In a previous blog I discussed the purpose of a resume, which is to get enough of the right attention to land that phone or face-to-face interview.  But sometimes a resume isn’t enough or…maybe it’s too much.

I read and screen resumes for a living. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to fill a job and a getting stuck on a resume four pages long with enough detail to cover more ground than a Presidential candidate covers during an election.  Resume reading can be very subjective, but it doesn’t have to be.  In this blog, I will show you how to remove the subjective aspect of getting your resume noticed and get an instant interview using a method I coined as the “You Want I Have” intro.

Purpose: To remove the subjective-ness of resume screening, pre-qualify yourself for the job and land a phone or face to face interview.

How: You are going to write a brief bullet supporting each requirement in the job posting in an easy-to-read format.

Result #1: You score big time with the HR Generalist who is trying to weed out the candidates who are clearly not a match and pre-qualify the candidates who are.  Remember, the HR Generalist is usually working on a short deadline and has a stack of resumes from the monster.com posting that the HR policy dictates must be used.  I have seen time and time again a great candidate go overlooked because their resume was too cluttered or too broad in scope for the HR Generalist to have time to consider.  So why not make the HR Generalist your first friend in the company by pre-qualifying yourself for them?  It shows respect for their time and usually bumps you right up to the next phase of the process, the interview. 

Result #2: You instantly impress the hiring manager (your future boss, also referred to as the line manager).   How?  Well, for starters, you have read and are acknowledging the requirements of the job description line by line; requirements that most likely were written by them!                       

Do you know many job seekers see a job posting on the internet and submit their resume based on the title alone and then wonder why they never get a call back?  The odds of a hiring manager getting that “ah ha, s/he’s perfect!” feeling from reading your resume alone are about as good as convincing a 16 year old with a new drivers license to wait to drive until their 18.  It’s up to you, not the hiring manager, to show you can do the job.  Until then, you’re “Not qualified until Proven qualified.” 

How it Works: Create a word document with space for a brief (and I mean brief, no novels here, please) intro paragraph & then create a table with two columns: Column 1 will be called “YOU WANT” and Column 2 will be called “I HAVE”. List each of the requirements in Column 1 and write a couple of bullet points or phrase supporting where or how acquired that skill or experience in Column 2. 

If you don’t have a skill they want, omit it.  BUT…use the omission technique very sparingly.  You don’t want to appear misleading.  If they are asking for experience with an easy skill such as “must know how to create graphs using Excel”, list it and learn it – fast.  Your response could be something like “Currently enrolled in an advanced Excel course through www.Lynda.com.  Course completion date - February 23^rd, 2008.”  Chances are if this is a skill they want then it’s a skill other companies want too.

Now, on the other hand, what if it’s a very specialized skill such as “Must have 7+ years of experience in the energy industry” and you don’t have it?  This is where it can get tricky.  You need to decide if this is a job worth pursuing.  In other words, why chase a job that isn’t chasing you?  If you’re still convinced that they should make an exception to the rule, call or email the HR Manager and ask them to clarify if this is a deal breaker requirement or if the hiring manager is willing to look at candidates who meet all of the other requirements.  If you want to submit your resume anyway, then you need to show just cause as to why your experience off-sets this requirement.  Here’s an example:

 Bonus Suggestion:  Brand your intro!  If the company’s corporate color is teal, brand your intro by highlighting the background of every other line with that teal color.  Or you can put the company’s logo on the intro doc.  A little subliminal branding never hurts.  It works for big companies all the time to imprint their product or service and it can work for you too if done right.