How do I get my resume noticed?

Want to stand out? This question came to me from one of the members of the Tim’s Strategy Linkedin Group.

Q: How do I get my resume noticed?

The best way to get noticed is to be the applicant most qualified for the job. I honestly think it is that simple.

As a hiring manager who has looked at a few thousand resumes over the years, I review until I find what I am looking for in a candidate. Even scanning fully through a less than perfectly prepared resume. It’s what skills and experience you have, what you’ve accomplished and how those compare with what I’ve asked the HR team to find.

It’s not the package it came in, the color of the paper or even the format. And it is not the fact that your cover letter is clever.

Now, don’t get me wrong. It certainly helps if the resume is easy to read and the top half of page one clearly positions you for the job. And it is important that your resume do everything possible to make you look professional and organized. But, to me, those are helpers. They help people see what is already there – the content.

Absolutely take the time to have a few friends or a professional review your resume.

But, in the end, apply for the right jobs and have the right expectations when you stretch your fit with a job outside your areas of strength.

Tell me, what is your answer to this question?

Rusty Tyson

Tim: As long as one is confident that she/he is a good fit for what the hiring manager really needs, then it is a good idea to use one’s networking connections to ask someone who is an insider at the target company to hand the applicant’s resume to the hiring manager with a few kind words about the resume owner being someone worth considering for the posting. This approach should only be employed when the prerequisites you detailed in your foundation of this blog article are definitely met so as to NOT weaken the potential influence or access of the insider in this and future cases. I would recommend affording the Insider the opportunity to assess the applicant’s suitability and eliciting and abiding by the Insider’s evaluation of the suitability of the favor-requesting applicant for the position.
Thanks & All th’ e-Best,
Rusty Tyson, CPA, AICPA, MCSA with Messaging, … xyz
Rusty Tyson

Tim: As long as one is confident that she/he is a good fit for what the hiring manager really needs, then it is a good idea to use one’s networking connections to ask someone who is an insider at the target company to hand the applicant’s resume to the hiring manager with a few kind words about the resume owner being someone worth considering for the posting. This approach should only be employed when the prerequisites you detailed in your foundation of this blog article are definitely met so as to NOT weaken the potential influence or access of the insider in this and future cases. I would recommend affording the Insider the opportunity to assess the applicant’s suitability and eliciting and abiding by the Insider’s evaluation of the suitability of the favor-requesting applicant for the position.
Thanks & All th’ e-Best,
Rusty Tyson, CPA, AICPA, MCSA with Messaging, … xyz
http://profile.typepad.com/1220292248s14607 Tim Tyrell-Smith

Rusty – great point about allowing the insider a chance to review your qualifications prior to presenting them to his company. That does two things. It gets them educated on you AND it prevents their reputation from being damaged internally if your resume was not reviewed and was not well-received.
Tim
http://profile.typepad.com/1220292248s14607 Tim Tyrell-Smith

Rusty – great point about allowing the insider a chance to review your qualifications prior to presenting them to his company. That does two things. It gets them educated on you AND it prevents their reputation from being damaged internally if your resume was not reviewed and was not well-received.
Tim
http://workcoachcafe.com Ronnie Ann

Hi Tim! Great advice and blog. Glad I found you while checking up on Karen Burns and her new book.
So true about the right fit being more important than anything. Only thing I’d like to add about the cover letter thing…I once called in a woman whose resume was only so-so, but her cover letter gave a me a sense of who she is and how she might be more than what her resume showed. We hired her and she really rose to the occasion. Now, of course, not all screeners go the extra mile (looks like you do). And it still pays to get your resume as strong as possible. But a good cover letter can sometimes make all the difference.
Cheers!
Ronnie Ann
http://workcoachcafe.com Ronnie Ann

Hi Tim! Great advice and blog. Glad I found you while checking up on Karen Burns and her new book.
So true about the right fit being more important than anything. Only thing I’d like to add about the cover letter thing…I once called in a woman whose resume was only so-so, but her cover letter gave a me a sense of who she is and how she might be more than what her resume showed. We hired her and she really rose to the occasion. Now, of course, not all screeners go the extra mile (looks like you do). And it still pays to get your resume as strong as possible. But a good cover letter can sometimes make all the difference.
Cheers!
Ronnie Ann
http://profile.typepad.com/1220292248s14607 Tim Tyrell-Smith

Hi Ronnie Ann – Thanks for finding me! I appreciate your point about the cover letter (and I am hard on them sometimes, I admit). A good one never hurts you, but a bad one certainly can!
http://profile.typepad.com/1220292248s14607 Tim Tyrell-Smith

Hi Ronnie Ann – Thanks for finding me! I appreciate your point about the cover letter (and I am hard on them sometimes, I admit). A good one never hurts you, but a bad one certainly can!

How do I get my resume noticed?

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