Being made redundant can happen to the best of us, usually at the worst of times, but this doesn't have to be the end for you. Not knowing where your next rent check will come from is scary, but rest assured that you are not alone in your situation, and that you do have the power to make losing your job into an opportunity for personal and financial advancement rather than the end-of-the-world disaster it probably feels like right now.
The first thing to do is to blow the dust off your resume and take a good hard look at it. Your resume should be your best friend, your ambassador, something you feel proud to send out into the world to represent you. There are hundreds of good books out there telling you how to craft the perfect resume, but all your hard work will go to waste if you don’t get past the first hurdle: the person who will read your resume. In other words, the Hiring Manger.
Here are some real-life tips gathered from my own experience acting as a Hiring Manager for many different companies, to help your application stand apart from the pack.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Tip #1: Make a good first impression. First up, if you're applying by email, be aware that your email will be the company's first (and possibly only) impression of you. If your email subject-line reads 'Expereenced Proofreader Job Application,' …. then they’re probably not going to open your email and read the ‘perfect’ cover letter and resume you spent five hours crafting the previous night.
Tip #2: Treat your email like a mini-version of your cover letter. This will be your potential employer’s next impression of you. Yes, your cover letter and resume are outstanding, but if the email they are attached to reads 'hey you guyz i saw yer ad on craigslist and i'm your guy, check out my resume and youll see why!'..... do you really think they'll bother downloading, printing and reading your resume?
THE COVER LETTER
Tip #3: Address your cover letter correctly. Spend an extra thirty seconds on Google to find out your potential new boss's name, or simply address it: 'To the Hiring Manager,' or 'Dear Sir/Madam,' rather than the overused and annoyingly vague 'To Whom It May Concern.'
Tip #4: Say ‘Thank you’. Similarly, start or end your cover letter by thanking the Hiring Manager for taking the time to read your resume. These days, an advert on Craigslist can attract over 300 responses for one position, so its possible that the Hiring Manager or Employer will have read several hundred resumes before yours. It's a thankless task, and a comment like that will make us feel all warm and glowy inside…. a good frame of mind to hire you in.
THE RESUME
Tip #5: Keep it short. Resumes these days need to be kept short, one or two pages at most. If you’re applying to be a PHD instructor then by all means, give us pages of references. If you’re applying to work in a Kwick-E-Mart, just let us know that a) You can work a till, b) you have no finger injuries that will prevent you from pushing the Copier button, and c) you have up-to-date health insurance and you recently won a Marksman of the Year award at your local shooting academy.
Tip #6: Put your best strawberries on top. Even if your resume is short, put the most tantalizing and tasty information about yourself on the top. If you used to run a company just like theirs, live two blocks from their offices or raised 4 million dollars of corporate funding, tell them so. Give them one good reason why you alone should get the job out of all the similarly qualified people who also applied.
Tip #7: Give them your phone number! It may sound obvious, but remember to put your phone number on your resume. Most interested employers will contact you via phone to schedule an interview, and so if you don’t have a phone number on your resume and they have a pile of 200 resumes to pick from, rest assured they won’t bother emailing you to try and find out your phone number.
THE FOLLOW-UP
Tip #8: If you didn’t get the job, don’t expect a call to tell you so. A job advert on Craigslist can generate 200+ responses; on Monster etc the figure can be higher. Unless you personally know the boss/ Hiring Manger, it's general policy these days to simply not write back to you if you don't have the job. Sadly, it's the way of the world these days.
Tip #9: Don’t be too needy. If a manager likes your resume, you WILL get a phone call within a couple of days of your application. If a week goes past with still no reply, a follow-up email is acceptable to inquire if the position has been filled. A phone call is not. Think of your job application like a first date. If they like you and want to hire you, they WILL call you back. If not, bugging them for a response will come across as somewhat needy, or even desperate - not an impression you want to give a potential employer.
Tip #10: Thank them for their time. If you have attended an interview, write a short 'thank you' note to the person who interviewed you and email it to them afterwards. To do so shows that you have manners, and will also conveniently put your name and email address right at the top of their inbox.
Good luck with your job search! :-)
- Natasha
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