When Enthusiasm borders on Stalking

There was a great article recently on hotjobs citing 6 reasons you might not get a response to an application. (Tiny url: http://bit.ly/txygt) It’s a great read and I’m so glad it was posted. I’m especially partial to reasons #3 and #4. As an op-ed though, I’d like to add a reason #7: You’ve made yourself a nuisance and won’t ever be hired here.

Before writing this, I asked a few fellow recruiters what topic I should cover and they came back with a resounding reply: “Stalking!”

The hotjobs article reminds us that time simply isn’t on our side. There have been loads of lay-offs in many companies, but have you thought about which departments get hit first? It’s the non-billable ones (i.e. HR and Recruiting). Therefore, while there are hundreds more resumes coming in weekly, there are fewer people to review them and to handle the actual hiring process.

So how to proceed without becoming a nuisance?

1. Make sure you’ve read the job description several times. If you really fit the bill, apply. Meanwhile, tap your network for internal contacts in the hopes of being internally referred as well. Send a nice email (*attach resume and signature with portfolio/blog link, email address, phone number*) to the connection and thank them for being so kind as to forward it. You can otherwise call reception to ask for the email address of the internal recruiter or recruiting coordinator. Send that person said email with resume. Now wait.

2. If you don’t hear anything after 2 full weeks, ask someone in your field to read your resume and the job description to see if they see the fit. If they do and you’ve been busily investigating the company, getting excited by what they’re doing, send a snail mail resume and cover letter explaining your respect for the company and fit for the role. Address it to “Hiring/Recruiting” -- the mailroom knows where to deliver it. Now wait again.

If you do those three things and still don’t hear anything, as hotjobs said, they’re just not that into you and leave it at that. Don’t take it personally; there’s just someone else with a leg-up on you this time. Keep your eye on the company website for subsequent postings and start over in a few months if you feel so inclined.

NOW… what to do when you actually GET a response? Well, if it’s to tell you they’re interested, follow their instructions at this point, and good luck!

IF, however, the response isn’t quite as favorable, please take note of the following.

A vague “thanks but no thanks” response ONLY warrants a reply to thank them for the follow-up and let them know you would appreciate being kept in mind for future opportunities. (*If in 2+ months you see another role that matches your experience, apply to the role online and alert the recruiter by replying ever-so briefly to his/her original message from last time.*)

On the other hand, if any response from a company is more specific, read it carefully. Respect the contents. If you do not possess an adequate amount of one or more of the required skills, still send a “thank you” reply as instructed above, but DO NOT argue the point. I have NEVER seen this work in a candidate’s favor. Never.

If a company takes the time to tell you why they aren’t moving forward with you, please do not turn it into a back-and-forth, time-consuming, irksome dialogue. You may have what you think is a lot of financial services for example, but for this role, compared to other applicants, based on company needs, it’s not enough. You may have some digital under your belt, but as of now, not enough. The list goes on but the point is this: you can’t possibly know better than the internal recruiter and hiring team what they need, so let them do their jobs, be respectful of their time, thank them and move on.

Too many times I’ve seen candidates argue their qualifications. They try to convince us that we just need to give them the opportunity to learn and grow and prove what they can do. Time, money, and client patience are tight commodities – we need someone who can do this job, as it’s written in the description, today.

All “stalking” gets anyone is a bad rep. Recruiters warn one another about stalkers, about the candidates they should avoid. Stalkers wind up looking desperate and we all know, if you’re desperate, it means no one wants you. If no one wants you, you can’t be any good. I say this plainly because it’s a basic human truth. Humans want what we can’t have. It’s supply and demand. In retail, no one wants the last one. The last one finds it’s way to the clearance rack. Don’t put yourself on the clearance rack by appearing desperate.

This brings me to my conclusion and my op-ed reason #8 that you maybe haven’t heard back on a resume submission. It’s the fall-out of the stalker factor. Unfortunately, email has made it too easy for some people to stalk. Once these people have direct access to a recruiter, they abuse the privilege. As a result, recruiters have become skittish and afraid to make contact for fear it will result in having another stalker. Kind of like the housing crisis, a few bad apples have spoiled it for everyone.

NO SPAM FILTERS when you're job hunting!

I recently got this message when I replied to someone applying to a job posting:
"To control spam, I now allow incoming messages only from senders I have approved beforehand. If you would like to be added to my list of approved senders, please fill out the short request form (see link below). Once I approve you, I will receive your original message in my inbox. You do not need to resend your message. I apologize for this one-time inconvenience."

Don't make employers have to work any harder to reach you. Even if it means you get a few offers of pills promising to enlarge certain body parts, deal with it. Otherwise you risk not getting that email saying "Thanks for submitting your resume, are you available for a phonescreen?"

My article on TalentZoo's Career Oxygen: "Value Add"

Value Add

You have three seconds to impress me.

You get 30 more if I like what I see at a glance.

It does indeed sound like dating, doesn’t it? And you should think of it that way; it’s in the interests of both parties to feel a little giddy and a lot excited about the prospect of “getting hitched.”

Recruiters want to know what you bring to the table. It’s even more the case these days. When you hear numbers like 2000 people have applied for one job at an institution used to receiving 20 applications per position, you know there is some very fast scanning of resumes going on.

So, what makes you special? Give it to us straight, up front, your 30-second elevator pitch in a neat and tidy summary at the top of your resume. An Objective is well, just alright—many of us tend to ignore those because they are usually rather generic sounding. We much prefer a concise yet explicit Summary.

It’s not enough to simply say you’re “multi-channel” or “multi-media” and leave it at that. What are your specialties? Give me the keywords I might be looking for: interactive, Web, online, digital, print, television, broadcast, direct, radio, video, traditional, packaging, branding, outdoor, out-of-home, guerilla, social media, iphone applications, mobile, technology, financial services, healthcare, beauty, automotive, consumer goods, Flash, Ajax, Javascript, CSS, MS Project, Visio, wireframes, and so on.

If you’ve got too many buzzwords for the summary, you can use “multi-media” or “traditional and digital” in your 30-second summary as long as you elaborate within the Experience section. We like details in the experience section because it helps us determine how many years exposure you have to a particular medium or client vertical. (Include dates for your work history—it only makes us suspicious if you don’t!)

You might think there’s nothing terribly outstanding in your experience, maybe just the usual stuff those roles entail? Look for the details, the golden nuggets. Don’t sell yourself short, *BUT please, please, PLEASE, DON’T say you’re “The Best” or brilliant or exceptional or cutting-edge, or anything that raises expectations so much that the only way is down! (Back to that dating analogy, does anyone like sitting across the table from a braggart? Don’t the self-proclamations frequently prove false? So, don’t set us up for disappointment. Be cool, be honest, be clear.)

Here’s a old trick, let friends and family read your resume and ask them to tell you what you do! If they can’t, ask them if it was too dull of a read or if perhaps they simply found it vague. Either way, it’s valuable feedback and warrants addressing. Now do the exact same thing on Linkedin.com—a missed treasure ship if you aren’t on it and using it to its fullest.

Make the first three seconds great and the next 30 even better. You’ll have a love connection going much sooner.