Because reqs. are ambiguous at best if existent at all, sending your resume to a company "blind" is not advisable. As a general rule I like to have the power to control outcomes. Submitting your resume blindly takes the ability to control outcomes out of your hands and puts it in the hands of those that may not even have a full understanding of what it is they're looking for. We have a term for submitting resumes blind in the recruiting industry, we call it the "Black Hole".
Consider this: the average first level screener is working many reqs simultaneously and is quite often inundated with dozens of resumes. I can assure you based on personal experience that after reading just a few resumes it all starts becoming a blur. Screeners are specifically looking for key technologies, industry specific experience., and levels of expertise commensurate with what's desired, i.e. Jr., mid., Sr., etc. etc. There's certain things you can't change such as the industry type experience you've had or the level of expertise you possess but if you're close to the mark in terms of your relevance, there's a whole lot you can do to increase your chances (this of course presumes a knowledge of exactly what's being sought from the employer but we'll tackle that at the end of this post).
To increase your chances of success I suggest utilizing the
"Resume Revision Triangle"
-Triangle Point One: Emphasis. Pretty basic huh? Let's say the employer is looking for J2EE development expertise in the Websphere Portal environment. Now let's say that you've got that type of experience as well as experience developing thick client internal apps using base Java. You probably don't want to take up a lot of space talking about the thick client Java since the employer doesn't have an interest in that particular type of experience. Of course there's nothing wrong with sharing the various dimensions of your technical repertoire but make sure that you're expounding upon and EMPHASIZING THE RELEVANT EXPERIENCE in J2EE/Websphere Portal Dev.
-Triangle Point Two: Prioritization. Prioritization pertains to all aspects of the resume- objective statement, technical summary, work experience, etc. etc. If in your technical summary if you've got 10 different UI development technologies notated, you'd better have the ones relevant to the employer listed FIRST. When listing work experience you may have a dozen bullets detailed with your most current employer. The bullets MUST be put in order of importance as it pertains to the req. in question.
-Triangle Point Three: Key Words and Phrases. LEAVE NOTHING TO THE IMAGINATION! Be overt and obvious by repetitively mentioning key words and phrases. Just because you mentioned Linux in your technical summary doesn't mean you don't have to mention it specifically in your work experience. Pepper your resume with key words and phrases. The objective is to get the screener to NOT EVEN HAVE TO READ YOUR RESUME to have an interest. All they should have to do is glance at it to realize interviewing you is a no-brainer.
Employing the resume revision triangle will increase your chances of communicating with a real person (interview) and build value. It's said in the music business that a piece of music doesn't really come alive until it's "taken off the paper", i.e. when it's played by heart instead of being read. Our objective is to get you "taken off the paper" by putting you into direct contact with a real live human being. To accomplish that end we must have something good written on the paper to begin with. The Resume Revision Triangle will help you create "good paper".
I'd mentioned earlier that employing the Resume Revision Triangle presumes knowledge of what a req. entails. For those seeking new opportunities and those seeking resources, please consider the following advantages of utilizing Target IT Resources, LLC as your recruiter:
On the Candidate side: Target IT spends considerable time researching the type of skills and personality desired by employers. We understand what's being sought technically as well as the employer culture. The reality of what an employer seeks in a resource is more often than not DIFFERENT than what's stated in an official req. Implicit in Target IT submitting resources to an employer is that there's a personal relationship with the decision makers. This includes HR and the technical leaders that need and will lead the resources in question. Because of these personal relationships and intimate knowledge of the technical and cultural environment, you can be assured that your resume will be revised with the intent of hitting the bullseye and that you'll be "taken off the paper" and given thorough and careful consideration.
On the Employer side: I've placed many a candidate with organizations that already possessed a resource's resume; the resume was glanced over because it just didn't read or look right. Unfortunately the average IT resource isn't a master of the written word nor particularly knowledgeable about putting together a great resume. Equally unfortunate is the fact that the average hiring authority doesn't have time to look beyond the one-dimensional confines of what they read on paper to understand what a candidate can truly bring to the table. Because resources often work with dozens of different technologies, it's almost impossible to extract their true "sweet spot" from a technology perspective without spending a lot of time pre-interviewing them. Target IT will communicate with you and your team members to fully define exactly what it is you're in search of and will take the time to develop a deeper understanding of candidate skill sets and cultural attributes beyond the limited vantage point of a resume. Many times resources aren't as scarce as you'd think; quite often the "perfect fit" is hidden right in front of you and that's why Target IT Resources, LLC can be a valuable partner in your search.
Please visit Mike Reitz's Recruiting Blog in the coming weeks for more nuanced suggestions on building and revising your resume.
-Mike
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