Heather Gardner is our guest blogger today. Heather is a Silicon Valley Recruiter and a Web 2.0 Maven. The first time I met Heather virtually, was in the business networking group, http://MyVirtualPowerForum/ which I have mentioned before. Her first post really stood out as honest and well written. The group was called a different name then, but I recommend going to this yahoo group with 9000 members and joining as a lot of business networking takes place there. (The founder Vincent Wright is an amazing resource.) Heather’s blog is http://heathergardner.wordpress.com/ and is called Heather Gardner’s Bloggity Blog. What a great name! And it is a great blog:
Last year I was contacted by a mid level manager for job search advice. Let’s call him Joe Jetson.
Joe’s plea for dialog with someone on the inside was compelling. He sounded desperate for help. I could tell right off the bat that he was talented and highly experienced, just down on his luck. I called Joe direct for a chat.
Joe needed insight from an internal recruiter on how he could improve his resume to catch the hiring manager’s attention and get him an interview. He was looking for an opportunity to be considered for any marketing role.
For the past few years Joe had been working in various marketing roles, generally at the director level or above. He could run any department and execute all marketing campaigns with great success. But Joe wasn’t getting any interviews for the jobs he was applying to. None at all.
Joe had found plenty of openings for marketing manager and below, but despite his amazing cover letter he couldn’t seem to get that face to face. It was discouraging to this man with so much experience and talent. All Joe wanted was a chance to work in marketing no matter the level.
It was clear when I reviewed his resume and cover letter that Joe’s background and capabilities screamed “VP”. Why on earth would a director of marketing want to hire him for their manager opening? Joe would end up taking the director’s job someday and move up the ranks. It just wouldn’t happen.
My advice to Joe was to tone it down. Have several resumes ready to send that would highlight his experience and background for each role he was going for. I know it sounds like a lot of work to have several different resumes, but so is the lengthy job search. What doesn’t make sense to a perspective employer is why a VP of Marketing would want the admin role.
Don’t be uncomfortable to craft several hot versions of your resume. You have to feel comfortable taking on the roles you are applying to and if you can’t accurately state them on the resume you submit you can forget getting an interview. It’s going to show in your correspondence.
Remember, the resume is just to get your foot in the door - you will need to sell yourself during the interview. If you appear “over qualified” you might be missing out on some great opportunities just because of job titles.
My advice to those currently looking and not getting the interviews they’d like to take a lot at their first impressions. A poorly crafted resume may not be working and it might be time to hire that career coach or professional resume writer. I’m happy to recommend a few good ones in my own personal network.
Don’t be afraid to take it off, you might just be surprised how liberating letting go of a title can be.
What have you taken off in order to get the job?
Heather’s blog should be inspirational to anyone that is looking for a job or ever plans to. All too often job seekers don’t take the necessary steps to market themselves the right way, even if your in marketing yourself (Joe Jetson
Taking Heather’s advice on having several resumes will definitely ease what could sometimes be an arduous job search.
Heather, I look forward to hearing more insightful tips.
Heather has the right approach. Resumes should be customized and the one size fits all approach is not the best way to promote yourself. I’d love to hear a bit more about her experiences.
I am hoping Heather will guest blog again.
great advice! as a recruiter myself, I’ve worked with several people over the years who couldn’t even get an interview because they were an executive or small business owner in the past and everyone thought they were overqualified. once they changed the “CXO” title to “manager”, doors started to open. great post, keep ‘em coming.
On behalf of Heather, thank you.
Great advice about having numerous resumes on hand will ease the difficulty of any job search.
Thanks, Jaime.
I like the bulk of what I see on this blog, but I have to offer a different perspective on this post.
I always cringe when I hear someone suggest that they lighten or “Dumb down” their resume.
I’ve seen enough variation in titles between large and small companies to know that a VP at a 5 person shop isn’t the same as a VP at a large multinational. So, some adjusting of titles may be needed so that the titles on the resume are consistent with the hierarchy of the target company (I suspect this is what Steve Myers was getting at). However, I tend to think that it is misrepresentation to make changes for the sole purpose of masking one’s true level of experience.
Sure, maybe Joe really was OK with taking a lower job than his experience might suggest. If he’s really a good marketer, let him clearly demonstrate that he can communicate his value proposition for the jobs that he is applying for. If he can’t convince the screeners that he is sincere in his desire to work at a lower level, then I might suggest that they are making the prudent decision in NOT interviewing him.
Seriously, there are plenty of legitimate reasons why any of us might be willing to work at a lower level than we have in the past. Communicate the reason(s) effectively and you win the screener and interviewer’s respect. How much respect will Joe get when the interviewer uncovers his real work history and Joe looks like a sneaky phoney that was trying to mislead.
I just can’t throw my full support behind an approach that encourages intentional deception.
Thank you for your thoughtful response.
Great advice == never thought of doing this== now I do!!
Thanks, Techy!
Hello!! It’s tough out there. Today no matter what level you’re on you have to try anything to get a job. Whether over qualified or under qualified you have to have different resumes for now for different positions or levels. Heather has the right idea. You don’t have to lie about anything. But the correct type of resume is what is going to get your foot in the door. Who knows, they may like you enough to find you a position in the company to see where you may be the best fit. Just get that foot in the door and see where it leads too is step number one. This is a great site and I like what I’m reading. Keep it up. We all need all the help we can get.
Thank you, Kathy, I agree with you.
great advice, to have more than one resume based on the level of job you are going for. i had not thought of that before. can you have a resume that is more than one page? i have heard different theories on that.
Hi, Rob,
Yes, if you are not a recent college graduate it is perfectly acceptable to have 2 or 3 pages in your resume. The old advice to keep the resume to one page no longer exists.
Very useful advice on teaching people to use the info available through social media. But they don’t entirely replace a well-written professional resume for presenting a person’s accomplishments and value to an employer.