“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” – Mark Twain
Author Byline: Jessica Holbrook Hernandez is an expert resume writer, career and personal branding strategist, author, and presenter.
Author Website: http://www.greatresumesfast.com
Over the last few years, I’ve heard a lot of very intelligent job seekers casually remark that they had sent out hundreds of resumes while looking for a job. These people firmly believed that job searching was entirely a numbers game, so the more resumes they sent out, the more likely they were to be hired.
Unfortunately, these job seekers were flawed in their thinking—and were generally not getting any hits from their resumes. While it’s true that you have to be actively applying for jobs in order to get one, it’s also true that sending a generalized resume out to dozens of openings for which you’re only peripherally qualified is a huge waste of time. Job searching is time consuming for everyone, and it can be especially challenging for those who are already working full-time. If you only have three hours per week that you can devote to job searches, chances are that you’ll fare better spending one hour each on three well-targeted applications rather than taking 15 minutes each to submit a dozen resumes.
Competition is stiff for every single job out there. Just last week I was talking to someone who had received 300 applications for an administrative position. Many of the applicants had graduate degrees but were unable to find work suitable to their advanced qualifications. Faced with that kind of odds, a general resume will almost always go directly into the discard pile. Your challenge as a job seeker is to produce a cover letter and resume that truly stand out to the hiring manager for each job you pursue. The simple truth is that doing this requires spending a significant amount of time on every application you submit.
One of the greatest advantages to hiring a professional resume writer is the amount of time it saves you in your job search. A skilled writer will spend some time learning about who you are as a person and a candidate. He will then create documents that require minimal changes each time you apply for a job. By hiring a professional, you’re better able to play the numbers game by submitting a greater number of high quality applications; as a result, you make the best use of your valuable time. It’s the quality of your job applications—not the quantity—that will ultimately get you hired.
Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.
Good luck in your search.
