My version of “Getting Your Résumé Read”
I get lot of résumés via email on a daily basis. Mostly they come from our website or people just know my email address from some random database.
I almost immediately hit “Delete” in most cases.
Why?
Well, here are some of the reasons in that particular order:
- It is sent to 100 HR email addresses at once.
- It is written using poor English.
- It has spelling mistakes.
- It is written in a generic language i.e. it is a spam which is sent to multiple email addresses but one by one this time. It also means candidate has done no research whatsoever before applying to my company. I understand we are not a big or a very popular company and the candidate may have better things to do but in that case, please don’t apply.
Now here are some tips on how to apply:
- Don’t send to all HR email addresses at once. I am human too and I want to feel important when I receive an email only sent to me.
- Do some research about the company you are applying to. If it looks like just another company looking at the website, it won’t take much time also. Mention some of their projects or products in your email and show some interest in working on them.
- Mention about your academic projects. Most people will not download your resume and read them. Show them your work in email only. Don’t print the whole resume here, write some highlights of it. It shows you have done some real work and you are proud to show it off.
- Proof read your email or get it checked by somebody else with a good command over English.
- Make sure there are no spelling mistakes. (Most Important)
I know above steps will take time but eventually it will take less efforts than spamming.
Why do you need to apply to all the companies in the first place? Be selective. You don’t want to start your career with just another IT company right?
Select 10 most appealing companies looking at their website and apply as per the steps mentioned above.
It will work better than spamming. I guarantee it.
OK so If you don’t want to listen to me, fine! But you simply can’t ignore what Joel Spolsky has to say on this topic.
PS: I swear I didn’t read above article before writing my own!
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