On Cover Letters: Are You Trying to Get My Attention?

“Are you kidding me?  Are you trying to get my attention?  Well you did, but not the way you had hoped!”   That was my reaction to the most recent cover letter I received with resume attached.  The only positive thing I can say was that the sender’s timing was perfect as I was beginning to draft this series of blog posts on job-search correspondence.  I did read the letter and then scanned his resume, which I would not have done save for this article.  This cover letter, with a subject line reading “Senior Executive: Consumer Packaged Goods Industry” was 367 words long, yet never spoke to the candidate’s career goals or parameters for his ideal job.  So much for helping me help you.

From the opening paragraph of his email introduction, I would have never guessed that he was accomplished CEO with experience in mid-cap and small cap food and beverage focused consumer packaged goods.  Following his intro paragraph he offered five bullet points, actually sentences with bullet points, demonstrating his value proposition.  Only two of those points spoke to objective performance metrics.  This whole section came across as very tactical.  Was I being introduced to a CEO or a Manager.  The third paragraph said that he was doing consulting/project work for small to medium sized companies, followed by an attempt to reinforce his value proposition.  This section was heavily laden with buzz-words and trite clichés that stepped on his message.  To close, he told me that he had received a BS in Accounting and would welcome an opportunity to meet for further discussion.  I never learned what he was looking to do now.  I would have expected far better from a viable CEO candidate.   

His email introduction was clearly a mass mail effort, probably sent to a large number of Executive Recruiters.  The football analogy would be a “Hail Mary” pass.  For all I know, he may have sent this same intro letter to a large number of potential employers and Private Equity Groups.  If so, he really tarnished his personal brand.  When writing a cover letter, remember, you are making an introduction seeking help in your job-search efforts.  You may be interested in a networking relationship; applying for a specific job; seeking to be placed in a recruiter’s data-base; or looking for a referral to one of the preceding.   Viewed in this way, would you send the same letter to all of these people?  Of course not!  Mass mailing is not the issue as you can personalize mail merge to a large degree.  The point is to customize your intro letter to fit the audience.  Mass mailing is not appropriate for one-off introductions for networking assistance, or when asking for a referral.  Those introductions must be highly targeted and personalized.

When sending a resume to an executive recruiter, a short three to five sentence paragraph will suffice.  We are looking to know the parameters around the position you seek, the industry segment, your compensation requirements, and any limitations you may have to relocation.  Your resume should provide the details I need to initiate further conversation. 

In following blog posts I will offer advice on the various types of job-search correspondence.  In the meantime remember to stay focused on the needs of your audience, and keep your correspondence short and to the point.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

www.newcenturydynamics.com

Your Resume is Not Getting Traction: It Is Not Easy to Contact You:

Isn’t cell phone technology fabulous!  And what about those apps!  Awesome!  My little iPhone has dramatically improved my efficiency, allowing me to spend more time out of the office building relationships.  The GolfLogix app has been especially helpful with club selection and tracking my golf stats.  I will likely develop that thought further if I ever set up a Blog about golf.  The point is that I probably spend more time using my iPhone on the job than at my computer.  It is great to be able to respond promptly to an email message from a client or a text message from a candidate via my iPhone.  I never miss a call to my desk as I instantly receive a message from my Voip Service. This feature provides the caller’s phone number and a text version of any message left.  The ability to touch a phone number or email address to respond is vital.  It would be an understatement to say that my iPhone is fast becoming my preferred business tool.  In fact, it is very fair to say that the apps I have on my iPhone create a virtual office wherever I happen to be, so long as I have my iPhone with me.  I am certainly not unique in this regard.   

I become irritated when my candidates or prospective candidates fail to appreciate the importance of my iPhone in my work.  I am certain this will come as no surprise to anyone reading this post.  The first thing I tell my candidates is “help me help you.”  The first rule is to make it easy to find you.  Make it easy to find your resume and make it easy to contact you.  By contact, I mean via text, email, or voice.  My correspondence includes my complete contact information including my website, blog, and LinkedIn profile.  All of my correspondence!  A savvy candidate will add that information into their electronic address book across all of their devices.  Likewise they should provide a complete signature section to make it easy to respond to them;  wherever I am and on my schedule.

Help me help you.

•        Label your resume file as follows:  last name_first name_year

•        Provide complete contact information in all of your correspondence.

•        If using MS WORD for your resume complete the ‘file properties’ menu.

•        Put my complete contact information in all of your address books.

•        Become very familiar with my website content and blog posts.

If a candidate can follow these rules it is a signal to me that I am dealing with a savvy professional.  Savvy, at least as it concerns the effective use of technology.  But that is a good start!  Reviewing their resume and talking with them on an introductory call will confirm that opinion.  I am confident that any hiring manager or internal recruiter will think the same.  So, put yourself in the place of your audience; a recruiter or a hiring manager.  Let them help you, by helping them.  Embrace the technology!

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

www.newcenturydynamics.com

Your Resume is Not Getting Traction: Not Enough Focus on Accomplishments

“Just the facts, ma’am.”  For those of us old enough to remember the television series “Dragnet,” that phrase was made famous by Detective Joe Friday.   Detective Friday stayed at peak productivity by focusing his interviews on the facts.  The facts speak for themselves, or at least they should.  Irrelevant, or superfluous information is a waste of precious time.   Detective Friday maximized his productivity and effectiveness by sticking to the facts.

During my corporate career, I learned many principles of effective communications.  Two of those points stand out above the rest, at least to me.  The first principle is:  Tell them what you are going to tell them; tell them, and then tell them what you told them.  Every presentation has a beginning, a middle, and an ending.  The beginning states the objective of the presentation;  “tell them what you are going to tell them.”  The middle presents your case; “tell them.”  The ending, or summary, “tells them what you told them.”  Your resume format follows the same principle to a point.  Your Career  Summary sets the stage.  It reveals what you plan to tell them in the body of your resume.  Your job history is the meat of your resume.  It speaks to the relevant details of your career, which are the key accomplishments.  Your Career Summary is your personal positioning statement.  Your job history is supporting evidence.  One must support the other.

Focus On Your Accomplishments:

• Career Summary positions your general contributions.
• Skill Sets provide definition to your strengths
• Employment Summary: bullet-point significant accomplishments, “the facts.”

The second principle is to know your audience.  Who are they?  What is their background?  What are they looking for?  What do they want to hear?  What code words are they looking to hear?  How much time do you have to make your point?  Knowing your audience is fundamental to delivering a successful speech.  This principle is equally important to crafting an effective resume.  When you consider the audience for your resume, understand that they are looking to maximize their productivity as well.  “Just the facts, ma’am.”

As with any communications vehicle your resume must make an impact on the reader.  When the reader puts your resume down, she should be able to recall your top three attributes; your unique selling proposition. Yeah, I get it!   So, your resume must be highly focused and to some extent repetitive.  Repetitive in the sense that key themes are reinforced throughout the document.  All too often I see resumes where facts have been obscured by superfluous adjectives which render the message trite and meaningless.  “Just the facts, ma’am.”

Think back to successful networking events you have attended.  Who did you meet that stood out from the pack, someone you remembered?  You can probably still tick off two or three key points about that person.  He must have impressed you enough to remember him.  His message was likely to have been clear, concise, and to the point.  Your resume should be no different, except that it lacks the full dimension of a face-to-face meeting.  A resume is consumed by only one of the reader’s senses, her vision.  Coupled with the fact that resumes are briefly scanned for content, the burden is on you to get your message across, understood, and remembered.  The content must necessarily leap off the page to be absorbed by the reader.  The best way to make an impact to be remembered is to present key information in short bursts.  To be remembered, focus on the facts of your accomplishments and reinforce your theme throughout your resume.

  

Thank you for visiting my blog.
Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President
New Century Dynamics Executive Search
www.newcenturydynamics.com

Your Resume is Not Getting Traction: You Don't Seem to be a Savvy Professional:

I have long been fascinated by Corporate Cultures, especially those of successful organizations.  What is it that sets those cultures apart?   All companies have a culture.  In fact, all groups have a culture even though it may not be recognized.  Formal groups have a shared history, code of conduct, set of values, and language which defines the group.  Some cultures are more obvious as with the uniformed services.  Or, as with Fraternities and Sororities, who have a secret handshake.  Many religions are identifiable by their manner of dress.  Other cultures may be more difficult to discern, but, insiders will recognize other members.  Small details taken together can be very revealing.

Cultures even have sub-cultures.  Elite military units have a culture that is different from the Army as a whole.  C-level corporate executives can be distinguished from middle management.  Marketing, Finance, and Operational personnel have their own sub-cultures with their own nuanced code.

Your resume presents your cultural affiliation.   You must actively manage your resume to ensure that you are sending the right signals.  Are you the real deal, or a poser.  If you are the real deal, but, using the wrong code words, you may not be recognized as a part of the group.

A Resume for a Savvy Professional:

• Leave off Personal interests and “references available upon request.”
• Use industry/position specific terminology.
• Significant accomplishments should be predominant
• Executive/Career summary must address your functional discipline, level of accomplishment; and industry/segment expertise.
• Give a short, one line explanation for employer changes.
• Label your resume file: “last name _ first name_ position_ date.”
• Your email address should incorporate your last name to be professional
• Use File/Properties menu option to list key words and other data.
• Use appropriate key words in the body of the resume.
• Avoid trite phrases and meaningless buzz-words.

You will be judged from the moment your email arrives in the recruiter’s mailbox.  Your email address and your resume file name speak volumes.   Your executive summary will reveal your cultural orientation by the language you use, or don’t use.  Do you use concise plain-speak, or buzzword-riddled gobbledygook?    Is your language familiar to other professionals at your level and from your professional discipline?  If not, you will not be taken seriously.

All too often I see resume attachments with “resume” as the file name.  A very common mistake for a rookie, and a cost to my productivity as it requires extra time to catalog and file.  Even worse is a highly personal, even ironic email address.  Not a professional introduction by any standard.  The ideal email address will consist of your last name and first name or initial.  Better still is to have a personalized email with your surname as the domain name.   Likewise, your resume attachment file name should be formatted as:  lastname_first name_position_year; or something very similar.   Violating these two syntax basics will cast doubt as to your authenticity.

The ability to present your credentials and capabilities in a clear and concise manner is crucial.  The greater your rank the greater the expectation of your ability to communicate.  Avoid run-on sentences ripe with meaningless buzz words and phrases that would only impress a junior level manager.  Don’t waste my time, get to the point.  Pay attention to these details and the economic value of your verbiage to be viewed as a savvy professional.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

www.newcenturydynamics.com