You Wouldn’t Be in the Top 50% of Applicants…

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I recently received an email from a client who was applying for positions via LinkedIn. Despite being extremely qualified for the roles, he was receiving the following message: “You wouldn’t be in the top 50% of applicants for this job.”

Because I know that many other Premium LinkedIn users are receiving the same alarming message when applying via LinkedIn, I thought I would share what I told this client:

1. LinkedIn’s main goal is to gather as much information from you as possible. Remember, you are the product. Fear-basing the application process is a perfect opportunity for them to extract more information. 

2. LinkedIn’s analysis is not a company’s automated screening system. This analysis is, as far as I can determine, not being shared with potential employers and is not related to those employers internal screening process. That alone should bring much relief.

3. The very premise of LinkedIn’s application analysis is that your profile uniquely match a specific position. Because you can’t target your profile toward each specific position, it would then suggest that you either pursue a very narrow range of positions or that you have a profile that speaks to every potential opportunity and industry, which would make your profile a bloated, unfocused mess.

4. Your profile is not the only thing an employer will see. Most potential employers are not going to solely evaluate you based on your LinkedIn profile. Your resume and cover letter, which you are targeting toward each specific position, will hold significantly more weight than your LinkedIn profile.

5. The criteria LinkedIn are evaluating don’t really speak to qualifications. This is a biggie. For one, they are evaluating the extent of your network (and probably weighing that heavily!). They are also evaluating your time of application, which is not something you can do much about and is almost certainly less critical than they make it out to be.

6. The evaluation of “skills” is not dynamic. Here’s the thing, if LinkedIn is suggesting skills that you have but have not included on your profile, include them (you can add up to 50, so you still have to be strategic). However, in the case of this client – a brilliant software development executive – LinkedIn was suggesting keywords like Construction Management. A background in Construction Management might make this client an incredibly unique fit when developing software solutions for a construction company, but it is highly unlikely that it is a key qualification for an SDLC executive.

Feedback is great, but you’ve got to consider the source and be mindful of motivations. If you don’t, every comment and piece of advice – regardless of merit – will shake your confidence and have you questioning yourself.

Does Overlapping Experience Look Bad on a Resume?

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I’ll be very honest, most potential employers will be freaked out by overlapping experience, especially if you are showing freelance experience overlapping with your full time employment. It is easy to understand why; a reader will see that you have a side hustle and think, “either this applicant isn’t going to be able to give us 100% or they are just going to leave once they get this freelance gig off the ground.”

That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t show “side” experience if it is directly relevant and bolsters your qualifications. It just means that you have to get creative on how you present it so that readers are seeing the benefit and not the potential conflict.

If you are having difficulty figuring out how to honor all of your experience without spooking readers, I can help.

Do I Need to Disclose That I Was Terminated From My Last Position?

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Short answer: No.

Longer answer: Don’t proactively disclose being terminated but be prepared to tactfully address it if / when the topic arises. A best practice is to keep your response very concise; never dwell on the topic and make sure to rapidly transition into sharing how your qualifications and the impact you would like to make align perfectly with the position before you.

Let the Past Be the Past

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Open up your resume and have a quick look at your past jobs. Are they being communicated in the present tense? If so, you are not alone. I'd say that 80% of the resumes that I read (and I read A LOT of resumes) communicate past work experience in the present tense. That might seem like a very minor issue, but it can have big ramifications. Here's why:

It's a mistake – Even the smallest mistakes on a resume can undermine your credibility.

It makes your past jobs read like job descriptions – Listing past experience in the present tense makes the information you include for those roles sound like a list of items that are expected of someone who currently holds that role. 

It sends a weird message to readers – "It says here that this candidate left this job two years ago, but it also says she 'manages a team of 8.' Why is she still managing that team of she is no longer in the position?" Of course readers know that you are not really still managing that team, but you can understand the very subtle, confusing message tense issues can cause.

Average Length for a Job Search

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Q. What is the average length for an executive-level job search?

A. Like so many of the questions I answer on this blog, I have to start with a very unsatisfying "it depends." Given the myriad factors in play – candidate qualifications, professional sector, economic climate, etc. – I doubt that answer comes as a surprise. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the typical job search takes one month for each $10K in desired income. That's a very loose guideline, but it provides a way to start thinking about average job search times.

Since this questions usually can be translated into "how long am I going to be unemployed or stuck in this unfulfilling job," let's talk about ways to shorten the job search process. Here is a starter-kit of tips that will get you on a path to make your job search as short as possible.

Things to Avoid Saying in Resumes and Interviews

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Something a bit off the beaten path this week... A little PSA from Christina Desmarais over at Inc.com

“#19. Peaked my interest
To “pique” means to arouse, so the correct phrase here is “piqued my interest,” meaning that my interest was awakened. To say that something “peaked my interest” might suggest that my interest was taken to the highest possible level, but this is not what the idiom is meant to convey.”

I can attest to the fact that many of these show up frequently in resumes, cover letters, and during the interview process. Admittedly, some of them are pretty tricky. I bet that you will learn a thing or two (like I did!). Check it out.

Putting Interests on My Resume

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A common question.

Q: Google wants to know my interests. I assume it’s okay to make them a part of my “core” resume?

Generally speaking, I recommend not including personal interests or hobbies on a resume. Most potential employers are looking for resumes that solely speak to your qualifications for a position, which usually excludes interests and hobbies. However, there are some expectations to that best practice, and Google is a great example.

There are some progressive employers who request that you include interests and hobbies on your resume so that they can gain a clearer picture of you – not just the professional you – as they go about the selection process. In cases like this, or when your interests and hobbies directly relate to your professional experience (software developers who code on the side, for example), then by all means include them.

Pesky Resume Screening Software

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Q: I have a really modern/cool resume that uses a 3-column format. My friend said that automated screeners won’t be able to read it. Please explain.

A: Give your friend a hug because he or she may have just kept your resume out of the automated-resume-screener-black-hole.

As advanced as technology is, automated resume screeners still have difficulty parsing out information contained within complex formatting, columns included. This could result in:

• Your resume not making it through the screening process because the system couldn’t effectively “read” your resume.

• Your resume making it through the screening process but delivering a jumbled mess of information to human readers after the system removes the formatting (as they are often set to do).

All of that aside, a multi-columned approach is not likely to make it easy for human readers to quickly scan your document. With just seconds to establish your qualifications and engage a reader, formatting complexity can mean the difference between an interview and an archived resume.

Is a 2-page Cover Letter Okay?

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Short answer, no.

The cover letter is almost exclusively meant to very quickly set the tone and prepare readers to “see” specific details about your experience when they move on to the resume. In almost all cases, this is most effectively accomplished with a one-page cover letter (essentially half a page when you account for addresses, etc.).

In all of my years developing job search documents for clients, I can count on one hand the number of cover letters I’ve written that extended beyond one-page. Those rare instances were for very specific positions that expressly requested a more comprehensive cover letter.

When creating your cover letter, respect readers’ time and the intent of the letter by keeping it concise and powerful.

You Cant Sell What You Don’t Know

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Imagine you are in sales (maybe you are) and you are tasked with selling the company’s brand new product. In order to learn more about this new product, you have the following dialogue:

You: “What does the new product do?”

The Product Team: “It does a lot of things! It is so versatile.”

You: “Okay, how is it going to help customers? What is the value proposition?”

The Product Team: “We believe it will have a huge impact on customers, but we don’t have specific examples.”

You: “Well, did you market test it? What did people say when they tried it out.”

The Product Team: “We did market test it and performed really well. We didn’t keep notes of what people said or of anything specific though.”

Selling a product when you have no idea of what it does, what kind of impact it will make, or how it has performed in the past sounds like a losing proposition. However, this is exactly the situation most people are in when trying to market themselves in job search documents and interviews.

Plain and simple: To sell yourself, you have to know yourself. That means being aware of how you might specifically fit into an organization, the kind of impact you plan to make, and examples of how you have made a positive impact in the past.