Executives do not create better résumés
If asked who creates better résumés, an entry-level person, a manager, or an executive, the overriding assumption would be executives. The assumption would be based on the success of executive in their career and therefore they must also create better résumés. However, our research shows something different.
Preptel Increases Job Fit Rating by 30 Percentage Points
When applying for jobs, customizing your résumé is one of the most important opportunities a job seeker has. For those who are customizing their résumé, they are getting job interviews at a higher rate than those who think a single résumé will work. In our analysis, those who received a 70% job fit rating or higher, were interviewed 60% of the time.
Customizing Your Résumé to Each Position is a Must!
Here is the hard truth: a single résumé will not position you properly for every job. We analyzed thousands of candidates and found a single résumé varies significantly from one job to another (see figure 1). As our data shows, some candidates range from a job fit rating of 9% to 73%.
Avoiding the Black Hole
Identifying keywords and knowing how you rank used to be guess work. Today, technology tools are finally assisting job seekers. Preptel is one of the first career sites to introduce new tools to automate and assist in this process.
Learn What HR Managers Do When Job Hunting
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.
Do Not Use PDF for a Résumé
If you are using PDF, you are likely missing out on many interviews and job opportunities because a hiring company is not seeing your whole résumé. Learn why.
Using, misusing, understanding and misunderstanding words.
We’ve been introducing a lot of people to Preptel and Resumeter® lately. One of the most widely shared reactions involves a negative comment about why job seekers should play the keyword game to get a job. One very good reason is; if you want the job, you’ll do what it takes to get it! At least that’s the attitude of most employers who have already invested billions of dollars in screening software that relies on keywords to provide decision support and documentation for a lot more than hiring. more…
I knew this was going to be a bigger issue than some people thought… it seems that in an effort to advertise and infect the world with Adobe PDF, somebody forgot about legacy software and processes that would be affected! What a surprise? One of the BIG mismatches of this decade is going to prove to be the problem with applying for a job with a PDF file. What? There’s a problem you say? How can that be? The upload feature told you that a PDF would work, right? It would probably work just fine if people were actually reading your resume, but they’re NOT – ATS Software is.
Our new friend, Kelly Eggers, at fin.com and the Wall Street Journal, recently confirmed what we already knew (see previous blogs!)… A human can print and view your PDF resume, but PDF files can’t be read correctly by about 90% of the software being used in the employment market. more…
Job Market Competition – What are you up against?
Did you know that when you submit your electronic job application to an employer today, you’re not just up against the people who applied for the job – you’re up against anyone in the resume database who has a good keyword relevance! ATS systems track applicants, and they store resume´s for future reference. All those “we’ll keep your resume´ on file” emails really are telling the truth! You need to jump ahead of that competition, for sure, but how do you know where your resume stands and how you stack up? If you’re competency range or experience level is weaker or stronger than the competition, how do you know?
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Testing Your Resume Helps Rid Your Job Search of the Black Hole!
Whether you’re new or “seasoned” on the job search scene, you’re probably already familiar with the resume black hole. You know; you apply for a job and don’t hear anything back? You wait, and wait, and wait, and you send, and send and send, but you never get any response? Don’t blame the employer – take a look at your resume! Chances are, you’re one of the 60% (or more), of todays job seekers who never make it past the ATS software test. That means your resume´ is being rejected outright for name or character convention violations. It could also mean your resume´ is falling off the job’s relevance list because keyword matching is unsufficient. The good news is; There is absolutely no need to wonder whether your resume is getting past the software test anymore.
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10 Steps to the Perfect Resume
What do most job seekers go through when they try to customize their resume´? Considering that the customization process tends to decline proportionally to the passing of time,even if you’ve been looking for work for a year, one good experience could revitalize your entire attitude. But how can you get that with the resume´ you’ve been using? It reminds me of the popularized definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results! The majority of resume changes today are still created with guess work. You know you need to use keywords and phrases, and you’ve been reading for years how you need to customize your content to the job; but, where do you begin? How much is enough?
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According to a recent 2011 Wall Street Journal article, you have a 1% chance of landing a job when you use electronic application methods to apply. No matter how your resume makes it into anyone’s hands, hiring managers are required to submit your resume into the Applicant Tracking System “ATS” and from there, no resume´ is exempt from today’s electronic resume screening technology.
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For about 10 years, resume writers have been trying to stay on top of the latest technology strategies that land their clients interviews and jobs. Staying on top of the latest technology updates hasn’t been as easy as figuring out ways to get around it. The basic concepts have been fairly standard for a very long time – get to the hiring manager, network, create your own job. All of them assume one crucial thing – a person is going to be reading your resume. They specifically assume your resume is NOT going to be read by software. It sounds great, but there’s a lot of hope wrapped up in that assumption.
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If you’re looking in the wrong place, you won’t find what you’re looking for. This goes for jobs too.
So, what’s the right place to look? We’ve been tricked into thinking that job titles hold all the answers. But, any modern job seeker will tell you there are a lot of inappropriate jobs that show up on job board searches when you use a title as the keyword for your search. Some job boards now put “extras” on the job ads – related words that you might also want to search.
Can you guess which keyword returned these results?
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Does It Take Two to Write the Perfect Resume´?Remember the days when resume´ writers told you to include a “keyword” section in your resume´? Scrupulously masked as “summary” and “special skills,” and unscrupulously placed as white text in footers and margins, these resume´ features became the standard dumping ground for words that matched job descriptions. Those were the days. The solutions worked. ATS software wasn’t thinking yet. Today, no matter how you’d like to hold onto them, those days are gone.
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People ask me all the time. What can I do to improve my resume? When I tell them they have to give me a job description before I can write them a winning resume, more than half argue that they’re looking for a resume that works everywhere. That may have been possible 3 years ago, but it’s not possible today.
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Executives do not create better résumés: If asked who creates better résumés, an entry-level person, a manager, or an executive, the overriding assumption would be executives. The assumption would be based on the success of executives in their career and therefore they must also create better résumés. However, our research shows something different.
After analyzing thousands of résumés and jobs to see how well they fit the job, we found entry-level or staff positions and executives have similar job fit ratings. In fact, they score...
Preptel Increases Job Fit Rating by 30 Percentage Points: After analyzing thousands of job seeker résumés, we found the average job fit rating is 12%, while the average Preptel job fit rating is over 40%.
In our study, we analyzed all types of jobs at all levels of employment, including: executives, managers, directors, and entry-level positions. We found the average job seeker does not tailor their résumé and in most cases, does not know how to tailor their résumé effectively. With Preptel, users had a job fit rating of over 40% on average. ...
Customizing Your Résumé to Each Position is a Must!:
With almost every job seeker, there is a reluctance or frustration to tailor their résumé for each job. Even professional résumé writers, though not the best ones, try to explain why 1 résumé is the best approach. Unfortunately, to be successful in getting interviews, a custom résumé for each job is the most productive method.
Here is the hard truth: a single résumé will not position you properly for every job. We analyzed thousands of candidates and found a single résumé varies signif...
Avoiding the Black Hole : It’s worthy of a news flash: Today, most employers no longer share your résumé with hiring managers. Hiring managers receive a summary report generated by Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software that removes bias-causing problems, tracks EEOC compliance and performance, and supposedly levels the playing field across the applicant pool. Regardless of how your clients are getting into the company – friend, job board, recruiter, or online application – everyone goes through these ATS systems.
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Why is it important to rate your resume? : According to Professional Resume Writers, there are significant differences between the “perfect resume” today and just five years ago.
“We all know the importance of customizing our clients' resumes to each particular job, but knowing how to do this can be a bit tricky. Preptel takes the guess work out of resume optimization! After uploading each client's resume and a targeted job posting, the Preptel system instantly alerts me to what keywords are missing and how my client stacks up again...
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 sof...
Do Not Use PDF for a Résumé: If You Use PDF, You Are Missing Job Opportunities
Many people are using PDF as their preferred résumé format. PDF résumés look nice, do not show all the editing markup like MS Word, and prevent anyone from editing the document. There are many advantages to PDF. However, with those advantages comes many issues when submitting your résumé to a job posting. In fact, PDF is far more error prone than MS Word, Text, or even HTML. Unfortunately, many online solutions, including LinkedIN use it as...
Electronic Resume Formatting Guidelines:
Formatting Tips for Electronic Résumés
How to Ensure that Automated Recruiting Software Can Read Your Résumé.
A human will not read your résumé until after it is read, parsed, and classified by a computer. A great article from the Wall Street Journal explains how this works (read it here). Even then, a human will only read it if it is a good match to the job description. It won’t matter how pretty you formatted your résumé résumé or how well you write about your qualifications if th...
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Welcome to the Preptel Resource Page!
Unlock the $20,000 secrets that executive search consultants have been using for years, with Preptel’s unique FREE Resource Guides and other Membership services. Check out the information and resources below for your FREE Guides to Mastering and Accelerating your Job Search. When you work with Preptel’s FREE Guides and Member Services, get ready to interview like you’ve never interviewed before!
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Resumeter: Making it to the top 10 candidate list out of an applicant pool of thousands isn’t easy. It happens with the right mix of search engine know-how, resume design, and of course, resume content. How can you be sure your resume will make the cut? Stop looking for your next job in all the wrong places. Put your resume and cover letter to the Preptel Resumeter Test!