you want / i have

land the interview that lands the job

I read and screen resumes for a living and talk with corporate recruiters all the time. We agree that nothing is more frustrating than receiving resumes that are either too cluttered to follow or too broad in scope with more information than a Presidential candidate covers during an election. Resume reading can be very subjective, but it doesn’t have to be. Here is how to remove the subjective aspect of getting your resume noticed and how to dramatically increase your odds of landing an interview using the “You Want / I Have” method.

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

How: You are going to create a “Skills Comparison” or “You Want / I Have” document that you will include with your resume. In this document you will provide supporting information for each requirement in the job posting in an easy-to-read format.

Result #1: Making an Ally of the Recruiter or Corporate HR Generalist… Recruiters and HR Generalists review hundreds of resumes for any given job opening. They have to quickly discern which candidates qualify and which do not from a stack of resumes received. Great candidates with cluttered or too broad-in-scope resumes run the risk of getting passed over. By pre-qualifying yourself, you score bigtime with the recruiter or HR generalist and you also show respect for their time by helping them to quickly assess your skills and talents as they relate to the position.

Result #2: Impress the Hiring Manager AKA Your Future Boss… Do you know many job seekers apply to job postings online based on title alone without reading the position details? Chances are the person who drafted that job description you’re applying to is your future boss. Breaking out the job description line by line and providing a brief bullet or statement supporting your experience relative to it reinforces to the hiring manager that you are serious about working for them. Remember, it’s up to you, not the hiring manager, to show that you can do the job. Until then, you’re “Not qualified until Proven qualified.”

Step by Step: Create a word document with space for a brief (and I mean brief, no novels here, please) intro paragraph and 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. In Column 2, write a couple of bullet points or a short phrase supporting where or how you acquired that skill or experience.

If you don’t have a particular skill they want, consider omitting it in your report. 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 anyway and learn it – fast. Your response could be something like “Currently enrolled in an advanced Excel course through www.Lynda.com. Course completion date – September 23rd, 2008.” It will be time worth spent because chances are if this is a skill they want then it is probably a skill other companies want too.

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. If you’re convinced that they should make an exception to the rule, call or email the contact listed on the job 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:

A Word of Caution: If you are missing a “must have” requirement, be careful not to invest too much time chasing after a job that isn’t chasing you. This is time that could be spent networking or searching for other jobs that you DO qualify for. If you begin to uncover multiple opportunities that include requirements or skills you’re missing, it might be time to invest in additional education
or find a mentor or two who can help you bridge the gap. 

Bonus Suggestion: Brand it! If the company’s corporate color is teal, brand your report with teal. Or you can put the company’s logo in the top right corner. 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. 

Bonus Gift: Want to see examples? Email me at raegan.hill@brookwoods.com and I will send them to you!