Richman: What are you doing wrong?
Richman: What are you doing wrong?
“I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong,” the caller said. “I’ve sent my résumé to more than 300 employers and I haven’t gotten a response from any of them. My résumé is well-written, and I have a good education and solid experience in a variety of positions at reputable companies. Would you look it over and tell me what you think?”
So I asked her to send me a sampling of ads that she had responded to, along with copies of résumés she had posted. She was as relieved as she was frustrated when I described what I saw and what she could do about it.
Her résumé had nothing in common with the positions she pursued. The employers’ needs didn’t match her wants, and the employers’ requirements didn’t match her accomplishments.
“You haven’t made your case for the jobs where you’re applying,” I told her. “You are making a case for jobs these employers don’t have or don’t need filled.”
Yet she thought she had. She thought that the person who was reviewing her résumé would realize that someone with her breadth and depth of experience had “accomplished these basic requirements.”
Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. Employers, interviewers and résumé-scanners aren’t paid to read tea leaves or hypothesize what someone can or cannot do, no matter how worldly-wise they may be. The reason they request résumés is to review the written record of applicants to determine who has a proven, successful track record of doing exactly what the employer would need them to do.
What does that mean for you, intrepid job seeker? Scanners, both human and technological, sort through hundreds of submissions they receive, save the résumés that match and delete the ones that don’t. Your job is to focus on the job requirements that are posted in the advertisement and include the same key words in your cover letter and your résumé (in the objective and in the list of job responsibilities). You’ll be surprised what a difference it makes.
“I have one more question,” she said. “If I do as you suggest, I’ll be applying for jobs that are less than what I want. I don’t want that advertised job — I want the one that person reports to. What do I need to do to get that job?”
Network your way to the place you want to work and the position you want to hold. Talk to people you know and tell them what you’re looking for, be clear about what you do and how you make a difference, and ask them to brainstorm with you about who they know, who in turn might know where those opportunities exist. Continue to expand your network, following up with the people to whom you’re referred. If you persist (with a positive attitude) you will intersect with a job that’s a match for your talent.
Joyce Richman is a speaker and career coach conducting seminars and workshops throughout the United States, and the author of “Roads, Routes & Ruts: A Guidebook for Career Success.” You can reach her at 288-1799 or JERichman@aol.com. Watch Richman’s latest career advice Wednesdays at 6:35 a.m. during “The Good Morning Show” on WFMY News 2.
