Now that holiday layoffs are mostly done and people are applying before the winter shutdown I feel compelled to re-share my (white collar) job hunt advice:
- No full sentences on resume, only bullets
- Never do cover letters unless required
- Disregard "x years experience" tags
- No full sentences on resume, only bullets
- Never do cover letters unless required
- Disregard "x years experience" tags
I mean, you CAN do cover letters if they make you feel good, but as someone with ~6 years of white collar experience I can tell you no one reads them. If you one's required I make it very short (3-4 sentences) and dry, almost to the point of seeming insolence
When you do get responses from recruiters, do NOT be overly flowery or ingratiating in your emails. Be polite, but also phrase yourself very succinctly (no more than 1 graf) and casually, as if you're responding to an internal email from a colleague. Seem borderline disinterested
If you're missing specific line items or qualifications, never bring it up -- let them do it. Most won't b/c the ones who genuinely care about those things didn't bother responding. Keep it 100: recruiters are paid on commission and have vested interest in getting you in
Another recco that seems basic but bears repeating is that it pays to be cordial when you get turned down, ESPECIALLY if you got to the in-person phase. More often than you'd think a new hire will totally flameout on the runway and they'll pull in someone else from last round
I'm sure someone will pop in to say "Ehhh I've NEVER hired from an old interview pool. We always start from scratch" but 2 out of my 3 real jobs were scenarios where I straight up got a "thanks but" email then they came back 1-2 mos later like "hey are you still in the market"
I asked around later and found out that in both cases the person they hired turned out to be an idiot or a psycho who they disposed of quick. My 3rd job ghosted me for a month before crawling back because the guy they tried to go for straight up declined the offer
