Learn What HR Managers Do When Job Hunting

I’m always hot on the trail of the perfect résumé. Why, do I focus so heavily on résumés? Because my friends and professional colleagues at companies like Genentech, Bayer, Kaiser and Applied Biosystems tell me regularly; “ a résumé that will pass the applicant software screen (ATS)” is the most important requirement for a job seeker today, after company knowledge, confidence and appearance. Why aren’t skills and ability #1 on the employer list? Employers know when résumés pass the applicant software screen, skills and abilities are already reliably confirmed, so the focus is on other qualities and qualifications.

More than 90% of today’s employers trust résumé scanning software to select 1st tier candidates, and those 1st tier résumés have to match at least 75% of the keywords in the job description to get forwarded to HR. It’s even harder to get an interview, which typically requires a 90% match or more. It doesn’t really matter what else your résumé says at this point; if the matches aren’t present, your résumé gets routed to the archive file, and you get a letter (maybe) that says, “thanks for applying; we’ve found more suitable matches.”

 

Even though keywords are now vital in your résumé, there are very few job seekers who apparently realize it or know what to do. My own survey of more than 300 biotech and health care job seekers showed only 20% knew the importance of keywords and the correct way to use them strategically in a résumé. About 80% knew the importance of doing pre-interview company research, but none of them thought about using that research to devise and derive keywords to use in their résumé.

Figuring company HR managers as the most reliable source for “perfect résumé” tips, I had an opportunity at some recent networking events to ask HR managers from several key biotech companies, “If you were looking for a job today, how would you conduct your job search?” Here’s what they had to say:

 

• Understanding and writing your résumé with a company-targeted keyword strategy is absolutely required in a job search today. It’s almost impossible to get an interview without it.  Preptel’s Resumeter shows you the exact keywords being evaluated for each job.  Moreover, Resumeter shows which keywords are in your résumé, partially in your résumé, or completely missing.

 

• First and foremost, you have to target your job search.  The old way was to find 5 or 10 job descriptions that fit what you’re looking for. Then, see if you can find matching keywords among them. Once you’ve found them, take a look at your experience and use the words from the job descriptions to describe your matching experiences and work history. Job titles aren’t usually as important as words like, “clinical trial,” “assay preparation,” “raise revenue,” or “develop new clients.”  The new way, find the job you want and toss it into Resumeter.  In a few seconds, you will see everything you need to do to be considered for the job.  The best part, you will see your chances of getting an interview so you don’t waste time on poorly matched jobs.

 

• Most coaching and professional advice about interview techniques are great. Applicants need to get as savvy with the competition as they are with the techniques, because the interview is about deciding between you and someone else. You already made the qualification cut.  Now, the hiring company is determining if you are the best of the bunch.  Preptel’s Interview guides are the first to show how you compare to the competition.  You get a detailed breakdown of your strengths and weaknesses so you know exactly where to focus.

 

The job search has changed and Preptel is the first solution to assist job seekers in gaining a competitive edge.  Keywords, résumé formatting, and competitive comparisons are just some of the capabilities that Preptel provides and will get you your next job.