Unbeatable Resumes (69 page)

I can't tell you the number of résumés I receive with a full-page cover letter that will rarely, if ever, get read. Remember, the screening or interviewing authority has, on average, sixty of these résumés and cover letters to review (even
after
sorting through 100 or more). You have to make an impact
quickly
, with specifics that say: “You need to interview me.” Here are three sample cover letters.

If possible, have a personal phone conversation with the hiring authority and then send your résumé with a brief cover letter to act as a reminder. In this case, you've established rapport and your letter and résumé will more likely get read. A typical cover letter of this type should look something like this:

It's that simple. Don't make your cover letter any more complicated or longer than this sample. Use three or four short bullet points with as many quantifiable statements as possible. Then ask for an appointment.

If you don't have the luxury of a phone conversation beforehand, you might use the information you gathered from a job posting or just plain old common sense. Your letter might look something like this:

Again, this letter is short and to the point—easily done once you get the hang of it. Also, remember that it never hurts to include some
type of
numbers
in your cover letter. Numbers, statistics, percentages—any quantitative fact that says “I'm good!” helps you get interviewed.

I think it is always best to actually
telephone
a personal referral or someone you have something in common with
before
you send the person a cover letter and résumé. But if for some reason you cannot, or you have left a number of messages and not received a call back, you can write a cover letter to accompany your résumé. It would be something along this line:

It is important to begin the first paragraph with something personal. Remember,
do not focus on your needs!
Saying anything like, “I need a job,” won't help you. Hiring authorities care only about getting what they want. Now, if you can get what you want at the same time, things might work out for you. So, to insert a personal note, begin the first paragraph with something you might have in common, such as:

We both graduated from Notre Dame . . .
We were both members of Sigma Chi . . .
We both worked at ABC Corp . . .
We both know . . .

Some job candidates send other attachments with their résumés that further substantiate their success. As with the résumé and cover letter, these should be relatively short and obvious. At a glance they should communicate, “My résumé and cover letter state that I am a very successful businessperson—here is proof of that.”

What kind of information might you attach? You might include a positive performance or salary review; previously published documents of former employers ranking your performance as high; personal psychological evaluations that show high rankings in leadership; personality surveys that indicate you are a strong salesperson or analytical thinker; news releases of recognition and honors; or 30-60-90-day plans you have developed in the past or would implement if you got hired. Any objective document that substantiates your success, as long as it is concise and clear when viewed, will work. Often these attachments get viewed
before
the résumé is read.

A few of our candidates, not having this kind of objective “proof” of their skills, have gone online and taken self-administered psychological tests, intelligence tests, and aptitude tests. They pay for these tests and get formal-looking results. If they perform well, they attach the results to their résumés. I had one candidate who took two intelligence tests showing he was in the upper 2 percent of the surveyed
population regarding intelligence. He also took three sales-aptitude tests that proved he was in the upper 5 percent of sales performers and a “leadership” survey that proved he was a real leader. He got tons of interviews because of these attachments.

Anything that separates you from the average candidate can be attached. One of our candidates “attached” a link to the Amazon.com page of her published book of poetry.

These days, most of us don't get much mail delivered by the Post Office. The rapid response that e-mail and the Internet foster has made snail mail pretty much a thing of the past. Nevertheless, there may be times when you want to send your résumé as a hard copy. If so, print it on slightly off-white paper with matching envelope—almond color works best. Avoid dark colors, fancy paper, or any frou-frou paper or envelope; those aren't appropriate for business.

You've probably caught on by now that e-mailed résumés to anyone
other
than a hiring authority feeling the “pain” aren't likely to get read. If a third-party screener or HR person reviews your résumé (and a hundred others), you won't get a response unless you are an absolutely perfect match (yeah, right!). All of the earlier e-mail examples are most effective with direct hiring authorities. That attention-getting or interest-catching e-mail subject line will not work if you are dealing with a company Web site that asks you to submit your information.

If you do e-mail your résumé to a company Web site, and many candidates consider this sending a résumé down a black hole, you're also not likely to get attention by sending it more than once. In other words, you're probably going to be eliminated the second, third,
fourth, and fifth times as quickly as you got eliminated the first time. However, if you have access to the hiring authority's direct e-mail address, you can increase your chances by sending your résumé, e-mail message, and cover letter more than once.

So, you say, “Well, if they tell me I have to send my résumé to their employment Web site (i.e., the black hole), how do I get the hiring authority's e-mail address?” Come on! You're smarter than that.

You can (a) call the company, ask who the [department] manager is, and what his or her e-mail address is. Twenty percent of the time, you'll get the information. Or, you can (b) go to the company's Web site, find out the names of the department heads, figure out what their e-mail addresses are likely to be, and use them. Some of your mail may come back, but others are likely to hit pay dirt.

If you have very narrow experience and very narrow skills that apply to a very narrow sector of a business, you know there aren't many other people out there like you. That's good! If a hiring authority is looking for someone with that narrow experience, you know they're not getting very many résumés. On the other hand, if you know in your heart that there are many other people with the same experience and the same background, you realize that the hiring authority is receiving a lot of résumés. If you're a salesperson, for instance, who knows you can sell just about
anything
, you aren't unique; there are hundreds of people just like you.

Similarly, when you send your résumé to an organization seeking someone with specific experience and you don't have that experience, you know—especially in today's market—that the company is being bombarded by other people just like you. Your résumé is going to go into the deleted file along with the others.

So, you need to plan your strategy. For instance, you might send your résumé to a direct hiring authority, using a different subject line or message three or four times over a four- to five-week period. Along with this, you might call the hiring authority to evoke interest—a topic I speak about in
Chapter 9
.

Consider the typical hiring scenario. When an organization first starts looking for a person, it often gets a surge of résumés, and you might assume that the position will be filled quickly. However, a company's search for the perfect candidate can drag on a long time, for all different reasons. If e-mailed a bit later than the initial posting, your résumé may show up right after a candidate has been offered the job and turned it down, or it arrives the Monday morning after the candidate they hired on Friday failed to show up for the first day of work. Timing can be everything.