Corporate job openings attract 250 resumes, with about 5 being selected for interviews, and 1 getting a job offer.
The above statistics come from Glassdoor. If you’re currently job seeking, knowing that you are attempting to achieve an end-result with a success rate of 0.4% per job application may seem daunting, but if you break the process down into manageable pieces, following a systematic strategy consistently will yield success earlier. One tactic that your competitors probably aren’t using is doing Detective work on each company you’re submitting applications to.
“Detective work??” This might sound a little ridiculous but we’ll clarify throughout the remainder of this article. Long story short, we recommend the following 3 steps:
Step 1: Ensure that your Resume is keyword-optimized for each job posting. This foundational step does not entail Detective work.
Prepare or modify your existing Resume such that it’s customized to reflect the traits being sought after by the employer per the job posting. Go through each responsibility and asset listed on the job posting and ensure that the same ideas are reflected on your Resume (it could be any section, including the opening statement, skills sections, education, or even buried in a bullet point under a prior work experience). Also ensure that keywords referenced within the job posting are referenced in your Resume. All of this should be done in coherent fashion - never lie on your Resume.
Step 2: Research the company and department of the role you're applying for like a Detective. All you need is a web browser and a phone! Infuse your findings into your Cover Letter.
The job posting may mentioned the title of the person whom you would be reporting to. Enter this into a Google search, for example “Director of Marketing and Communications, Marketing and Communications, ABC company”. The first few search results may include the LinkedIn profile of your prospective supervisor, and perhaps a bio/profile on a company site. Review each of these pages in great detail to whether you’ve reasonably identified your prospective boss by name.
After that, during office hours, give the corporate line a call and initiate a casual general inquiry with the receptionist/operator, something along the lines of “I was just calling to see if the opening for <position title> was still up? Oh it is? Do you know whether this position reports to <name of researched individual> from the <ABC> department? Could I possibly just get an email address for him/her? I am really interested in submitting an application and wanted to ask some quick questions” The chances of getting the email address of your prospective future boss are pretty high if you follow the above steps. Alternatively, use a career consultant or recruiter with the required network and databases to obtain this contact info.
Now comes the creative part - write a Cover Letter that is addressed to the prospective boss, while linking your professional experiences and education/accreditations to the intricacies of the department you’re applying for in a personable manner. When doing Google searches on the hiring department, you may come across internal articles or press releases regarding certain projects that the department is working on - if possible, make reference to this in the cover letter (and then later during the interview if you get called for one). This places you on a step higher than your competition, as long you reference these examples in a reasonable fashion that relates to your personal experiences.
Also, review the company’s website and internal pages in great detail to see if you can extract any information about the systems/software they use, or info pertaining to projects they are undertaking, key clients they are serving, etc. generally speaking, if you can relate your prior experiences to the systems they use, or outline how you can solve issues they are likely facing.
Step 3: After submitting your Resume and Cover Letter to HR, send the final documents to your prospective boss in a separate email.
After submitting your application via the regular channel (the company’s portal or emailing their generic HR inbox), send the final application to your prospective boss by attaching the docs to a tactfully crafted email.
Keep the email very generic, along the lines of “Hi <?>, I can across your contact information after reviewing the job posting for the <?> opening with your department, and also from speaking with some industry contacts. I sincerely believe I would be a great fit for your team within the position and was hoping you could take some time to review my resume and cover letter quickly. Thanks in advance for your time!”
In today's digital age where applications can be submitted to multiple jobs so easily, you're going to find yourself competing against hundreds of applicants for each job. Put on that Detective hat and start digging up some dirt to increase your chances of getting calls for interviews!
Contact us at Jonathan Seah® for more detailed tips on preparing resumes and cover letters, or career-related advice.
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