By Kelly Stone
If they tell you to send in a resume, you don't have to do it. Believe it or
not.
Why do you think employers want you to send in your resume? So they can
decide whether they want to talk to you. Who has the power? They do. In that
model, who has the control over your future, your next career move? They do.
Try an Introductory Letter
Instead of sending a resume and then sitting at home crossing your fingers,
send a letter of introduction. This letter will contain some of the
highlights of your resume, so that they will know enough to decide whether
they want to meet you-which is really the reason they asked you to send a
resume in the first place.
In the letter you are going to say this: Hello, my name is Kelly Stone, I've
been interested in your organization for some time. I was excited about
seeing your ad in the newspaper. My 5 years of experience in sales will
enable me to make an immediate and significant contribution to your
organization. I would like to meet with you for 20-30 minutes to explain why
I want to work with you and what I can do for you. I'll call you next week
to set up an appointment.
This approach puts you in control and more likely gets the result you
wanted.
Who Is In Charge Here?
Following the first law of the job search keeps you in charge of your job
search and your life. You are the one who should be deciding where and with
whom you work. You don't have to play by an employers' rules, because their
rules are completely geared toward them, not you.
Learn to interview better than you are being interviewed. Ask the questions
you want to know in an interview. Then you will really be in a better
position to decide whether you are qualified for a position than they are.
The same thing goes for a salary history. Why do they want you to send a
salary history? So they can decide how much to pay you or to see if you have
had good career progression. They should really decide how much to pay you
based on two factors:
- First, what is the value of this position to the company, what does it
contribute to the organization.
- And second, what is the going rate for that type of position.
If the employer is trying to use your salary history to determine whether
you've had good career progression, there are plenty of better ways to
explore that issue. You could give them references from your previous jobs;
you could tell a success story that illustrated your career growth; you
could show certificates you've earned or training you've received.
The Right Job Search Attitude
The point is this: you don't have to do what you're told in the job search.
You are not a helpless victim to whom things happen. You are an active
participant in the work place.
Part of what an employer expects you to bring to a job is a functioning
brain and an ability to think for yourself. You might as well make the same
level of contribution in the job search, where you are working for yourself
instead of for somebody else.
You don't have to do what you're told. Just do what needs to be done to get
the right result.
-- Kelly Stone is the Content Engineer for
myjobsearch.com, publishers of
the largest career resource directory on the Internet. Kelly has served job
seekers for years as a career counselor and has facilitated many job search
and hiring seminars for the careers industry.
Copyright 2000
myjobsearch.com. All Rights Reserved
