Getting Noticed by a Hiring Manager
By Amy Pelley
Sometimes it can feel like quite a feat just to get a hiring manager to notice your application. A hiring manager often needs to sort through a huge volume of resumes and cover letters for any given job opening, and it can be easy to get overlooked. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to increase your chances of getting contacted for that job you really want!
- Follow up. Haven’t heard back yet after putting in an application? After one week, follow up with the employer to see if they have received the application and to further express your interest. If you don’t know who to reach out to in a company, your Employment Advisor can assist you with some creative research tools to help figure out who you need to speak to.
- Be specific. Don’t be vague when it comes to your skills and experience. As much as possible, try and reference specific targets, statistics, or project outcomes in your resume and the overall impact that had on the company. For example, it is better to say that you regularly handled “up to 100 transactions per day” in a past role, rather than handling “many” transactions a day.
- Be easy to reach. If you listed a cell phone number on your resume, make sure it is powered on with the ringtone turned up so you don’t miss calls, and regularly check landline voicemails. Make sure your voicemail is initialized and that your greeting is appropriate for an employer to hear. Monitor your email closely and respond to messages promptly – being hard to contact can be frustrating for hiring managers, and they may move on to other candidates.
- Do your research! Take some time to research the company you are applying to – what kind of product do they make, or what service do they provide? How long have they been in operation? What is the company’s mission or vision statement? You should be prepared and knowledgeable about the company before a hiring manager contacts you.
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