Tips to get past the "gatekeeper" when job hunting

[Wes Bucey]

Targeted resume

Part of the "secret" of getting past the gatekeeper is making sure ALL the buzzwords contained in the job listing are also included in your resume. This ultimately means you should spend some time editing your standard resume to "spin" it or "slant" it to make you one of the most, if not THE MOST, appealing candidate on paper so you will be called for an interview.

Here's a question to consider:

Do you have a trusted friend (spouse works, too) who reviews your resume so that it makes sense to both Quality folk and non-Quality folk?

The are countless surveys which report poor typography, poor spelling, and poor grammar are major knockout factors in companies that screen a lot of resumes.

Here's my additional tip. Have the friend read both the job listing and the resume. Have him/her mark the points of congruence and of disparity. Edit content until you reduce or eliminate the points of disparity. Time enough to deal with disparities after you get the interview, then you can present them as "enhancements" rather than let them trigger the knockout bell at the gatekeeper.

Coming this week:
Dealing with blind ads!

 

[Wes Bucey]

Does it go without saying you should get a private, personal email address for job hunting, NOT your current employer's email?

There was an article today in a newsletter that some HR folk were surprised at the number of resumes they were getting from folks using current employer's faxes and emails to transmit. One HR guy said,

• "Don't they realize the sending fax often automatically imprints the company name and department on every outgoing fax?"
• "Don't they realize company IT administrators can read ALL email to and from company email addresses?"
• "Don't they realize prospective employers will take a dim view of folks who jobhunt on current employer's time and pocketbook?"

So, if you are a prospective employer, what's your view of a candidate who uses johndoe (at) abccorp.com (current employer) as a return email address?

 

[Mike S.]

So, if you are a prospective employer, what's your view of a candidate who uses johndoe (at) abccorp.com (current employer) as a return email address?

Unless it is done with the employer's permission (due to impending layoff, downsizing, plant closing, job elimination, etc.) I'd day a "dim view" would be about right! If that were the case, I'd be sure to note it in my correspondence.

 

[Wes Bucey]

Unless it is done with the employer's permission (due to impending layoff, downsizing, plant closing, job elimination, etc.) I'd day a "dim view" would be about right! If that were the case, I'd be sure to note it in my correspondence.

Even then, wouldn't it be better to have a "bulletproof" email address to have continuity once the current employer's "benefit" runs out? Often the job search outlasts the "outplacement facility" granted by the soon-to-be-ex-employer.

While we have raised the concept of "outplacement," does anyone have a view on the difference (if any) between a "job coach" OR an "employment adviser" OR "employment agent"?

A fellow I respected while he was alive once sent me a list of "characteristics" for being a "career coach." I'd be interested in your comments.

The 15 Style Points
Hallmarks of the Certified Coach
The StylePoints
...one of 5 components of the Certified Coach Coaching Process
clarifiers | proficiencies | deliverables | frameworks | stylepoints
1. Hears what is actually said.
Points off for misinterpreting, filtering, reframing.
2. Responds cleanly.
Points off for adding positive spin, responding to something that wasn't said, irrelevant comments, pouncing with a solution, trying too hard.
3. Takes client's concerns seriously.
Points off for being dismissive, not getting seriousness of situation, invalidating.
4. Speaks simply.
Points off for being long winded, long stories, convolution, repeating self.
5. Is light and neutral.
Points off for being heavy, significant, charged, flat.
6. Is collaborative.
Points off for lecturing, pushes for change, being 'on,' peppering with questions, pushes point of view/agenda.
7. Communicates in full-duplex mode.
Points off for not being to speak and listen at the same time.
8. Fully expresses.
Points off for holding back, not being themselves, tries to coach 'correctly.'
9. Keeps up.
Points of for falling behind, backtracking, missing a shift the client has just made.
10. Hears between the lines.
Points off for missing dissonance, subtleties, hints.
11. Uses commonly understood words.
Points off for jargon or technical terms unfamiliar to the client.
12. Is self-assured.
Points off for meekness, timidity, bravado, arrogance.
13. Is client-centric.
Points off for self-referencing, competing for attention.
14. Is comfortable with problems.
Points off for rushing to fix, pointing mostly to the bright side, trying to make the client feel better, positive spinning, providing medicants.
15. Is "with" the client.
Points off for being distracted, preparing for response, thinking too hard.
Total score (max 75)

 

[Wes Bucey]

Any of you Covers have an experience using a "career coach"?

Did you pay from your own pocket or was it free or subsidized by someone else?

If you didn't use a Career Coach, why not?

Did you know about them or not before this thread?

 

[Charmed]

Secrets to stand out

Dear Covers:

Just read the following on some tips to standing out in the competitive job market.

1. Research executive biographies.
2. Check out info on foundations/charities the company may have sponsored.
3. Check out links you might have with company's suppliers and clients.
4. Try to connect seminars/lectures that you have attended with speakers from that company.

The experts recommend highlighting these connections in the cover letter.

<broken link removed>

 

[Bill Pflanz]

Any of you Covers have an experience using a "career coach"?

About 5 years ago, I had some exploratory conversations with a national organization specializing in career placement and coaching.

Did you pay from your own pocket or was it free or subsidized by someone else?

Career coaches are different from recruiters. With recruiters, the fee is normally paid by the hiring company. With career coaches, you are paying for their career counseling, resume writing and advice on making contacts and networking. They make no promises or guarantees on getting you a job, where it is located, how much it pays etc. The cost can be in the thousands of dollars but it is usually decided by signed contract. They do not have clients like recruiters who are trying to fill specific job openings but they claim to have contacts for networking.

The first thing they want to do is charge you a fee to update your resume then you pay additional fees for job interviewing advice and the rest of the career counseling. They make their money up front and then let you continue to visit with them or they will set up occassional interviews.

If you didn't use a Career Coach, why not?

I was warned that it can be a scam and did some Internet search on the company. It was easy to find stories on how little value they provided. After talking to some individuals who had used career coaches in the past, I decided not to use them.

Actually the free advice that you are giving is not much different than what career coaches give. I also found out that recruiters are willing to assist on resume writing and interviewing techniques for free since they make their money on recruiting an employee for their client company. If they think you can be hired based on your story, they obviously have an incentive to package you well enough to get an interview. For either the coach or the recruiter, it is still up to you to do well in the interview and sell yourself.

Bill Pflanz

 

[Cari Spears]

Coming this week:
Dealing with blind ads!

C'mon, C'mon!!

 

[Wes Bucey]

Just a few points - it's been hectic for me lately, with less time to indulge my "hobby" of visiting and posting at the Cove.

Background on execs and speakers and corporate charities, etc. - all fine advice, once you get to a hiring entity and past the gatekeeper. Gatekeepers are usually clueless themselves about most of that - remember, some gatekeepers are mere software programs that parse the language in resume and cover letter. The point is: if you have info on an executive or the person who is most closely associated with the charity, or the speaker at an event, then THAT is the person who should receive your first communication, in which you ask to be put directly in touch with a hiring entity and bypass the gatekeeper.
Does it say that in the article? I don't have time to look at it today.

Career coaches:
Yep! Going to a career coach is like going to a personal trainer for your health and fitness - this guy or gal is your "paid friend."
Many of us are not lucky enough to have a close, personal friend who is frank enough to tell us our needs for improvement AND experienced and intelligent enough to give us good pointers and techniques for achieving that improvement.

Yes. Some coaches are scams, many are simply incompetent to help a particular person because the personalities don't mesh or because the coach is completely inexperienced in the field you want to go into and therefore ends up giving generic advice. In my experience the number of incompetent "coaches" far outnumbers the scams. Consider this - a scammer has to be relatively smart to maintain the scam. In fact, most scams are merely "overpricing," versus outright fraud. I am aware of a national franchise of "employment advisers" who are consistently the subject of complaints on the internet and better business bureaus, but this outfit has been in existence since the time I was a major stockholder in an employment agency in the late 60's and early 70's. I don't apologize for them, but I do say I have talked to several of their so-called "victims" and can say factually they went into the transaction with a completely different interpretation of what they would receive than of the actual list of services as interpreted by anyone with a clear mind. Here's one example: the victim paid $3,600, expecting a guaranteed $150,000/yr job as vp of public relations "because he thought it was a cool job with long lunches and attendance at lots of society events." the first major problem was that the guy was practically unintelligible in oral communication in English, with an incredibly thick accent. His written communication was riddled with grammar and spelling errors. He looked and dressed like he'd been sorting garbage in the videos when he was told to come in dressed like for an interview to go through the mock interviews with the "advisor." The crowning touch was that his previous three jobs had been for cousins who owned motels where he was employed as a desk clerk. Two cousins had fired him because he "alienated" their guests. He quit the third cousin because the cousin wouldn't put him on the day shift. In short, the guy was completely ill-equipped to be a vp of PR, but he thought he was entitled to "specific performance." The attorney who asked me to sit in on the interview prior to taking the case asked the client what he thought of his performance on the videos the advisor had sent home with him for review. The guy launched into a diatribe of how unfair the questions were, even though he had been provided with a list of what the questions would be so he could prepare. The lawyer said to me privately after the interview that the best he could hope for would be the advisor would be so embarrassed for taking money from such a fool that he would return a least part of it. I told the lawyer that if he got ANY money, I'd buy him dinner. I further told the lawyer that if he ended up getting sued by his would-be client for not doing better, I'd buy him another dinner. That was four years ago, no dinners paid yet.

Sometimes, not always, you can find good, but much less expensive (even free), career coaches at places like 40+, SCORE, YMCA, unemployment bureau, your own college, your church. Use my guidelines above to determine whether you are getting value-added service or not, regardless of how much you pay.

Recruiters help "polish" a good resume to target the needs of their client, they do NOT even bother with a bad resume. In a sense, they've already decided to groom the candidate and they just want to close the deal with their client. They will not groom a poor candidate, because their livelihood depends on repeat business from satisfied clients and good referrals to other clients. Remember, the client is the HIRER, not the HIREE.

The kind of information I put out hit or miss in a venue like the Cove really only hints at what to explore in your own situation. Without knowing your personal abilities and experience and seeing your demeanor in a one-on-one situation, I won't know if you need coaching on how to handle yourself in the "small talk" which endears you to an interviewer or whether you come off as too aggressive or too wishy-washy. Without reading your cover letter and your resume and looking at the background you have on the company and the position, I can NOT make a value judgment about your cover letter and resume in relation to that specific case. The point is: you need a good, experienced, but dispassionate friend who can review the letter and resume for EVERYTHING, including grammar, spelling, tone, content, typography, etc. For some of us, we may have to assemble a "team" to provide all that review. I have repeatedly said, "finding a new job is a job all by itself." All the tools folks use in making their jobs successful are also needed in making the job of job hunting successful. If you need a team to help you, assemble one to the best ability of your field of contacts and pocketbook. In my opinion, if you have a $100,000/yr job and want to move to a $200,000/yr one, you may have to "buy" a career coach who has the skills to help you make that step. If you are currently unemployed and facing eviction, you obviously need to target less expensive career help, but then you probably aren't aiming at the limited number of $200,000/yr jobs, but more likely a position in the REAL WORLD and the expertise of career coaches at the Y or church or unemployment offices may help you get past your current snags.

BLIND ADS: sorry, still trying to "tighten" and "poka yoke" the advice. I haven't forgotten, just trying to prioritize.

 

[Wes Bucey]

Blind ads (finally)

Finally, let's tackle the blind ad.

Define your terms!
Blind: Blind ads describe job openings but don't indicate the employer's name or address. The addresses listed are usually post office boxes. There are legitimate reasons why employers may post blind ads: They may want to fill a position not yet announced within the company or to reduce the number of responses to the advertisement. But sometimes these ads are used by employment or sales agencies to create a pool of names. Approach blind ads with caution.

There are also a lot of illegitimate reasons - the illegitimate ones are often more illuminating that the legitimate ones.

Up front: It is my opinion that some (not all) blind box ads can identify the employer organization with a little research and tenacity on the candidate's part. If so, and you think you'd like to work for that organization, ignore the blind ad submission and target your cover letter and resume to the hiring entity you identify with your research. Why send in a resume to be one among many in the slush pile at the blind ad address?

If careful reading of the ad indicates it is an employment agency, run, don't walk for an exit! Why? Agencies exist for one purpose - to process candidates for employers. The most successful agencies are the ones which process the most candidates (like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see if any sticks.) The best agencies want their names known because it helps them get more clients and more candidates when they have name recognition. There is something seriously wrong when an agency pays for blind ads.
What could be wrong?

1. The job doesn't really exist - they are performing espionage to see if anyone is unhappy in a current job so they can go in to the hiring people at that sucker's employer and offer up candidates for HIS job.
2. They are doing research to learn about prevailing wages for a job function.
3. they don't have an exclusive and don't want other agencies "poaching" their job listings
4. They may not be an "agency" but rather a "career counseling" outfit that will hustle the sucker to say "you could be a great candidate for the job, but you need some polishing . . ."

So what are some clues that the employer is the real issuer of the ad and he has a "legitimate" reason for hiding identity?

First, and foremost, the only "legitimate reason" to hide identity may be because the company is going to fire someone, but they want to have a candidate in the wings to fill in once they escort the other guy off the premises.

Other reasons companies give are not really valid:

• Don't want to tip off competitors - give me a break! If the company is that important and powerful a competitor, anyone who cares will already know from other sources what's going on, they don't need to read want ads.
• Don't want to disrupt our business with phone calls, etc. - equally silly! They bite off their nose because research shows the most highly qualified candidates categorically refuse to answer blind ads. Do you really want to work for a company that shoots for mediocre candidates on the theory your resume will stand out?

The pure reason any company runs a blind ad regardless of what lie they use is that they don't want to be bothered with the trouble and expense of saying "no" to unsuccessful candidates. Think of it! - they don't have enough respect for candidates who answer their ad to invest 23 cents in a postcard or 1 cent in an email that says, "Sorry!" after they've had the candidate invest a lot more in mailing a hard copy of cover letter and resume to a blind box. Certainly that doesn't inspire MY confidence in that being the kind of employer I want to work for.

So after all that, you are desperate and want to explore the idea of answering a blind ad.

First, read the ad carefully. Here's one from Chicago Tribune:

Location: US-IL-Chicago
Base Pay: N/A
Employee Type: Full-Time Employee
Industry: Automotive - Motor Vehicles - Parts
Manufacturing
Manages Others: Yes
Job Type: Management
Manufacturing
QA - Quality Control
Req'd Education: None
Req'd Experience: More than 5 Years
Req'd Travel: Negligible
Relocation Covered: No
MACHINE SHOP
Quality Manager
Machine shop in Elgin area is seeking an individual for the role of Quality Manager. Knowledge of SPC, DOE, TS16949 is required. Must have 5 years experience in precision machining of automotive parts and be familiar with 8D, FMEA, PPAP and Six Sigma. Individual must demonstrate strong analytical, process improvement, and written and verbal communication skills.
Fax resumes to 847-214-8428 or email [Click here for email]
(mailto:JZ5836G94WGYQ6KX8G_cbcb_ct~ctrct1002^[email protected]?subject=Careerbuilder: Ref.38582)
Web CB38582
Source - Chicago Tribune

REQUIREMENTS
Please refer to the Job Description to view the requirements for this job
Keywords: Skilled Labor- machine, CNC, EMD ISO, SurfCAM, Metal, QA, QC, quality control, quality assurance, ISO 9000, ISO 9001, QS9000, SPC statistical process, stats, statistics, AS9000, AS9100 TQM total quality management, six sigma

This one gives two clues to narrow the list of potential targets.
(Note I have NOT followed through on this research)
First, a fax number is given. A smart researcher can ferret through some industrial directories listing machine shops doing automotive work in the Elgin area and see if the fax number matches any listings.

Personally, I have a hunch this is an employment agent, not the company directly - all the more reason to ferret out and send your application directly to a decision maker at the company. (My clue to "agent" versus direct employer is the vague use of a 3rd party designation: "machine shop" and deliberate omission of a name for "attention to" - not even "Bob" or "Sally" No bright employer would want job applications coming in on the same machine that accepts requests for quotes. An absolute dead giveaway of the "agent" status is the listing in this internet version of the Tribune ad of all the "buzz words" keywords in blue, especially the inclusion of the AS9100 (aerospace, not automotive) reference

Second, you can send a blind fax to the number - some fax machines are set to show who they belong to as well as the phone number when they complete the "handshake" between faxes.

You can ask friends and acquaintances in various trades (machine tools, cutting fluids, calibration houses, steel and nonferrous sales, etc.) if they know which shop it might be.

Even if you can't identify the exact shop, you can narrow it down to a small list and make some phone calls to find out if all the shops on your list have current QMs.

Once you have narrowed the list, you can do research to find out owners, CEOs, etc. who would make or be in on such an employment decision and send them a letter offering your candidacy and never mention the blind ad.

I can guarantee you if this is an agent ad, he does not have exclusive right to fill the position, else he would not be so secretive. He is worried some other agent will slip in behind his back and fill the position.

Are you beginning to see the concept about blind ads? They don't have much value for job candidates under the best of circumstances. Even if you manage to find out who the fax machine belongs to the odds are it is a double blind belonging to a non-exclusive agent who wasn't persuasive enough to get an exclusive contract with the employer. Is that really the best lead-in to a company? (Somebody the company doesn't trust enough to give an exclusive contract?)

Just for laughs, notice there is no reference to any ASQ certification or Six Sigma Black Belt.

Let's hear your comments!

Added in edit: It has been pointed out that you can "google" the fax number to see if it bounces up with a lot of hits - a major clue it might be an employment agency when you follow the hits. Occasionally, you may strike gold and discover it belongs to a real company, and, once identified, you can sidestep the "slush pile" of blind responses and target your pitch without referring to the blind ad!