First you need some necessary information. My resume, which goes back to 1997, could be outlined like this:
Most recent job: manager of training and development
Next job: highly technical consulting job for a company that needed their learning management and content management systems evaluated and possibly changed.
Next job: highly technical training development and delivery position with a consulting firm working with clients’ IT departments.
Next job: highly technical training development and delivery positions that also included project management on highly technical training development and delivery projects.Catch the theme? Recruiters don’t. No, I’m serious. Last month I submitted my resume to a recruiting firm that was looking for a technical instructional designer/instructor. I got an email back saying the recruiter didn’t see where I had technical experience.
Yesterday I finally got a call from a company for a technical training position. The only reason I got a phone call was because I have a solid connection to the company (Kent). The utter lack of enthusiasm in the recruiter’s voice was obvious as he told me that the position really needed someone with a technical background who also had training experience. It was pretty clear he didn’t think I had that experience. When I pointed out that with the exception of my most recent job, my experience was exactly what he needed and that I had been doing that work since 1997, he got really excited. I almost asked him if he'd actually read my resume.
What’s worse, later when he called Kent to clear up something regarding relocation (which sort of irritated me that he would call my husband about a job I'm apply for but I’ll set that aside for now), he flat out told Kent he had rejected my application. Holy crap, no wonder people can’t get jobs. The recruiters aren’t even reading the applications.
I’m in the running for two positions right now. Should neither of them pan out, it’s clear to me I will need to reformat my resume into a functional rather than chronological resume, one that spells out my experience using simple, first-grade level language. That way even recruiters with poor reading skills should be able to recognize what kind of experience I have.
8 comments:
Johnny doesn't listen, either, in my experience. You have to think of three different ways to say the same thing before anyone pays the slightest bit of attention.
Speaking as someone who works in the same place as a husband, I'd say that it's not always bad to be regarded as part of a pair--it can be irritating, but it can also be a shortcut for someone who is concerned about stuff that will affect both of you.
Wait...he called your HUSBAND regarding details related to a job for which YOU were applying? Where was this job - 1954?
To be entirely fair, the recruiter wanted to make sure Kent knew that any relo package would only be for me. He also didn't know if Kent management would be OK with Kent leaving Boston.
I still found it a little annoying and patronizing, not to mention premature. I haven't interviewed with the actual manager yet, that was just a pre-screen.
The recruiter was calling me to make sure I understood that if I was also going to relocate to this city that I would need to work that out with my management. It was premature, but his comments were entirely about my job and not about Elizabeth's job.
I'm wondering if the position has been filled internally already.
Nope. The recruiter told me he couldn't find anyone with both qualifications (technical AND training delivery). That's why he got so excited when the lightbulb went off in his head.
I'd suggest you (and Kent!) come work at Kenyon though we couldn't afford you. Exactly the right skill sets.
I predict we will be looking for someone in the next 3-6 months with a job that is basically social media strategist for the public affairs office. Very technical, very much about training, but also very much about communication goals and strategies, too.
But as a non-profit in the midwest, we pay about 70 cents on the dollar compared to the market rate.
Of course your cost of living is probably 50 cents on the dollar (or less) compared to Boston . . . and then there's you and Jeanne as added bonuses!
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