Unbeatable Resumes (67 page)

Increasing the Chances Your Résumé Will Get Read

ALWAYS KEEP
in mind that your goal in sending your résumé is to set up an interview with the hiring authority. Nothing else matters! This book so far has shown you how to develop a winning résumé; now you need to consider how to get that résumé into the hands of the hiring authority. This chapter explains just how to do that—in other words, what works and what doesn't work, especially in this world of electronic communication. Should you use a cover letter? How do you get employers to open up your e-mail? Should you send a hard copy? Let's get started.

Ninety percent of the time you're going to deliver your résumé to an employer by e-mail. It is best to make your résumé an attachment,
rather than a part of the e-mail itself. It is easier for the reader to open the résumé as an attachment, read it, and print it.

You want to send your résumé to a hiring authority. If you send your résumé to a company's general Web address in response to a job posting, it isn't likely to get into the right hands—that is, the hiring authority feeling the “pain,” or the person who truly needs to hire someone.

In today's job market, résumés are often e-mailed rather than sent via snail mail (information on snail mail follows later in the chapter). Therefore, it is important to know how to craft an e-mail message that will get your résumé
read
. Once again, the point of delivering a résumé to prospective employers is to obtain an
interview
. That's true whether you use e-mail or snail mail.

If your résumé is sent via an e-mail message, there's a good possibility
it may never get read
. In reality, the time of day that the e-mail arrives in the recipient's inbox, the number of other e-mails the person receives, the person's concerns at the moment, and his or her mood at the time will determine if your e-mail is opened and actually read. If there is urgency in hiring someone, all the e-mails with résumés might be opened. But if the hiring need is low, or if a higher priority has arisen, your e-mail might be ignored or even get deleted. The hiring urgency can ebb and flow, big time. Therefore, your e-mail communication must be
short
and
personal
. You need to send an e-mail that addresses the personal needs of the prospective employer in a concise manner. Here are some tips for sending an attention-getting e-mail message.

Unless you are responding to an online application, put something compelling into the
subject line
of your e-mail to a prospective employer. Remember that you are communicating directly with the hiring authority—that is, the person with the “pain”—so write something on the subject line like the following:

Exceptional candidate
200% performer
Personally referred by [the person you know]
Proven track record
A stable, solid, consistent performer

Or, you can use a phrase or expression that will catch the reader's eye. For example, use a Latin phrase that might be recognized or pique curiosity, such as
“non illegitimus carborundum,” “carpe diem,”
or
“omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis.”
If you use this kind of device, though, be sure to briefly explain it in the body of the e-mail, showing how it applies to the position being sought. Similarly, use a short quote from a famous person, followed in the body of the e-mail with an analogy to your experience.

Indeed, the subject line of an e-mail is a chance for you to be creative. Treat it like a newspaper headline or an advertisement. In any event, the subject line should grab the reader's attention enough to get him or her to open the e-mail and read it. Be careful, though, that the subject line message isn't so “out there” that the message gets deleted as annoying. For example, “Greetings from your cousin in Zimbabwe,” or “News about your inheritance,” won't get your e-mail message read.

Try different approaches, too. Different personalities respond to different kinds of messages. For instance, a comptroller or a V.P. of Finance may not be teased into reading an e-mail with a subject line of “Hire a 200% performer,” but a V.P. of Sales would. Use your good judgment, but be mindful always of your objective: to get your e-mail résumé opened. For help with understanding the different kinds of personality types you'll encounter in the interview process, see
www.thejobsearchsolution.com
.

Remember, and this is important, that you are trying to motivate
the recipient
of the e-mail message. It's possible that, within reason, what you might personally be uncomfortable doing may be just the thing that can get you an interview. Over the years I have recommended that
candidates do some fairly aggressive things, either to get an interview or to be remembered after an interview. Some candidates say things like, “Tony, it's ‘just not me' to be that aggressive. I'm
uncomfortable
doing that.”

The obvious question is, Are you more uncomfortable with being
out of work
and not being able to feed your family, or with doing something aggressive that's necessary to find a new job? If what you're doing isn't getting you the interviews, then you may
have
to do things that are uncomfortable. You are not being asked to betray your basic beliefs; you are simply trying to get an interview.

I have personally placed over 8,500 people in new jobs, sometimes by recommending that they do things they feel are either inappropriate or too aggressive. Obviously, this suggestion often works. The point is that you need to look beyond your own needs and consider the recipient's needs, his “pain.” Writing a subject line like, “An exceptional candidate needs a job” does not communicate empathy or interest in what the employer
wants
. Hiring authorities don't care what
you
want. They only care about what
they
want. Now, if you can get what you want by helping them get what they want, everyone is happy.