Monday, July 07, 2008

Managers for Me to Interview

Are you a manager or recruiter who receives resumes via email? If so, may I interview you for a post about how job seekers can best email their resumes?

I can ask you questions by phone or email (please email me at joblounge@aol.com with your contact info). Or you can answer the questions as a comment to this post.

Here are my interview questions:

1. What percentage of resumes do you receive via U.S. Post?
2. What percentage via email?
3. Do you accept resumes as attachments to emails?
4. If so, what format do you prefer? MS Word or PDF?
5. Do you have trouble opening attachments that are in some versions of MS Word?
6. Are you concerned about getting a computer virus from an attachment? If not, why not?
7. Do you like getting a resume inserted into the body of your email? If so, do you prefer the insert by in Plain Text or HTML?
8. Do you like getting both an attachment and the insert?
9. Do you like getting a link to a resume that's on a job seeker's website?
10. What do you do with the resumes? How do you process them?
- Forward them to someone else
- Print them out
- Enter them into a database
- File them on your hard drive
11. What are good email subject lines that tell you to open an email from a job seeker?
12. How important is the introductory cover note?
13. How long should the note be?
14. Do you sometimes forward the note along with the resume?
15. What advice do you have for sending a resume via email?
16. May I email you a resume template that you fax back to me so I can see how it transfers?

2 comments:

Alison said...

1. What percentage of resumes do you receive via U.S. Post?
Gosh, hardly any. Maybe 1%.

2. What percentage via email?
98%. (The other 1% is via fax.)

3. Do you accept resumes as attachments to emails?
Yes.

4. If so, what format do you prefer? MS Word or PDF?
PDF. Less likely to have a virus or weird formatting.

5. Do you have trouble opening attachments that are in some versions of MS Word?
Occasionally. Not often, but now and then.

6. Are you concerned about getting a computer virus from an attachment? If not, why not?
Yes!

7. Do you like getting a resume inserted into the body of your email? If so, do you prefer the insert by in Plain Text or HTML?
I prefer them as an attachment, because the formatting in plain text usually makes them harder to read and scan quickly.

8. Do you like getting both an attachment and the insert?
No preference.

9. Do you like getting a link to a resume that's on a job seeker's website?
No -- takes more time on my side.

10. What do you do with the resumes? How do you process them?
My assistant prints them, does an initial screen, and then gives them to me. However, I like having the electronic version available if I need it, since sometimes I want to forward it to someone else by email.

11. What are good email subject lines that tell you to open an email from a job seeker?
Preferably the name of the position they're applying for. Usually when they try to get more creative than that, it backfires.

12. How important is the introductory cover note?
Extremely important -- imperative.

13. How long should the note be?
Roughly one page.

14. Do you sometimes forward the note along with the resume?
Always.

15. What advice do you have for sending a resume via email?
Just the above.

Anonymous said...

1. What percentage of resumes do you receive via U.S. Post?
0%.

2. What percentage via email?
100%.

3. Do you accept resumes as attachments to emails?
Yes.

4. If so, what format do you prefer? MS Word or PDF?
PDF. It retains the formatting and assures me that I'm seeing it as the applicant would want me to see it.

5. Do you have trouble opening attachments that are in some versions of MS Word?
Yes, from time to time. Often, this is a result of 1) MS Office 2000 or previous version or 2) a Mac user who forgot to add the ".doc" to the suffix.

6. Are you concerned about getting a computer virus from an attachment? If not, why not?
Yes and no. I'm concerned, but I work on a Mac which is far less prone to a virus.

7. Do you like getting a resume inserted into the body of your email? If so, do you prefer the insert by in Plain Text or HTML?
I prefer an attachment for formatting reasons and for filing reasons. Adding the resume in HTML (using one of the 5 most common fonts) is fine as a supplement to an attachment.

8. Do you like getting both an attachment and the insert?
No preference.

9. Do you like getting a link to a resume that's on a job seeker's website?
Sure - so long as it is identified as a link.

10. What do you do with the resumes? How do you process them?
I'm in a paperless environment. I file the resumes based on the job-to-fill and can search them based on keywords at any time. Resumes that don't fit the job AND are not otherwise impressive (for later needs) get deleted. All else is filed.

11. What are good email subject lines that tell you to open an email from a job seeker?
The open position title and their name. Don't get fancy.

12. How important is the introductory cover note? It shows the applicant's writing skills - it's absolutely important. Keep it short. Make it original and give the recipient a sense of your voice, your character, your professionalism.

13. How long should the note be?
3 short paragraphs.

14. Do you sometimes forward the note along with the resume?
Yes.

15. What advice do you have for sending a resume via email?
Triple-check. Re-read. You've only one-shot to make that impression. One typo and I throw it out. And customize your resume for EVERY job. More than 50% of the resumes I've seen are some kind of a "general" resume that is off-point of the job description posted.