One of the most common pitfalls for candidates during their job search is to exclusively submit their resume via the employer’s online application process.
Most candidates take it for granted that submitting a resume online is the only avenue available to them, and that it’s automatically getting in front of the right person.
Unfortunately, this is where most candidates are mistaken. But, if you’re reading this, you’re not most candidates, and you’re about to find out how you can set yourself apart. Here are some reasons why you may not be getting calls back on your resume, and how to turn it around.
1. You don’t know who’s looking at your resume
More often than not, resumes submitted online are going to an HR rep, not the person in charge of doing the actual hiring.
A single HR rep might have numerous managers to staff throughout the hospital, and the NICU is just one of their departments. That could mean they have 10, 50…or possibly even 100 or more open jobs they need to find candidates for at any given time. In this situation, unless your resume happens to read exactly like the job description that was written by the manager, your resume just isn’t getting an adequate amount of attention.
2. You aren’t clear on how your resume is actually evaluated
Because the demand on their time is so great, HR must be efficient. So, resumes are not fully read. Instead, they’re scanned; oftentimes seeking out specific buzzwords.
If an HR rep who has your resume in one hand does not see ‘buzzwords’ that are a 1:1 fit to the templated job description they have in the other hand, your candidacy for that position could be over before it has even begun.
3. You don’t realize you have other options
You have two options:
- Submit your resume online and hope for the best, and
- Partner with a search firm dedicated to your area of specialization
Partnering with a dedicated search firm is the best (and often only) way to ensure you have gotten to the hiring authority, and/or that your resume contains the triggers and buzzwords tailored to the nuances of that job description.
After 20 years of placing neonatal nurse practitioners, we’ve contacted almost every NICU in the country, and as a result, know most of the hiring authorities for NNPs. This means your resume more often than not gets into the hands of the actual hiring authority rather than HR when it is submitted through an ENSEARCH recruiter. And, if you think the online job description is telling you everything you need to know about the job, think again. More often than not, those job descriptions are boilerplate, generic, NP job descriptions, and applied to a Neonatal NP posting.
Because of our relationships with these hospitals, we get the ‘inside scoop’ on each job we feature. Most of the time we can even get that information on jobs you aren’t seeing on our job board as well. The information we have access to is much more comprehensive than any description you would be able to access online. As a result, we coach our candidates to tailor their resumes with the precision that you can’t find anywhere else.
After an initial interview with one of our recruiters, we find that most candidates are underselling themselves or leaving out information that is critical to their candidacy to their desired position. As we all know – it’s not always the most qualified candidate who gets offered the job, it’s the one who interviews best!
Do you have any tips of your own or questions about submitting your resume? Leave them in the comments below!
