How do you get your resume noticed when submitting a job application? I have applied to so many openings that I feel well qualified for (even lateral jobs with the exact same job duties), but I get no response. I don't even get rejections anymore for most applications.

I tailor my resume to the job, I use what I believe to be the important key words, I spell check and grammar check, etc. What's the deal? The only thing I can think of is that I'm applying to jobs in Houston when I live in SA. Should I write, "grew up in Houston and want my kid to be with his grandparents" all over everything?! Lol. But really, this is getting frustrating. What are your tips to getting a job in a different town?

Anytime I see an interesting job, I will go to the company site to make sure it's legitimate and to check the age of the opening. If it's over a week old, I don't bother applying.

I haven't reached out on LinkedIn because I figured HR reps/recruiters or hiring managers would get irritated by a "cold call", but maybe I was wrong. I'll try that approach. Thanks!

Ok that's good to know. I'll definitely start reaching out. Thanks!

largelili said:

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The only thing I can think of is that I'm applying to jobs in Houston when I live in SA. Should I write, "grew up in Houston and want my kid to be with his grandparents" all over everything?!

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My $.02

Have you considered your resume absent any geographical information? Your resume doesn't have to identify where you reside. Your resume doesn't have to identify the geographic locale of your employers. If you're a qualified candidate you're being considered for your ability to do the job, not on where you live or where your previous employers are/ located. I welcome the narrative of employers who believe that information to be primary and pertinent to the candidate. Thank you.

If you're applying for a job, you know where the jobsite is located. If I'm a recipient (the person considering you for their opportunity) of your resume I'm going to assume you're prepared to work at the location listed in the advertisement.

Certain components of your resume may reveal a general geographic area of where you reside. From where you earned certifications... in which counties/cities you are licensed/registered in one capacity or another. A savvy recipient will "do the math". Your primary objective is to qualify for the opportunity and, hopefully, land an interview. You can respond to location inquiries at the interview.

Best wishes.

I managed zero interviews in 3 years for my industry after I was laid off. ZERO. INTERVIEWS.

long story short....I landed one contract job. In order to get that job I called a personal friend who was a manager the day after I was laid off. I called him monthly to check in. I also talked to the hiring manager in the department that I was actually qualified for. I contacted him regularly as well. After 2 years of that, my contact called me on a Friday said he had some work and asked if I could pee in a cup on Saturday and come to work on Monday. No interview.

Shortly after that, one of my very good friends was hired full time by the same company from the hiring manager I spoke to regularly. So...why did he get that full time gig when I had my badass resume sitting on his desk? Because he had worked with my friend at another company for a few years.

Don't overthink getting hired. I've spoken to a lot of my friends who were in similar situations and all jobs came from direct contacts and most involved no interview. These are highly technical roles competing with PhD candidates. Humans are funny...they buy and hire what they know and are familiar with.

My point is that you can do the online application thing every now and then but the bulk of your success will come from friends in the business. Call them all. A lot...and keep doing that until they tell you to go away.

I'll offer a few thoughts:

We have a decently sophisticated HR/application system, and while the system will do some auto-work, no resumes get auto-rejected. Every last resume submitted sits and waits for me to review.

The system does have canned rejection responses, so from your perspective, it might appear to have been a system rejection.

Geography - if you are applying for a job outside of your current geographic area I would strongly recommend including a comment somewhere about WHY you want to live in that new location. I've nixed folks because I don't want to go through the hassle of arranging a travel interview and potentially having to wait on them to move. I've also had one hire decide to no-show because they decided they really didn't want to move after all. All that said, if you are a 100% great applicant, I'm reaching out regardless of address.

From a hiring manager perspective, I'll offer this to those of you frustrated with the process: I get frustrated at the number of total garbage applications that come in and crowd the 'could be good' applicants.

Are you tailoring your resume for the specific position you are applying for? Lots of companies are using computers to screen electronically. If you don't have the correct verbage, you may get passed by.

As mentioned, most people get jobs by direct contacts they know. I'm just now figuring that out. Took a job coach to walk me through the process (still working at it) - she redid my resume as well.

Submitting an application/resume online is a COMPLETE waste of time.

Find a live person in the hiring chain and make a phone call. Tell them you have a question about the position before you decide whether or not to complete the application. Tell them their online application portal wouldn't allow you to submit for whatever reason ( those things are notoriously bad about freezing up, etc), then tell them you are interested and ask if you can directly submit your resume to him or her via email.

Do whatever you have to do to get your resume in front of a live person and to create at least some sort of connection.

If they absolutely insist that you put it in via the application portal, hang up and move on. Don't waste another second of your time, because that's what you will be doing... Wasting your time.

I've gotten every job I've ever had from online applications.

Granted, I know the job field is changing.

It's not a waste of time.

4 said:

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Submitting an application/resume online is a COMPLETE waste of time.

Find a live person in the hiring chain and make a phone call. Tell them you have a question about the position before you decide whether or not to complete the application. Tell them their online application portal wouldn't allow you to submit for whatever reason ( those things are notoriously bad about freezing up, etc), then tell them you are interested and ask if you can directly submit your resume to him or her via email.

Do whatever you have to do to get your resume in front of a live person and to create at least some sort of connection.

If they absolutely insist that you put it in via the application portal, hang up and move on. Don't waste another second of your time, because that's what you will be doing... Wasting your time.

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Considering I have been applying and interviewing for jobs the past few years, your advice isn't applicable to most larger organizations.

Maybe if the business is a smaller company you don't need to submit through some sort of portal. I have had different people reach out and sent them resumes. Yes they might read my resume, but usually they cannot do anything for you until you are in the HR system. Every single interview I have had I was required to fill out some sort of online application process in addition to my resume.

I'm not saying that the op needs to rely on only online submissions, but just that even with networking and sending people you know a resume that pesky application is still necessary.

So contact and send the right people your resume, but also complete the online application. Companies like metrics and the ability to track things. If you are trying get into a company that values routine, following rules, and following procedures; trying to circumvent their hiring system might not win you any goodwill even if you gave a wonderful resume.

Lots of good advice here.

My brother relocated for a job from Colorado to texas a few years ago and put together a cover letter that explained his professional goals, why he was a good fit for the position, and also provided clarity with his move (why the move and how quickly he could mobilize).

Regarding LinkedIn, I second Irish and EA's advice. My messages have always been received well and it's another opportunity to sell yourself to someone at the company. You could also use that as an opportunity to explain why and how easy a move to Houston would be.

Best of luck OP!

80% of all jobs are filled before the job is posted, but their HR rules require them to post anyway. If you want the job, work up a contact with the company to pull your resume after submitted.

If you are still applying, you gotta play buzzword bingo. When the HR person enters the resume sifter info they put in buzzwords that filter the resumes. If you match enough buzzwords with what you enter, you get picked for a visual review.

So what you have to do is re-write your resume for every job. When you read the posting write down every industry buzzword you can think of that the hiring manager would have put on a list. Work those words into your resume so your will get a high computer match score.

You do the same thing when trying to win a gov't contract. Often the scorers have no idea what they are scoring so the overseer writes up a scorecard with buzzwords that get points. Get enough points and you get a max score on that section even if you wrote mostly gibberish.

If your parents live in Houston, then just use their address on the resume. But you may be asked to explain that when your current job is in SA, but by then you'll probably be in a phone or face interview at least.

There is no way my applications are seen by humans...3 am application on a Sunday with a reply in hours? I dont buy it.

Extremely frustrating

GigEm04 said:

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There is no way my applications are seen by humans...3 am application on a Sunday with a reply in hours? I dont buy it.

Extremely frustrating

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I'd suggest you get on LinkedIn and find a job coach. It's worked (so far) really well for me. I was in the same boat - hadn't had an interview for many years as I was doing things all the wrong way.

My job coach re-wrote my resume. She has tons of contacts in the area for organizations I want to work for. So, acting kind of like a recruiter in my case for some of the positions I'm interested in. I pay her an hourly rate. Essentially, I'm paying her for her contacts (which I'm fine with; I currently don't have the time to devote to developing contacts of networking due to too many part time jobs).

I think this would be the best choice for you given what you've written on here.

Have had literally ZERo luck on LinkedIn. (Highly over hyped in my opinion). Cannot afford to pay anyone anything...

tlh3842 said:

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Not to be that guy, but can't afford to pay anyone to help with the job search but it looks you have stars so you can afford to pay for Texags?

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Well "that guy" often asks the best questions in my experience.

GigEm04 said:

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Have had literally ZERo luck on LinkedIn. (Highly over hyped in my opinion). Cannot afford to pay anyone anything...

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It's been discussed on this board before but I think LinkedIn's importance varies by industry. In sales, it's the best damn thing going right now. For some industries it just isn't used a ton by recruiters.

My last two jobs I got from blind reaching out to the job poster on Linkedin. In both cases I received significant bumps in pay. Linkedin can be a great tool if you utilize it properly.

Also, Ive never worked for a company that targeted buzz words in your resume and auto rejected resumes without those buzz words. The truth is that every resume should be reviewed by a recruiter/HR or hiring manager, but if there's 300 applicants then typically the hr person will look at the first 100 (and select the best 5-7 resumes) then ignore the last 200. That's why its important to strike fast and be one of the first candidates to apply. Thats why its better to utilize company connections or reach out to the job posted on Linkedin.

The only time the system will auto reject candidates is if you answer yes/no to certain knock out questions like: do you have a felony, do you have a degree, are you willing to work overtime etc.

4 said:

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If they absolutely insist that you put it in via the application portal, hang up and move on. Don't waste another second of your time, because that's what you will be doing... Wasting your time.

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I don't disagree with sleuthing to find a human in the hiring chain - if you are directly qualified. Go for it.

But the quoted part could be one of the worst pieces of job board advice I have seen. Do not do this.

GigEm04 said:

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Have had literally ZERo luck on LinkedIn. (Highly over hyped in my opinion). Cannot afford to pay anyone any

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Based on what you are posting, it sounds like you can't afford not to...

I feel like "...find a way or find an excuse" might fit in this situation

So applying and trying on LinkedIn with no luck is excuses. Cool