The Other Side of the Job Search

April is showering, the weather is getting warmer, and the time has finally come for me to sit down to the stack of applications in my inbox and hire our summer interns. This will be my third round of selecting interns and supervising them, so I'm very comfortable with this process by now. With the economy the way it is and so many of my friends applying for jobs right now, I thought I would give you a little insight into my own preferences and biases as I sift through applications. Maybe some of your future employers feel the same way.

How to Make Your Resume Land on the Top of the Pile

1. Include your cover letter in the body of your email
When I open your email, that's my first impression of you. If you say "Kindly refer to my attached resume and cover letter" you have already blown your chance to make a good first impression. You're counting on me to be curious enough to click on the files and open them (in what order?), and you haven't given me any reason to be curious. Sure, if you have a gorgeously-formatted cover letter, attach it as a file, but don't ONLY attach it as a file. Format the letter like an email (no headers please) and send it along. This will highly increase the likelihood that I'll read it.

2. Keep your cover letter short
If you can say in one paragraph something interesting about yourself, your background, and why you want this job, I do not need more. The longer your cover letter, the less of a percentage of it I will read--after 1 or 2 paragraphs I'll start skimming.

3. Show me who you are
Rather than summarizing your work experience (the whole point of your resume) use the cover letter as a way to turn yourself from a pile of applicants into a person I may want to get on the phone. Make me smile, impress me, or just show that you're qualified and seem like you'd be a nice person. Let the resume do the rest.


4. Be clear that you know the position you're applying for
This seems obvious, but I've read a few applications that seriously make me doubt that they know even what department they're applying to. Read the job description and, without quoting it at me, show that you know what you're getting yourself into.


5. Have a 1-page resume, please
I have yet to see a 2-page resume that is actually packed with relevant information. If you are under 30, you should have a 1-page resume. Your guiding keywords should be relevant (85-90%) or interesting (10-15%). For the record, I do not find a 10-line list of scholarships and honorary societies at all interesting and they are rarely relevant.

6. Tell me why you're qualified
Whether it's in your cover letter or resume, it is your job to tell me why you're qualified for this job. Here again, the keyword is RELEVANT. For internships, I expect a lot of people will just be starting out in this field with little experience, but that's all the more reason to draw from whatever experience you do have.

The musician who wrote to me saying that her singing background meant she'd be a good marketing intern did not rise to the top of the pile. The one who explained that his hours in the practice room and attending concerts have developed a passion that's motivated even through thankless work...he got an email response immediately (and, sadly, had already gotten another internship. I’m not surprised). The latter drew that connection for me and the former did not.

7. Fix my problem
Do I want to give a person a leg-up and an opportunity to grow and learn about themselves and the job market? Sure. Is that the reason I am going through all of these resumes? No. Spend less time telling me about how I can help you, and more time telling me how you can help me. Are there things you know that will save me having to train you (skills)? Do you have some experience or some wonderful personality that's going to make you a good fit for our office?

8. Explain your experience
You have put your formal title on your resume, and written some beautiful-sounding vagueness like:

Supported the marketing campaign

I still have no idea what you did or what you're capable of. You may think whatever you've done is trivial, but success is in the details. Why not:

Supported 4 different members of the marketing campaign with tasks that included: managing excel lists, calling clients, researching our campaign on the internet and social networking sites, and writing copy.

Suddenly I know that you can handle multi-tasking and prioritization, you're capable with office software, have been trusted with customer service, and you're willing to take a stab at writing copy. Whether or not I'll need you for all those things, I may need you for some of them, and that's a lot better for me to know. Is it longer? Yes. But I'm sure there's somewhere else you can cut to make that fit.

9. Proofread
My coworker and I howled last year when an applicant accidentally put another organization than ours in her cover letter, and, sure enough, had “detail oriented” in her resume. Sure, she apologized, and everyone makes mistakes, but do you want to stand out in someone’s memory as the one who made a mistake? There is no excuse not to proofread your stuff (and have a friend help you, too).


10. Be honest

If you’re not a good writer, or “detail-oriented,” or amazing at Excel, don’t claim that you are. Don’t try to be what you think I want, be exactly who and what you are. A woman in a master class I took once put it really well:

If you’re an orange, be the best god damn orange you can be. Don’t try to be an apple just because they’re looking for apples today. It won’t work and you’ll make a terrible apple. Maybe tomorrow they’ll be looking for oranges instead, and then you’ll be the first person they call.

I do frequently pass on resumes that I think would be better fits elsewhere in my company.

11. Have a friend Scan your materials
Give a friend 10-15 seconds to scan your materials (each) and ask them what they noticed. If it's not what you want them to come away with, change your formatting, edit, or re-write your materials to suit. Try this on a few friends that you trust. I will give your resume more time than that, but make those first 15 seconds count.

Good luck!