So, once a recruiter has your resume, how should you follow up?

Initial follow-up should happen immediately after you send your resume, or post it to the recruiter’s website.  Before you sent or posted the resume, you should have done your best to ID the recruiter within the firm who specializes in your area.  Now, call that person.  If you can’t figure it out on your own, call the main number and ask to be transferred to the right person.

When you reach the person, DON’T say, “I’ve sent / posted my resume.  Have you seen it?”  Recruiters bristle at that approach because it puts them on the spot.  And, immediately,  DO reference any mutual friends, clients, etc. you have in common.

Make the main thrust of the call about whether you have connected with the right recruiter and how she works with candidates.  To figure out if you are talking to the right person, you have to give your background, but keep it to a maximum of 30 seconds at this point.  Once you establish you are talking to the right person you will find out if there are any active searches going on that are a match for you.  If “yes”, you are likely to suddenly be in a full-fledged screening interview, so be ready.

If “no”, you want to start talking about how to work together over the coming weeks.  You can start the conversation with something like, “I haven’t worked with you [your firm] before.  How do you work with candidates?”  You’re trying to find out more about their processes–do they use a database, how often do they purge resumes, can you only be involved in one search at a time through their firm, do they share resumes across all company offices, how / how often would they like to hear from you, etc.?

As to the last point, some will say, “I’ll call you if we have something.”  But, most will say, “Drop me an email, or call, every [X]  weeks so we can give each other a status update.”  Once you have gotten the answer, the anguish about when to follow up is gone.

But, let’s say you have posted your resume and tried your best, but failed, to talk with a recruiter.  Here is what I suggest:

1. Put this recruiting firm’s name on a list that you will show to people in your future networking meetings and ask if anyone has a connection and will make an introduction,
2. Better yet, send an email to everybody in your network you have been in contact with during the search and ask the question [1. above], and
3. Renew you posting on the recruiter’s website at least once each 90 days.

The bottom-line goal is to establish a relationship, then let your new recruiter friend define what is the right amount of follow-up.

When sending a cover letter and resume by email, combine them into one file and attach them to the email.  The body of the email itself need only be a very short reference to the attachment.  This technique:

1. increases the chances of the cover letter being read,
2. makes it convenient for your reader [having only one document to open], and
3. ensures the resume and letter stay together.

Keep your letters short, never more than a comfortable page.  Put your purpose for writing in the very first sentence–and stick to your purpose.  If you have two or more distinct purposes in writing to your reader, you are better off writing a separate email or letter for each.

When answering an ad or Internet posting which notes several requirements, organize your cover letter so there is a crisp, concise comparison between the requirements of the job and your qualifications.  In other words, do most of the work for the recruiter.  Believe me, it will get noticed and give the recruiter a high opinion of you–before even glancing at your resume. 

You can see in illustration below how formatting the letter with the job’s requirements on the left and your qualifications immediately opposite makes it a piece of cake for the recruiter to see what a superb match you are.  He’ll be leaking water in his haste to read your resume.

Another cool touch to add to an electronic cover letter / resume combination is a series of hyperlinks internal to the document.  For example, you could make a link from a statement you make in your letter to a relevant section you have bookmarked in your resume.  Bang!  The recruiter is reading details on your experience and accomplishments regarding a subject of great interest.  Put a return-to-letter hyperlink nearby in the resume and, bang!, he’s back where he left off.  This is easy to do.  Go to Help in MS Word and look up Bookmark.

If you are going to write a letter, write with impact!

At a minimum cover letters give you a chance to show you can put a sentence together, spell, organize your thoughts and express yourself clearly.  These are valuable skills in most jobs today.  But, cover letters can do more, much more.  They can bring up or expand on points not adequately covered in your resume.  And they give you a chance to underscore your knowledge of the hiring party’s particular industry or company

But, be careful!  A poor job on the letter will get your resume thrown in the dung heap without a glance.  So, proofread carefully.  And, if you have any doubts about how well your letter will come across, have someone else read it before you send it.

One of the members of a social media group I belong to posed this question online recently.   He then elaborated with, “When you apply for a job, and follow all the processes, participate in 2, 3, or 4 interviews, do the recruiters, hiring managers come back in a professional manner?  Do they thank you for your time, perhaps offer suggestions for future interviewing improvement, and discuss their concerns with you?  Or, do they simply drop out of sight [read Go Dark] and ignore you?”

Most of the comments in response to the post bashed recruiters for their lack of professionalism and for going dark rather than giving the bad news promptly and forthrightly.  Some recruiters weighed in saying this reaction really hurt to hear, and took the opportunity for self-promotion by avowing that’s not the way they operate.

Here is my experience and point of view.  Recruiters are awful and unprofessional about acknowledging receiving your resume in the first place.  It’s no longer believable when you hear them whine, “We get so many resumes it’s just impossible to acknowledge them all.”  [See the crocodile tears?  :O(   ]  They should be ashamed because it is so easy today to set up an automated response system.

However, once you have been interviewed more than once for a given job they get better [not near perfect by any measure].  I find in many cases they will close the loop with a “we’ve decided to go with another candidate” snail mail or email, but rarely a phone call.  That said, they generally wait until the whole hiring process is over which is usually several weeks, or even months down the road.  There is really no excuse for the long delay when they have decided early on in the process you are not a viable candidate.  Man-up, fool!

As to giving you coaching and feedback about where you fell short or how you could do better next time, don’t hold your breath.   But, here I have some sympathy based on my past life as a recruiter.   From the recruiter’s point of view, closing the loop with a communication that you are no longer a candidate is the end of their professional obligation.  I agree.

Additional coaching is optional, and often risky for the recruiter.  Yes, risky.  Oh, rejected candidates say all they want is some coaching to improve skills, etc.  But, when they hear the feedback they take umbrage, engage in debate, try to inveigle another interview, and sometimes sue.  Of course, you would never do this, but after getting sand-bagged a couple of times recruiters are understandably reluctant to make themselves vulnerable again.

However, knowing this should not stop you from asking for feedback.  You will find the occasional recruiter who is willing to take the chance, and you may get highly valuable information.  But, understand if feedback is not forthcoming, or isn’t very detailed and usable.   And, if you get someone who opens up, be appreciative, and be a good listener.

Ads and Internet postings are plentiful too.  So most soon-to-be grads can find interviews and get offers.  Job opportunities are plentiful, life is good.

But now…now is a different matter.  College placement offices have an eerie silence about them.  Ads and Internet postings are few and far between.   So, what’s a student body to do?

I’ll mention this first, but it’s not my first recommendation.  You can stay in school and get a graduate degree.  For a lot of people this isn’t a practical option because money is short and they have to earn a living.  And, I’m a believer you get more out of a graduate degree program if you have some real-world experience before you do it.  But, for those who can afford it, it is a way to outlast the economic downturn and return to the market when it’s on the uptick.  And, you’ll be far more competitive than classmates who have languished unemployed or underemployed in the meantime.

But, even now, when no jobs are visible anywhere, there are good jobs available.  So, how can you find them?  Well, if jobs aren’t visible you have to search for the invisible–the hidden job market. 

In tough times employers pull in their horns and cut way back on using some of the traditional hiring channels.  So, they invest little or nothing in ads and campus recruiting specialists.  Instead they focus almost entirely on hiring through referrals–from current and past employees, and other friends of the company.  This is the hidden market.  Hidden because very few people ever know about it before the job is filled.  There are no ads, no Internet postings.

So, the key to finding these jobs is to tap into your network and strategically expand it as much as you can, i.e. get introduced to new people.  It is in this way you can make your network overlap with the company’s network [employees, alums and friends] that they use to identify candidates for jobs. 

And, don’t forget to do your homework before you start networking.  Identify industries and specific companies within those industries that are logical targets for you.  Discuss your written strategy with them; get their advice and introductions to others who can help.  You can find out more about this by reading other related posts in this blog.

The marketing channels are the same for everyone: A] direct marketing to employers; B] recruiters & agencies; C] ads & Internet postings; D] networking; and E] indirect marketing via personal websites & social networking sites.  They are used differently based on a variety of factors like those listed in the title of this post, but everybody should use all the channels.

As an example, executives would use retained recruiters while an engineer would use contingency recruiters and a factory worker might use an employment agency.   A pharmaceutical sales rep might do direct marketing by posting her resume directly to a company’s website, while the executive would write directly to the CEO, and the factory worker might get the best results by walking  into the HR office to fill in an application.

But, the bottom line is the process, at its most basic level, is the same: 1] figure out what you want, 2] make a plan, 3] develop the supporting skills and documents to conduct the search, and 4] work your plan through all the marketing channels.  No matter what level you are, what industry you come from, or how much job experience you have, this same process is the right formula.  And, for all people, networking has the most potential of any marketing channel.

When this happens, you may feel tempted to do some radical things.  You will hear people telling you to “reinvent yourself.”  This could mean investing time and money in re-education or certification in new areas.  Or, it could simply mean trying to rework your resume in an attempt to become a candidate for something new.

But, before doing radical surgery on your career, shine some light on your job search strategy, tactics and results so far.  Evaluate what you have done and what you have learned during the course of your search. 

If you have learned your profession has gone the way of the buggy whip, it’s clearly a time to reinvent yourself.  But, if you have evidence the opportunities will return as the economy rebounds, it doesn’t make sense to reinvent yourself unless you have been an unhappy camper in your current profession.

If it looks like the opportunities will rebound, first make sure you are following a sound search process, and doing all the elements well.  Ask yourself if you are working all the marketing channels, not just some.  Ask yourself if you are getting the results you should [tempered by the realities of a tough market].  Is your resume accomplishment-based and does it represent you well?  Have you gotten some interviews?  Have you gotten beyond a telephone screen?  Have you developed a comprehensive list of targeted companies that employ peope like you?  Have you worked diligently to post your resume on their websites?  Have you worked diligently to make network connections into those companies?  Are you constantly building your network?  Are you circling back to recruiters and your network to get / give updates?  Etc.

If you have evaluated the fundamentals and found yourself lacking, it’s time to suck it up, quit whining and do the work, even though it’s uncomfortable.  Alternatively, if you give yourself high marks but you are getting no measurable results, it’s probably time to rethink your strategy.  Ask, is it time to widen your geographical limitations?  Should you consider bigger or smaller companies?  Are you limiting yourself too much by looking only at public companies vs. privately owned companies?  Changes to any of these parameters will give you access to more opportunities with no change to the type or level of job you are seeking.

Resist the panicky feeling you get from time to time in the search and take the time to analyze your approach and results.  Chances are you are on the right path and only need to do some tweaking, adding a measure of persistence and patience.

In my book the answer to this question comes in two parts: 1] the boss’ perspective and, 2] the viewpoint of the rest of the organization.  At a general level you can say you are a success if you meet the milestones and goals set out by the boss.  But, this part of the answer can be expressed with better quality when you know more precisely what those goals are.  So, try to find out as much as you can about what the boss’ expectations are as the interview process proceeds.

Of course, the rest of the organization has a stake in defining your success too.  When you do what you are hired to do it enables other, larger goals to be met. 

But, don’t forget the how you do it.  You can meet every goal the boss sets out and yet fail.  If you do things in a counter-cultural way, or you leave bodies in your wake, you are not likely to be a long-term success with the organization.  So, think about how you would measure success vis-à-vis internal customers, colleagues, subordinates, etc.  Adding this element will complete your answer and set you apart from most other candidates.

Ride 2 Recovery is produced by the Fitness Challenge Foundation, (501C3) in partnership with the Military and VA Volunteer Service Office, to benefit Mental and Physical Rehabilitation Programs for wounded warriors that feature bicycling as the core activity.  So far, my wife and I raised about $6,000 and rode the 390-mile bicycling event from Tampa to Jacksonville with veterans and many wounded warriors.  Each day for 6 days we all rode 50 – 80 miles.

These young men and women benefit both physically and mentally through this program.  Working with the VA hospitals, the Ride2Recovery progam provides stationary bikes, training for VA staff, street bikes [nice road bikes], helmets, shoes and apparel.  It also runs events like the Florida Challenge all over the country–Texas, California, Colorado, Virginia to name a few.

We witnessed first hand how this program is making an astounding difference in the lives of our warriors who have sacrificed so much for the rest of us.  We rode beside many multi-amputees [including Noah pictured below] who learned they could do things they wouldn’t have believed they could do as a whole-bodied person. 

We rode beside PTSD victims who find bicycling is a therapy which enables them to move forward in their lives and reconnect with their families and society.  Nick [a vet] and his son, Brandon, [pictured below] were reunited through this event and it was the motivating force that got Nick off the couch to get the help he needed to reclaim his life and his son.  And, there are so many PTSD victims coming from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Far more than the Pentagon predicted and planned for.

If you’ve managed to read this far, thanks.  The quid pro quo I have in mind is this: if you feel you have benefited from the advice offered in CareerWizard, give something back by donating to Ride2Recovery in my name. 

Credit Card:
Go to www.ride2recovery.com and click on “Sponsor a Rider”; then enter “David Hahn” and give whatever amount you can. 

Or, you can send a check to:
Fitness Challenge Foundation
23679 Calabasas Rd, #420
Calabasas CA 91302 [please enter "David Hahn" in the memo space on your check]

You will be helping a veteran who needs and deserves your help.  Your contribution is TAX DEDUCTABLE to you. Thanks!

So, this is a fair and good interview question you need to think about.  What is your plan and what have you done about it?  Did you go to a seminar?  Did you take a college class?  Did you do some volunteer work that gave you leadership experience?  Have you done some reading?  Did you achieve a certification in your field? Did you volunteer to take on a new responsibility at work?  Were you assigned a project which stretched your abilities?  Have you worked with a mentor?

And think about it from an employee’s point of view [i.e. your own point of view].  We all can see how the world is shifting and changing at an increasing pace.  We all have heard we will change jobs and careers many times in our work lives.  Doesn’t it make sense that you need to be growing and adapting all the time?   Improving yourself and learning has to be a life-long pursuit; and you can’t sit back and wait for your employer to do it for you.  Invest in yourself–both with time and money.

So, this question is both a good interview question, and a good career management question.  Prepare to be asked by prospective employers, persistently ask it of yourself.