“Huh??? Tell me something I don’t already know.” I know you’re telling yourself this very question. I don’t blame you for being skeptical. You’ve done your research, you’ve made sure your resume “stands out”. You’ve followed all the tips and tricks out there. But still, your resume gets sucked into the oblivion that is the resume black hole. What is there to do besides constantly checking your email and re-checking your phone is not on silent. I know, I’ve been there. You can develop a complex. Literally. It’s your livelihood on the line. There’s no time to waste, no room for error. The business of recruiting is not to be taken lightly. And we don’t. You think you’ve done all that can be done to make sure your resume is the best it can be to get a call back. Make sure you’ve got it covered, as Lead People Strategist, Robye Nothnagel, breaks it down. She’s been recruiting long enough to give the best actionable advice out there. You want a call-back? Follow these five steps and you will.
Now, unless you’re a part of the recruiting world, you likely don’t know how resourceful a good recruiter can be. And not only because of the obvious, “yeah their job is to find you a job…” A good recruiter is a job seeker’s career consultant. Getting you the job is the cherry on top. A good recruiter finds your story and, in essence, “sells” your story to the hiring manager. A good recruiter is your best bet to make sure your resume doesn’t land in the black hole of death. Dun dun dun!…(ominous music) Now who can you say has that kind of direct line to the person on the other end who will in the end, make the decision? That’s the connection that every job seeker wishes he/she has. A good recruiter is the “anti-black hole”. Robye shares an amazing story about how she pulled a candidate’s resume right out from the black hole of doom. It’s about relationships. To the skeptic that’s saying “yeah it’s a little self-serving to promote your own service”: Yes, it is, but if we didn’t have the passion behind it, there would be no point in sharing; and this whole post would come off as pitchy and unsubstantial. I’ll let you make the call.
(an excerpt from Robye’s post Keep Calm and Use A Recruiter)”Let me tell you about how I assisted a candidate get out of the “black hole of web submittal” and get him the job he never thought he’d get with one of my best clients.
I was looking for a .NET developer for one of my clients. I found a great candidate with all the experience my client was looking for. We had a great conversation about his experience and the client, then he dropped the bomb – he submitted himself last year to a position my client posted online, but was never contacted by the company. He figured they weren’t interested. I thought, hmm – maybe my client was too busy and didn’t notice his resume. I hesitated, but I had a great relationship with my client and decided to move forward with the candidate. I called my client and told him I had a great candidate, but he had submitted his resume to their company website and asked if he remembered seeing the resume. He said he hadn’t seen the resume but if I thought he was a good fit, he’d look at him. My candidate was a great fit for the position and the company, he interviewed, HE GOT HIRED and 3 years later still works for the company.” Read on…
In the end, it’s on you. Do what you can to avoid that resume black hole. Don’t wait around, be pro-active and get your dream job. After you’ve done what you can with your resume, do what you can to build a direct connection with the hiring manager. Avoid the resume black hole and go boldly where no man has gone before (or where you’ve never gone before, with your dream job).