Posted by ResumeHelp on January 5, 2010
It is astonishing how many recruiters say they receive resumes and cover letters filled with spelling errors. A spelling slip-up, even a minor one, says more about you than the most articulate choice of words. For instance, is it “too” or “to”? Did you write “it’s” or “its”? Just those two words alone count for a lot of mistakes.
Get as many people to proof and edit your resume and cover letter as possible. You can never have too many eyes. The corporate content manager of a large instrument company says she sees a lot of spelling and grammatical errors. Once she sees a mistake she won’t read any further. She is not alone. When asked about the worst resumes and cover letters they have ever received, those that read them can come up with some hilarious shockers. How about the person applying to work at ExxonMobil? Nice resume, great cover letter, but he spelled the company’s name Exxon Mobile. There goes that job prospect.
While such big blunders are not that common, many people do make simple mistakes that could be easily avoided.
The top four common mistakes are:
Spelling and grammar are at the top of the list, probably because people rely too much on spell check. Spell check is a useful tool, but you also need several sets of eyeballs to catch everything. Spell check doesn’t check the context and use of words—your or you’re, four or for?
Repeating verbatim what’s in your resume on your cover letter
Forgetting to replace a company name when cutting and pasting parts of a letter
Carelessness — “I’d like to work for your company” (and the organization is a non-profit or government agency) or “I read your ad in the Philadelphia Inquirer” and it was run in another publication.
To make your way through the maze of errors that inevitably pop up, follow these simple steps:
Find people who will critically read each resume and cover letter you write for the content as well as the details. You might not notice that a period is missing from a sentence or an indentation that should be there isn’t. A reader hunting for errors will find them.
Read your resume and cover letter backwards from the bottom up, word by word. It sounds silly, but doing so allows you to see errors you would probably gloss over reading it from the top down.
Read the resume and cover letter aloud to find words that don’t make sense or aren’t meaningful. If you still are not satisfied with how it reads then it is a good idea to have a professional resume writer review it. This can make all the difference in getting the job of your dreams or getting passed over (again). Resume Edge is the best company in this field!
If you send a resume or cover letter to several companies, highlight each specific change so you make sure not to send Company A’s letter to Company B.
Finally, if you send a resume and cover letter via e-mail, stick it in the draft folder for an hour and then read it again before actually sending it. However sending something this important email is not recommended.
Posted by ResumeHelp on December 29, 2009
Yesterday I ran a post on how to get hired 65% faster and lots of you emailed me and asked me if this were true. Let me be perfectly clear — YES, 100% true. Today I would like to follow up and give you another idea or two. But this isn’t all there is – if you will take the next step and follow the link to Guerrilla Resume you will learn and receive lots more. These methods really work. The example we gave yesterday came from someone living in Michigan where the unemployment rate is at least 15% (conservatively) and if this will work there, why won’t it work where you live?
Many people never think of it that way. You should and must!
Think about it.
To get hired, you must identify, qualify and contact prospects (decision makers who can hire you) and sell to them (convince them to offer you a job). Anyone who has ever had a sales job knows the above to be true. You must sell the decision maker!
Here are 2 Guerrilla Job Search tactics based on *unconventional* sales and marketing methods.
Try one or both today, to get hired faster tomorrow …
- Treat Voicemails as Radio Spots
Here’s an idea: Think of your voicemail messages as 30-second radio commercials.
That means you should script and rehearse the voicemails you leave for employers.
Don’t adopt a fake baritone, but do try to sound upbeat and professional.
While other job seekers leave dull, rambling messages, you can give employers one more reason to hire you, by leaving tantalizing voicemails that practically force them to call you back.
Example:
“Hi, this is Steve Jones. I wanted to make
sure you got the resume I mailed you on Monday
for the position of accountant. I had something
to add to the part where I saved $27,000 last
year for a firm just like yours. If you’d like
to know the missing piece, please call me at
702-555-1212. Thank you!”
- Send Sales Letters, Not Cover Letters
It’s been said (by us) that you can’t bore employers into hiring you. So why send out the same dull cover letters as other job seekers?
To sell an employer on the idea of hiring you, it helps to send them a … sales letter.
Here’s a crash course to get you started:
- Personalize your opening. Example: “Dear Mr. Jackson.” Never, ever write: “Dear Sir or Madam.” Can’t find the name of the hiring manager? Pick up the phone and call.
Timid job seekers have skinny kids.
- Focus on the reader. All good sales letters are written about “you,” the reader, and not, “I,” the author. If you change all instances of “I” to “you” in your cover letter, you’ll make it more effective.
- Make specific claims, then prove them with facts. Look at your last letter. How many numbers, percentages, and dollar signs do you see? Add more.
- Ask for the sale. Example: “Please call me today to learn how I can save you money as a customer service manager.” Or, better: “I will call your office at 10 a.m. Wed. to answer any questions and tell you how I saved $15,000 in my last role as a customer service manager.”
Are you beginning to think you will NEVER find another job? Are you tired of being unemployed? You don’t have to be! Want to know more? The real key to your success is whether you are willing to take the next step or not. It’s that simple. Click here for more details!
Posted by ResumeHelp on December 23, 2009
Mary Berman, from Farmington Hills, Michigan, had been looking for work since February 2009 before starting a “Guerrilla” job search, in late September.
Up to that point, 20 weeks of job hunting had produced zero job interviews.
Just 7 weeks later, she accepted a job on Thursday, November 12, as a marketing executive assistant.
How did she use Guerrilla job hunting tactics to find work 65% faster?
“I saw a job advertised online and applied by mail. I sent a box with a paper Starbucks coffee cup, my cover letter, and resume inside. On the side of the cup, where it has boxes for the type of coffee, I made my own box that said, ‘Hire Mary’ and checked it with a black marker. I heard back a couple days later to get my first interview,” says Berman.
After her first job interview, which went well, Berman followed up with panache.
“It was Halloween time, so I decided to send them a chocolate covered apple with my hand-written thank-you note in a bag. I had a friend of mine, who was off work that day, take it over and deliver it to [the employer]. That was a big hit — they were thrilled — and I got the second interview out of it.”
Berman’s second job interview was with the executive vice president. Afterwards, she followed up diligently. “When I came home, I wrote a 30-60-90 day plan. I had taken copious notes during the interview and used that information to create suggestions for what I would do in my first 30, 60, and 90 days. I sent that to them via FedEx with another thank-you note. And I got a job offer.”
Now. Let’s break this successful Guerrilla Job Search down …
1. Start smart
The Coffee Cup Caper — a paper Starbucks cup, full-color Guerrilla Resume, and a cover letter (asking to meet for coffee), shipped in a box — gets extraordinary results. By contrast, ordinary resumes and cover letters, sent by email, get ordinary results.
2. Follow up with style
Delivering a Halloween treat with her thank-you note was correct seasonally, if not politically. Use good judgment before sending items that might be perceived as bribes by employers sensitive to such things, such as universities or public-sector organizations.
In Berman’s case, however, it worked like a (chocolate-covered) charm.
And, leaving out the gift, think of the impact a hand-delivered thank-you note can have on an employer, versus standard U.S. Mail or email. Could you arrange to have your thank-you note delivered by a courier, or a friend acting as one? Of course you could!
3. Give employers another reason to hire you
Mary did this in spades after her second interview, when she sent a written plan of action that outlined her first three months on the job.
A 30-60-90 day plan is a way of proving you can do the work — before you’re even on the payroll — by describing how you would learn the job, build rapport with employees/customers, and contribute to the bottom line.
Mary’s plan was 8 pages long and took the better part of a Friday night to prepare. (Before you balk at spending an entire evening at home researching and writing a 30-60-90 day plan, ask yourself if you wouldn’t trade a night out for getting a steady paycheck again.)
4. Score style points with your delivery
Mary’s first follow-up, the chocolate-apple-thank-you note, was delivered by a courier, not by email. Her 30-60-90 day plan was delivered by FedEx, not by email.
Do you not see a pattern? Email should NOT be the delivery method for your career documents. Because you can’t delete a courier, and a FedEx envelope can’t get caught in a spam filter.
Bottom line: This smart Guerrilla had failed to get even one job interview in 20 weeks of job hunting with conventional tactics.
After adopting unconventional Guerrilla tactics, she found work in only 7 weeks.
If Guerrilla job search methods can work in Michigan, where the unemployment rate tops 15%, they can work where you live. The only thing stopping you from thinking and acting like a Guerrilla is you. Why wait another minute? To get started with your own Guerilla search plans here’s where to start!
About Kevin:
Kevin Donlin is contributing co-author of “Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0.” Since 1996, he has provided job-search help to more than 20,000 people. |
