As an HR professional I have sifted through thousands of resumes over the last 12 years. Trust me, I’m not bragging, it’s one of the most tedious things that one can do – specifically if you are searching for the top talent your company wants you to find – and by find, I don’t mean a week from now, I mean yesterday.
While recruiting and searching for the best and brightest is a little different in 2017 (hello, LinkedIN), providing a good old fashioned resume is still proper etiquette when arriving at a face to face interview. And let’s just get a few things out of the way here:
1) ONE page – might feel like I’m yelling at you, I am. Do not bring 4 pages, do not use front and back, do not staple. One page of the most pivotal achievements in your career. One page that begs me to ask for more. (Numbers and specifics are generally acceptable)
2) Please do not provide work history over 7-10 years – I, nor any other hiring manager, don’t care about the internship you did 16 years ago. I also don’t care that you held 43 different job titles at the same company virtually with the same responsibilities.
3) Remove the fluff. “Gets great results.” “Responsible for sales improvement.” “Superior manager with quality leadership ability.” What this tells me is you spent more time psyching yourself up writing your resume than preparing for the interview.
4) Do not add perfume or cutesy fonts. You are not Elle Woods (if your name is Elle Woods I sincerely apologize and this is merely a coincidence). I want to be able to breathe and quickly read your resume without having to get out a magnifying glass, put on readers or guess at the type font.
For the interview itself. A few things should be common sense but let’s review them anyway. First, be on time, by on time I mean 15 minutes early. Yes, you will probably have to wait but 1) it shows that you are interested in making a good first impression and 2) it’s reasonable to believe you will arrive on time for your job if you are the lucky recipient. Second, when shaking the hand of the interviewer use a firm grip. No fish handshakes. Also, if you are a sweater at least wipe your hands on your pants or bring a paper towel to soak it up before shaking hands. Third, do not bring your mom, your friend, your kids (if a dire emergency please let the office know in advance) your parole officer, counselor, your cousin or anyone else unless you need an interpreter and if so, please prepare the interviewer before the interview. And fourth, dress like you are trying to make a good impression. Appropriate dress for interviews vastly depends on your industry and the type of job you are applying for. If you are applying for a sales job then dress as if you are going to meet a customer. If you are applying for a diesel mechanic then work pants are probably fine. Regardless of the industry (unless you are in entertainment or self promoting) flip flops, gym shorts, midriff baring ensembles, or slogan t-shirts are not a good idea. If in doubt wear (men) a button down shirt and slacks, with or without a blazer and (women) a sweater or blouse with a skirt or pants. A dress with a jacket or cardigan is also acceptable.
In your interview prep – get to know the company you have applied to. It is important to research the company – how big is the company – employees and sales? Are they publicly traded? How are they structured? How is their leadership team comprised? How do they support sustainability? Are the involved in the community? Do you want to be affiliated with them and the causes they support?
While preparing for an interview worry less about what you will be asked during the interview and more about the specific information you want to obtain about the company, the job, expectations and communication preferences from your “next boss.”
I’ll discuss how to act like a pro during the interview itself in the next post.