Guarantee a phone interview!

As an employer, I have a policy of conducting phone interviews with any applicant I receive a reputable recommendation for (assuming the applicant’s resume is at least passable). This is the case even if I don’t know the person making the recommendation (although that certainly helps). Recommendations provide instant credibility and show that the applicant is serious about the position. I know of a number of colleagues that have a similar policy.

So how can you use this policy to your advantage?

First, try finding someone in your personal network that might know somebody at the organizations where you are applying. Consider sending your contacts an email with the names of your intended places of employment and politely ask if they have any contacts there. It’s a small world and you might be surprised by the results!

Second, if you can’t find a connection using the strategy above, consider asking a couple of your key supporters, such as former employers, mentors, and professors (but not college roommates) to send an email to the hiring manager at the organization where you’ve applied and provide a recommendation. Here’s an example:

Dear Hiring Manager,

I am writing in regards to Jane Smith, who recently applied for the communications associate position at Strategic Communications Limited. I was Jane’s supervisor during her internship with our organization last summer. She was an exceptional talent who excelled in her position and was a pleasure to have in the office. I strongly encourage you to consider her application.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

John Doe
Director
Human Rights Organization

If you do decide to ask someone in your network to provide a recommendation, make it easy on him or her. Provide the appropriate contact information for the hiring managers and consider providing sample language for the actual recommendation (like the example above).

Don't forget, we’ll be launching our new online resume service on June 23 at getpickd.com, but in the meantime, be sure to follow our blog for updates, resume ideas, and interview tips. You can also follow us on Twitter @getpickd.

Adam Sterling is the founder of getpickd

Common mistakes. Easy fixes. (part one)

This post is part one in a series on common mistakes made by job applicants and easy fixes for addressing those mistakes.

“What would you describe as your greatest strengths and weaknesses?”

This is one of the more frustrating (and most common) questions that a potential employer might ask you during an interview. It is also a question that most applicants respond to incorrectly.

Let’s start with the worst possible (and most common) response to this question:

“My greatest strength is also my greatest weakness.” This is generally followed by a discussion about how the applicant tends to work too hard, or that they pay too much attention to detail, or some variation of this. As an employer, I’m not a big fan of this question, but I do ask it, specifically to see if the applicant will respond in this manner. Even if you are being honest, this response will come across as completely phony.

Here’s a better way to respond:

First, state your greatest strength. Make sure you backup your strength with a specific example (or even better, a specific accomplishment). For example, if your greatest strength is your ability to effectively multi-task, you might talk about a time when you coordinated multiple projects with a successful outcome.

Second, state a real weakness of yours (you want to be careful here, don’t provide a weakness that will jeopardize your chances of getting hired) and most importantly, talk about what you have done and what you are doing to address this weakness. Everyone has weaknesses and employers want to know whether you are aware of those weaknesses and if you’re working to address them (basically, if you're a problem solver). For example, if your weakness is that you have trouble being alert at work in the morning, you might want to talk about how you’ve started going to the gym before work, and how that’s helped you show up awake and ready to perform.

As a reminder, we’ll be launching our new online resume service on June 23 at getpickd.com, but in the meantime, be sure to follow our blog for updates, resume ideas, and interview tips. You can also follow us on Twitter @getpickd.

Adam Sterling is the founder of getpickd

Does your resume fail?

Welcome to the getpickd blog! We’ll be launching our new online resume service on June 23 at getpickd.com, but in the meantime, be sure to follow our blog for updates, resume ideas, and interview tips. You can also follow us on Twitter @getpickd.

For quite some time, my colleagues, friends and family have been asking me to review their resumes. After years of hiring numerous young professionals for a non-profit in Washington DC, I’ve reviewed countless resumes. I can say, without hesitation, most resumes are simply not up to par. Beyond being fraught with grammatical errors, most resumes do a poor job emphasizing the uniqueness of the candidate. In addition, they visually fail to stand out from the crowd. Here are a few specific reasons why the average resume fails:

The average resume contains spelling, grammatical, and formatting errors. This one seems obvious, but honestly, over 90% of resumes have at least one serious spelling, grammatical and/or formatting error. Most have multiple errors. The last job opening I supervised had close to a thousand applicants. We probably spent an average of one minute looking at each resume; those with errors were immediately eliminated.

The average resume is poorly designed. The average resume looks no better than the average Word document (many look even worse). This is a tough one, because most people don’t have access to or experience with more advanced design software. However, a professionally designed resume will catch the eye of potential employers and really helps you stand out from the crowd.

The average resume fails to sell your assets. Most importantly, the average resume fails to sell the candidate's assets and unique qualities. Unfortunately, people are generally bad at marketing themselves and overly concerned with modesty when it comes to their resumes. Modesty is great, but your resume is a brochure of your professional life. It's a time to be proud and sell yourself!

If you're struggling with finding a job, there’s a good chance your resume is preventing you from even getting your foot in the door. Get connected with getpickd and let us help you shine!

Adam Sterling is the founder of getpickd