By Ryan Bradshaw
Faculty member, Retail Management at American Public University
“If I could only just get an interview then I could present my case and convince the committee I am their dream candidate.” Each year hundreds of thousands of individuals graduate from higher education and seek out a job. Added to this is an ever-changing job market where established professionals are frustrated by the fact that, despite their marked credentials, they cannot get past HR to the initial interview phase.
Stay encouraged. One thing I tell my students looking for a job is that sometimes you have to take a job you might not want in order to set yourself up for the job you do want. Here are a few small tactics I use to help get to the interview stage.
Know the Organization. What type of business is it? What do they do? What are their needs? What is their culture, mission, vision, and values? One of the most impressive candidates I have met in the past 10 years knew all of the names of the interview committee in advance and could talk about their roles within the organization. This shows initiative. The more you know going in, the better prepared and more comfortable you will be.
Don’t Be Desperate, Be Professional. I’m sure HR representatives feel a cold shiver down their spine when they get the desperate application: “I’ll start at the bottom; I’ll do anything; I need this job to feed my family,” etc. Desperation is the mark of someone who does not have control of his or her life. If you cannot control yourself, how can you control your job in the workplace? You may feel the pangs of desperation, but never show it professionally. It’s a quick ticket to the inactive file.
Be Remarkable. In my last article regarding getting the interview I mentioned having a killer resume. You cannot have a killer resume unless you have killer content to fill the resume. It is not enough to assume that once you earn a degree all the doors are going to swing wide with opportunities. As Seth Godin puts it, you have to be remarkable; someone worth making a remark about to someone else as in, “This candidate has everything, and more!”
My goal is to overwhelm the search committee with quality resume content. Some people will advise a one page resume, but I advise you to keep growing your resume with quality content so that, when a reviewer turns the pages, they keep seeing incredible content.
Target the Decision-Maker. This is probably one of the most valuable pieces of advice in this article. HR departments receive a plethora of applications and resumes each week. These individuals do not have a lot of time to review your information. Usually, HR is the first stop to weed out candidates before sending applications to the hiring party or committee. You want to target the decision-maker on the back end and contact that person directly.
Submit your application and resume to HR, but afterwards drop an email to the person who will ultimately be making the hiring decision and briefly introduce yourself and sell your qualifications and fit within the organization (include your resume). You may or may not get an email back, but at least you have two sets of eyes on your information, which doubles your chances of getting an interview.
Like so many things in life, getting an interview is a numbers game. Each application you send leads you to the one that will result in an interview. You can help stack the odds by being remarkable and digging a little deeper into the opportunity you are seeking.
About the Author: Ryan Bradshaw is an ABD doctoral candidate studying student motivation and educational leadership. His dissertation is examining intrinsic and extrinsic motivational differences amongst undergraduate majors.
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