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Does your executive resume get deleted by the recipient?
by Sharon Graham. Filed under: $100k+ Job Seekers.
In the last month, I keep getting one email in my in box repeatedly. It is the very same executive resume from the very same person asking for a job that does not exist in our organization. I delete this message and the attached resume almost daily. In fact, I’ve now set that person’s incoming emails to go directly to my spam folder for permanent deletion.
Graham Management Group is very well known in Canada. It’s easy to learn about our organization. If this person did ANY research at all they would know that Graham Management Group is Canada’s number one resume writing and career transition firm for six-figure professionals. Rather than asking us for a job, maybe this applicant should be asking what we can do to help him figure out how to do a proper six-figure search.
It’s amazing to me how many six-figure professionals still apply haphazardly to anyone and everyone. How do they expect to be taken seriously?
If you’ve been job seeking for a few months or longer, it may be tempting to apply for as many jobs as possible, but when you apply for positions that are not in line with your experience, you risk appearing needy or desperate. Plus, you are probably wasting your time. Recruiters don’t call people who are unqualified for positions that they are filling.
As a leader, you are not a pawn in the job search. You are a top-level professional offering expertise that is far above the rest. You need to be choosy about what industry, job, and employer you will accept.
People will pay you a compensation of $100k or more if you can show them how they will get a return on their investment. Getting people to perk up and listen to you is easier than you think. All you need to do is redirect your energy:
- Stop blasting your resume out haphazardly
- Target only a few appropriate companies
- Investigate them to understand their needs
- Show them exactly what you can do to help them
Challenge yourself to accept only the best opportunities. Connect with employers that not only see the significance of what you are bringing to the table, but also value it enough to compensate you adequately. By being selective, you will find that you will create a better match between yourself and the employer. The better the match, the more likely that you will receive the position and compensation that you deserve.
If you feel yourself falling into this trap, read my article Dealing With the Job Search Blues for tips to help you stay motivated and persist in your search for your ideal opportunity.
September 10th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Hi Sharon,
I can appreciate your article entitled ‘’Does your executive resume get deleted by the recipient?’’ but I have experienced in my job search the following situation a “few” times:
A specific company posts an ad for a specific position which I am more than qualified for and very compatible with, so I apply for the position in question carefully following the company’s specific application instructions. A few weeks go by and I don’t hear anything regarding the position so I contact the HR department and they either do not answer me or when they do I get the “we only contact candidates we are interested in for the position”, so I continue my search but hope to hear from them soon.
Fast forward 6 months to a year later and then I get a confirmation that my e-mail (with cover letter and resume) was deleted without being read.
I think you will agree that my situation is rather frustrating and as I mentioned has happened to me a few times during my job search.
My intuition tells me that these companies do not perform any kind of due diligence when it comes to meeting suitable candidates, it’s basically first suitable –first served and the hell with the rest of them time is money.
Add to this what I find is an increasing lack of courtesy ,professionalism, qualifications and experience on the part of most HR representatives and recruiters and well you have a difficult situation made even harder.
Am I way off base here…?
Your feedback would be appreciated.
Regards,
Steve
September 10th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Steve,
I agree with your comment wholeheartedly, and I think that I have some good advice to share.
I have heard many six-figure job seekers saying that it seems that recruiters have somehow lost their manners. They rarely respond to applications received and often treat candidates with disrespect. I wonder if many of these same recruiters have forgotten what it felt like when they were looking for a job. I also wonder if they realize that the applicant they treat badly today will become valuable to them as a potential client or perfect candidate tomorrow. And, what will that person think of them after the way they were treated by the recruiter?
To be fair, we must also understand that the world has been changing at a tremendous pace. Organizations are charged to do more with less. Recruiters being bombarded with hundreds (and yes, even thousands) of resumes for one position. Internet correspondence is often impersonal. And, really recruiters are not paid by candidates they are paid by companies to find the best candidate for the job, so they really don’t have any allegiance to the applicant at all. This certainly does not excuse rudeness, but it does explain why things are the way they seem to be today.
Now, rather than focusing on the negative, let’s talk about what six-figure candidates can do to get noticed and taken seriously. If the world has changed, then we need to change with it. Applying to a position on the Internet will not get you the kind of connection or relationship that a $100k+ professional needs.
Realistically, I don’t think that recruiters take a “first come, first served” approach. I think that most do their due diligence. Remember, if you are competing against hundreds of potentially qualified candidates, your chances of getting called are pretty slim.
The six-figure people who generally get in are the ones who are well-networked, well-presented, well-known, and well-matched to the position. In other words, you’ll have the best chance of getting a call-back and getting treated with respect if YOU have done your due diligence:
* You need to be presenting one of the most powerful resume out of all the resumes they receive.
* You need to have already made a strong internal contact (a corporate decision maker)
* You need to have a highly visible, powerful online presence that the recruiter will find and LOVE when they do their due diligence.
* You need to do all your homework to investigate the company’s underlying needs and use your resume and supplementary material to show them exactly what you can do to help them.
I hope that this answers your question satisfactorily. Best of luck and many blessings as you move forward in your job search,
Sharon
Canada’s Career Strategist