resume doesn't get responses?

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goldfish21
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28 Apr 2021, 10:09 pm

1. There are tonnes (metric, eh?) of other people applying for the job and many of them are more qualified. If you're not a top contender, most managers/business owners aren't going to waste their time communicating with you. They're not being rude - it's just business. People have other things to do besides politely informing people they're not going to be offered an interview or job. Indeed/LinkedIn one-click rejections at least make this process a snap & send automatic form rejection emails indicating you're not a fit.. but other than that, if you're not in the top 5-10 applicants, you're not getting a response at all.

2. It's your resume. MANY qualified people have TERRIBLE resumes. I only know they're qualified because I'm one of few that bothers to read their sh***y resumes. But I bet MOST in my position wouldn't read half of what I do. So many highly educated people with great work experience that have No Clue how to market themselves via a professional appearing & formatted resume. Dozens and dozens of wall-o-text resumes that all end up looking the same: Like crap I'm going to scroll to the bottom of and click deny/decline/unfit/reject/whatever. Except me - I at least skim them to see if they're qualified. MOST ppl sitting in my chair wouldn't bother reading most of them. It's AMAZING to me that when I see a beautifully formatted easy to read super clear and simple concise professional looking resume it R E A L L Y sets an applicant apart. Wtf? So weird that this is the exception and not the rule. So, if you K N O W that you are amply qualified for the roles you're applying for but aren't getting any responses, it's because you have no idea how to sell yourself via a clean, concise, professionally formatted resume that catches the eye of the reviewer.

Those are my thoughts after skimming ~150+ applications for a couple of job postings.


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kraftiekortie
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29 Apr 2021, 8:05 am

I know a person who had a sterling resume, and was hired from a pool of about 200 people. He turned out to be an obsessive-compulsive, extremely slow worker who has to work overtime all the time.

When I started my present job in 1980, I didn't even have to submit a resume. They hired me on the spot because of my fast and accurate typing. They actually SAW me do this. Resumes are too theoretical, in my book.

This was the case up to about the 1990s. One could walk into a temporary agency, show their skills, and usually get hired on the spot. Same with some permanent jobs. I would walk into a temp agency, take a typing test, and they would send me out on a job the next day.

Nowadays, it's all a rigamarole that can take weeks.



Fnord
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29 Apr 2021, 8:25 am

goldfish21 wrote:
1. There are tonnes (metric, eh?) of other people applying for the job and many of them are more qualified. If you're not a top contender, most managers/business owners aren't going to waste their time communicating with you. They're not being rude - it's just business...

2. It's your resume. MANY qualified people have TERRIBLE resumes. I only know they're qualified because I'm one of few that bothers to read their sh***y resumes. But I bet MOST in my position wouldn't read half of what I do. So many highly educated people with great work experience that have No Clue how to market themselves via a professional appearing & formatted resume. Dozens and dozens of wall-o-text resumes that all end up looking the same: Like crap I'm going to scroll to the bottom of and click deny/decline/unfit/reject/whatever. Except me - I at least skim them to see if they're qualified. MOST ppl sitting in my chair wouldn't bother reading most of them. It's AMAZING to me that when I see a beautifully formatted easy to read super clear and simple concise professional looking resume it R E A L L Y sets an applicant apart. ...
I can confirm everything you posted, especially the part I put in bold print.

The résumés that stand out are:

• The ones in a standard font of readable size on corporate-bond paper (not copier paper), with proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

• The cover letters are concise and to-the-point, without unnecessary adjectives and adverbs, and in the proper business format.

• The curriculum vitae fills about 3/4s of one page, covers the most recent 10 years of (un)employment history, and uses "bullet" ("•") points that list relevant skills and major accomplishments.  The remaining 1/4 page allows me to add my personal observations and opinions for future reference (i.e., "Might be better fit for Tom's group", "A good 2nd choice", or "Immediate hire!").

• Gaps that are listed as "care-giving", "education/training", or "sabbatical" do not concern me as much as gaps that have no explanation at all.

That's about all I can add, Goldie!

:D


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Fireblossom
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29 Apr 2021, 9:37 am

I was taught in school how to make a resume starting from ninth grade. Is this not common? I mean, the one thing most people get right here is the proper format because it's taught so many times.

But yeah, the first point couldn't be more true, though I wish they'd at least sent an automatic "you were not chosen" after the choice is made so that one wouldn't hold on to the hope for nothing.



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29 Apr 2021, 9:48 am

Fireblossom wrote:
I was taught in school how to make a resume starting from ninth grade. Is this not common? I mean, the one thing most people get right here is the proper format because it's taught so many times.
I have asked candidates if they had ever learned how to write a résumé.  Most tell me they have, but some also tell me that writing résumés is "high school stuff" and does not really matter when applying for a job.
Fireblossom wrote:
But yeah, the first point couldn't be more true, though I wish they'd at least sent an automatic "you were not chosen" after the choice is made so that one wouldn't hold on to the hope for nothing.
If someone puts all of their hope in only one job application, then they will be disappointed whether or not they receive such a notice.  It is better to send out hundreds -- if not thousands -- of résumés and hope that just one of them gets a positive response than to put all of one's hope in one résumé, only to have that hope dashed to pieces later.


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kraftiekortie
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29 Apr 2021, 9:55 am

Resumes are very important THESE DAYS. Because of the nature of how one pursues a job THESE DAYS.

If I were a Human Resources sort, I wouldn't place much importance in the resume----except as it pertains to the specific aspects of the nature of the job which candidates are seeking. I know how people can write a great resume, but be a sucky worker. I've seen this so many times.

I would want the candidate to exhibit proficiency in the job advertised. I would take into account many factors in choosing a candidate; the proficiency in structuring a resume is probably not high on my priority list---though I would like to see proper punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure.

We didn't have classes about writing resumes when I went to high school in the 70s. Most jobs, except relatively high-level jobs, didn't require them in those days. I didn't have to submit a resume for the job I have now, for example. I just filled out an application, took a couple of pertinent tests, and was hired right away. I was investigated thoroughly over the next month or so, though. I had to submit fingerprints.



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29 Apr 2021, 10:07 am

kraftiekortie wrote:
... We didn't have classes about writing resumes when I went to high school in the 70s. Most jobs, except relatively high-level jobs, didn't require them in those days. I didn't have to submit a resume for the job I have now, for example. I just filled out an application, took a couple of pertinent tests, and was hired right away. I was investigated thoroughly over the next month or so, though. I had to submit fingerprints.
That was all de rigeur when any warm body could walk in off the street and land a job as a corporate drone.

Those days are gone.

Today, a résumé not only must be neat and well-crafted, it must be completely truthful and accurate, and express the actual skills the person already has for the specific position being sought, as well as the simple clerical skill that were so much in demand in the dim and distant past.


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kraftiekortie
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29 Apr 2021, 10:20 am

Yes. It must be truthful and accurate.

But I'd rather have a truthful and accurate resume with maybe a few structural mistakes than a structurally-perfect resume which presents outright lies.

I would guess that a resume within a STEM field would be one which has lots of substance. I would go for the substance: the experience and the skills--and not emphasize, so much, subtle structural errors.

In fact, there might be mistrust implanted into me as a human resources type if a resume is "too perfect."

Like I said, I've encountered instances where a "perfect resume" did not reflect the actual person hired.



IsabellaLinton
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29 Apr 2021, 10:23 am

Most resumes and CVs are done professionally for format, style, and content. I'd never be able to format mine properly because my computer skills are pretty weak in terms of spacing and tabs etc. so the last time I prepared a CV I hired someone to write it. The action verbs are important, and frequently employers have software that will scan for key words without humans even looking at them until a final cut.



kraftiekortie
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29 Apr 2021, 10:24 am

I might not be the "best" resume compiler...but when somebody hires me, I show them that I'm the best person for the job.

Frankly, the resume I submitted for my library job was very old-fashioned in format. It wasn't perfect, by any means.
What was most important to the human resources type there was that I had 37 years of steady job experience, and that I presented myself well at the interview. I presented myself as a person who WILL do the job right, and always be reliable. I was hired within a month of the interview, which is a rather short time these days.



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29 Apr 2021, 10:46 am

kraftiekortie wrote:
... I'd rather have a truthful and accurate resume with maybe a few structural mistakes than a structurally-perfect resume which presents outright lies...
Are you implying that a truthful and accurate résumé cannot be produced without structural mistakes?

Or are you implying that a résumé is truthful and accurate only if it has structural mistakes?

A résumé can be truthful, accurate, AND lacking in structural mistakes.


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Fnord
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29 Apr 2021, 10:51 am

IsabellaLinton wrote:
... frequently employers have software that will scan for key words without humans even looking at them until a final cut.
The keywords my software looks for are relative to the positions being filled, and for various iterations of words like "accomplish", "benefit", "develop", "growth", "innovate", "invent", "patent", and other corporate-positive terms.


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kraftiekortie
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29 Apr 2021, 10:54 am

I'm not implying anything.

Like Isabella said, resumes are frequently done by professional resume writers, and might be worded in such a way that it might give a distorted impression of one's actual fitness for the job.

This is more difficult to pull off within STEM fields, though.



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29 Apr 2021, 11:04 am

A professionally-written résumé is relatively easy to spot; and, if you have enough résumés to examine, you can usually tell which résumés were written by the same professional résumé writer.

I would much rather see a well-written résumé in a relatively unique style than a well-written résumé that looks like it was processed through a Word for Windows template or an on-line résumé-generation bot.


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IsabellaLinton
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29 Apr 2021, 11:15 am

I'm not in the job market anymore but I've heard that many resumes and CVs are now done on camera with video links and other creative methods. This is helpful during Covid especially when many jobs will be done from home, and interviewing will need to happen via Zoom or other video platforms.

My friend lost her six-figure international corporate job during Covid, and within about two months was hired remotely in another country, by people she's yet to meet. It's a work-from-home job. She did a seven-stage interview process all online, and her application was largely done by video as well. They wanted to know her personality and on-screen presence as much as her professional achievements. She was able to negotiate her own salary at 20% higher than her previous pay.



Redd_Kross
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29 Apr 2021, 11:22 am

No.