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Rodney,
Given the software I have been working on for the past decade or so focuses on managing the hiring process including the submission, consumption, searching and reviewing of resumes, I think I might have some good tips for you! I do however, have mixed feeling about the importance of resumes. I think that (as always) it can be more "who you know" and less about "what you know". Or at least the "who you know" is what gets you in the door. So I think the social networking side is likely more important to the overall job search. But! You still have to have a good resume as it absolutely does come into play.
I have never used a resume service. I have no idea what they might charge or how valuable they might be. I think the #1 thing I would do is just have multiple people (more than two) that you trust to review your resume. Have them look at both informational accuracy as well as spelling and grammar issues. You can’t imagine the number of resumes I see that are butchered from a spelling perspective. I would first focus on making sure your LinkedIn profile is accurate. For me, I keep LinkedIn pretty much up to date (especially with respect to basic work history, start/end dates, etc.) and if I was ever to create an updated resume, I would harvest the data from LinkedIn. You will have recruiters and hiring managers looking at your LinkedIn profile so that is another reason to keep them in sync. I don’t know how open you are with stuff on Facebook, but I would not allow anyone other than friends to view it and don’t put crazy stuff on there as well. I know that the next generation of employees are OK with putting crazy stuff on Facebook, but I think it is still hurting them when it comes time to get a job.
Don’t try crazy formatting with your resume. I personally would keep to a basic style (again, look at how LinkedIn does theirs). This is because it is highly likely your resume is going to be parsed by an automated system. If you have all kinds of crazy formatting going on, you run the risk of the parsing engine not being able to make any sense of your layout. These engines will try to figure out things such as skills, education, work experience, etc. It is likely that someone may not even see your resume until some automated search has decided you are worthy of review. It just depends upon how many candidates are applying for the position. If there are few candidates, then a recruiter is more likely to review you first. Also, I think ours converts everything (PDFs, Word documents, etc.) into an HTML document prior to storage and parsing. So when a recruiter or hiring manager eventually looks at your resume, it is the converted HTML version. So again, if you have created some wacky formatting that doesn’t survive the conversion it makes it hard for someone to look at your resume. Some candidate portals may also allow you to upload your resume, it is parsed and then it lets you review and tweak the parsed copy. Or they may have an online resume builder that requires you to type stuff in. Some might even ask to extract info from LinkedIn.
Don’t be afraid of creating resumes that are targeted for a position. You still have to keep things in sync with something like your LinkedIn profile which should have a generic overall picture of who you are, but you can tweak things toward your targeted audience. Some systems (including ours) has the ability to keep a resume per position. So you might even be able to apply for two positions at the same company and provide two different resumes. Or, they may just use whatever was your last submitted.
Do apply online in addition to trying to work personal/social contacts. The search engines that look at resumes also try to find candidates in their general pools that might match a given position. So they might decide you are a potential fit for a job you didn’t even know exists. Do not apply for every open position. They can see this and believe me, they smell your desperation (or insanity). I have seen candidates who have applied for every open position, (or a specific range of positions) at a given company over and over again, for many years (hundreds of applications). You do get noticed for the wrong reason. I have seen clients who would love to be able to blacklist candidates for doing this.
Lastly, try to get some type of referral at a targeted company. Some companies offer referral bonuses and even a small mention from an employee who works there to the recruiter will likely get your resume reviewed by human eyes.
Richard
_________________ Richard Casto 1972 Porsche 914 2013 Honda Fit Sport 2015 Honda Fit EX http://motorsport.zyyz.comMoney can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.
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