I am at your local Starbucks last week – meeting with a guy I have developed a lot of respect for over the years. He has about 10 years on me in the recruiting biz and has built a relatively successful recruiting firm along with a couple of partners. Besides being a good recruiter – he is a good guy.
We talk our usual shop as well as what is going on in your world stuff. It was a one hour meeting and good to reconnect. In the midst of the conversation, the light bulb goes off for me that I have a blog entry brewing with a phrase he drops on me. I had never heard the phrase, still don’t know if it is common and if I had missed it or not somewhere, but it completely resonated and I think offers clear perspective in your job search.
His term for reviewing potential candidate resumes - Kiss It or Kill It. I know you would expect the pile or file folder to have a better name – maybe A candidates or B candidates – NO, NO – Kiss it or Kill it. Seriously – a smooch for being qualified and a snuff for not. I love the word picture that paints for the job seeker and the question you should ask before you press submit. Is my resume going to be in the kissed or shredded – I mean – filed under future consideration in their Applicant Tracking System - allegedly.
The idea of kiss it or kill it says decisions will be made and made quickly. How long is the resume perusal? At the most – 15 seconds. Pucker up or say Buh-bye. Have you spent the extra time proofreading it? Read it out loud. Not every HR manager and hiring manager offers grace to the typo. Just assume they do not. I don’t think it is that much of a penalty – it is more a basic easy reason to ding ya to the kill pile. DOA.
The whole resume review process is all about having a glanceable resume that gives me a reason to actually read it. In deference to the hiring manager, it has to be. You have competition and there is no time. More people applying for the same job. I know this is basic stuff but I continue to see terrible resumes and plain cover letters.
Are you offering a solution to their problem? Are you surveying the job description for key words? Again, basic. Be clear, be honest, be compelling. Make them want to actually read on. Tell your story. Give the employer reasons to bring YOU in now.
My favorite quote of the week was from a VP of HR that said, “I just want to see that these people have done a little extra work.” Is your resume begging for a big wet kiss or simply asking for it?
Tags: Andy Gregory, career, cgp network, hiring, Indianapolis, resume
While I, too, love word pictures… it concerns me a bit that when thinking of or dealing with candidates that the only options are “kiss it” – love it, put it forward, becomes a sendout, worthy candidate …
or “kill it” – hate it, douse it with flames, shoot it down, in the dead file, an unworthy candidate.
How about we simply say “yes” or “no” for now? The “no” could be a “yes” in the future and the “yes” may be a rock star that disappoints in the live performance – can we say Black Eyed Peas?
I agree that time is of the essence and we have very little time to waste, as a third-party recruiter or in-house, problems are waiting to be solved – you can be the solver, either now of current issues or of future issues by establishing and maintaining MANY relationships/resumes/profiles.
I guess we all do this job differently. I, for one, don’t kill anything.
R