Why less is more in the job search
Yes, less is more in the job search. I know I have been blogging about job search for close to 10 years, so there is obviously a lot going on. No doubt, there are many steps.
Today, I want to add some perspective. Less is more. Think quality vs. quantity.
Over the past 4 months, the company I work with has hired one employee per week. That isn’t many employees for most companies, but it is a lot for our little choo-choo train. Most of the positions were entry-level.
The trend that I kept seeing was that candidates were doing too much at every step of the process, and it was costing them the interview. Candidates can come across as desperate when they put in too much effort. A highly qualified candidate can appear desperate, and this doesn’t create urgency or negotiation leverage. So let me break it down for you.
Cover letters
The goal of the cover letter is to get the reader interested in the resume. That is it. OK, yes, it gives you a chance to show off your writing skills, but the real goal of the cover letter is to get the reader to flip the page with excitement.
Full-page or page-and-a-half cover letters are too much. The hiring manager is looking for what is posted in the job description and nothing more. The meat of the job description is in the first few bullets of required skills. So, if you can get the point across that you are a perfect fit for the first few bullets, you did it. Click here to see my post on Cover Letters.
Resume
The job of the resume is to generate so much interest that the hiring manager picks up the phone to schedule the first meeting. Remember, they are only looking for the skills listed in the job description. If our resume doesn’t DIRECTLY connect the dots to the job description’s requirements, it’s useless. You may be qualified for the job, but if the hiring manager doesn’t understand your qualifications via the resume, you are invisible.
If you have 10+ years of experience, focus on highlighting your most recent years. We will not be hired for our first few years of experience. The job we held 10 years ago was too junior to relate to the current position. For our earlier experience, list out a few accomplishments. This shows we have the required 10 years of experience. Our primary focus should be on communicating our accomplishments over the past few years. These are directly related to the position of interest.
Requisite dating example
If I am 32 years old and a romantic interest asks me about myself, I don’t share my personal story, starting with what I did when I was 22. If the 32-year-old wants a 22-year-old behavior, they will be talking with a twenty-something. They won’t be hanging out with me! If I give them my background starting from my early 20s, that is too much. We start with our most recent experiences and eventually share baby stories.
The experience we are going to be hired for
As it relates to the resume, less is more. Focus on providing relevant information, not our entire work history. We aren’t being hired for what we accomplished back in the day. List fewer accomplishments from early in our career and list more achievements from our recent work history. We aren’t going to be hired for something we accomplished 20 years ago. We will be hired for what we did recently.
I saw a lot of fancy resumes filled with color, shapes, and designs. Check this link on a recent post explaining why creative resumes hurt your job search.
Hiring managers and recruiters see 100s and 1000s of resumes. If they had their way, all resumes would have the same format. This would make it much easier to read. Yes, there are some beautiful documents out there, but they are coming from professional design candidates specializing in UX and Design. If we don’t have this background, I suggest skipping this and going with the traditional approach.
The goal of the resume is to communicate our qualifications directly to the job description. Have you ever seen a graphically creative job posting?
If we are qualified for the job, no one is going to say, “I would have called this person, but the resume didn’t have enough color”. In most cases, creative resumes from non-design candidates aren’t innovative or good enough to stand out.
Interviews
Yes, less is more. One of the first questions you will be asked is “Tell me about yourself.” (Yeah, not really a question, but you know what I mean) Again, we are not being hired for what we did 10 years ago, so don’t start your bio with your graduation. Start with your most recent experience.
When I ask a question, I don’t want to hear 3 minutes of background and THEN hear the answer to the question I asked 3 minutes ago. If you have 10 years of experience, you lost me at “I graduated with a degree in. . .” If you just graduated, then start with “I have a degree in.”
Give the current and relevant job history and work backward in time. Provide less and less detail the further you go back. The interviewer can dig deeper into areas they are interested in.
Interviews with Execs
This is especially true when being interviewed by executives. Execs think at a much higher level and don’t get into the details and weeds. They have folks working for them who are in the weeds. Here is a link to check out a recent post on how to answer questions from executives.
So, as you prepare for your interview, I absolutely encourage you to practice, practice and practice your answers to the interview questions. When it comes to preparing your cover letter and resume, less is more.
See you at the after party,
HRNasty
nasty: an unreal maneuver of incredible technique, something that is ridiculously good, tricky and manipulative but with a result that can’t help but be admired, a phrase used to describe someone who is good at something. “He has a nasty forkball”.
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