Calm Water Business Partner, LLC

Today I received an extremely well written cover letter indicating I had found the perfect candidate for one of my job searches.

Among the many qualifications mentioned in the cover letter were dependability, loyalty and dedication.  The candidate went on to explain how her experience was a precise technical fit for my opening as well.

Thinking this resume would definitely be worth reviewing, I quickly clicked the attachment to open the resume.

My definition of dependable, loyal and dedicated must be different.  Attached was a resume listing approximately twenty different jobs with twenty different companies over a span of less than five years.

If you are going to lead with these qualities, at the very least, there should be some explanation as to why you haven’t stayed with any of your former employers for longer than six months.  And it better be good…

Just a reminder that not every company ceases hiring activities around the end of the year. Yes, it’s the holidays and scheduling interviews may slow down for some companies, but resumes are still being reviewed and decisions are still being made. Year-end budgets are being worked out and in some cases offers need to be extended before the New Year starts.

So if you have decided it’s not worth your time to look at job postings this close to the holidays, you may be missing out. I’ve posted several openings over the least two weeks and am receiving resumes from all over the globe.

Local candidates have the best chance of being hired…so don’t stop your search under the mistaken idea that no one is hiring this time of the year.

And…season’s greetings to everyone.

I am often asked if cover letters are really all that important.  My answer is “it depends.”

Some hiring managers read cover letters just as intensely as they do the resume.  Others skip them completely and just focus on the resume.

If the job posting has specifically requested a cover letter, omitting it could get your resume dumped automatically.

Sending a cover letter that you have cut and pasted from a previous application that perhaps has the name of the other company on it, the wrong job title, or a detailed list of your specific skills and how they apply to some other job won’t win you any brownie points either.

Sometimes the request for a cover letter is a test to see how well you follow directions and communicate.  This is especially important for management positions and roles that typically require written correspondence as part of your daily tasks.

Cover letters that are full of spelling mistakes, typos, grammatical errors are, of course, really bad.  Again, if you are a Technical Writer, Marketing candidate or Editor…well, you get my drift.

And before you say that would never happen, I once got a resume from a degreed Technical Writer.  His resume had thirty-two spelling errors in it.  When I pointed that out, his response was, “Well, if the company can’t see beyond that, then I don’t want to work for them.”  I believe the feeling was mutual.

I often wonder where the line is between providing helpful feedback and totally wasting my time.

On a regular basis, I post job openings and receive resumes from candidates who are in no way, even remotely qualified for the position.

Some of these applicants take the time to tell me why they feel they are qualified.  For example:

• Ten years of work experience supervising cashiers at a big chain store makes them perfectly qualified to be a Tax Accountant.  CPA required apparently means nothing to them.
• A recent high school graduate feels that because his father was a computer programmer, he should be considered for the role of CTO.  No, not his father, the high school graduate.
• Oddly enough this is a very common thread…”My mother was head of human resources for twenty years, therefore I have the background you are seeking for the HR Generalist position.”

I’m not sure how someone else’s work experience is transferable, but I hear this quite often.

A Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and five years of experience designing printed circuit boards means this person is the perfect candidate for a high level Executive Administrative Assistant role.

I understand times are tough, and some people are desperate and others are just trying to make their quota of job applications for the week…but do I really have to answer them?  Do they REALLY want to know what I think?

I’d like to think that if you don’t know what a CPA is that you already know you are not a Tax Accountant.

Perhaps if we could get the word out that a cover letter is mandatory or at least a note saying, “I know this job isn’t for me, but I’d like to get on your radar for others positions” my life would be so much easier.  And, I’m always happy to try to help those who are trying to help themselves.

On the continuing theme of job hunting advice that is not for every situation…I would like to tell a story.  Actually this has happened to me on more than one occasion.

As a recruiter, I rarely share the name of my client company with a potential applicant.  There are multiple reasons for this:

My client is conducting a confidential search and doesn’t want anyone to know they are hiring for a particular position.

In keeping with the confidential search process, some applicants will follow up with phone calls.  Multiple phone calls.  So many phone calls that a restraining order might be a good idea.  When a client company uses a recruiter, the recruiter is the one who has to field all those follow up calls.

Once an applicant knows the name of my client, they can bypass me and submit their resume directly.  This is bad for what I think is an obvious reason, but I’m surprised at how many people don’t seem to know that most recruiters are paid on a commission-only basis.  If we do not submit the resume for the person who is ultimately hired, we do not get paid.

In the instance where a recruiter does tell you who their client company is, this information should be respected.  Not only are you expected to not bypass the recruiter to submit your resume, you are also expected not to tell everyone you know “Company Wonderful is hiring and you should send your resume right in.”

You could, however, say “There’s a recruiter I know working on a terrific job opening and you should contact her.”

So, back to my story…  One day, I was on the phone with an applicant.  We were discussing, in detail the requirements for a position.  I was trying to determine if he was truly the perfect fit that he appeared to be.

After we hung up, I forwarded his resume to my client company.  Within ten minutes I received a call from my client.  Four minutes before my email arrived, the candidate I was speaking with had forwarded his resume.  He was actually submitting his resume to my client while we were on the phone.

Technically, as I did not submit the candidate, I was no longer the recruiter on record and would not be paid a commission.

In reality, this is what happened.  My client called me and said it was obvious to her that the candidate was trying to bypass me and that he had to have been talking with me on the phonewhile he was submitting his resume.

My client asked me to call the candidate back and tell him they were not interested in hiring someone with such low ethics.

Sadly, he was a very good fit, but at that point there was nothing I could do or say to save the situation.