The job market has changed so much in last two years or so. The majority of the resumes and candidates I was getting back then were from candidates who had just been let go from their jobs. They were unemployed and feeling kind of desperate and down. However things change….. In the past three months or so I have spoken to some really talented candidates. Most of them are employed and looking for something new, essentially a better opportunity. The process that I have gotten used to is having a resume in front of me to help judge and evaluate the talent and what the candidate is currently doing and looking to do next. The problem is that when I get the resume in front of me it reminds me of the aka “FAT GIRL” (don’t get offended keep reading) that I used to be friends with.
She is the definition of desperate and confused. Upon moving to a new city the first thing she would do is sign up for a dating site and try to meet a guy willing to date her. I would try to coax her into looking for a career and explain to her that most guys like a girl with a job opposed to the unemployed girl trolling dating sites. But she knew how to market herself and I would hire her again if she wasn’t a thief (long story). What she did is what I wish some of these candidates would do that send me their resumes and call me. “Fat Girl” knew that if she put pictures of herself from head to toe on that site that the guys would be turned off by a short fat girl, but throw 4 or 5 pictures of her face with a cute smile and this will get some attention and IT SURE DID!! Very much like putting together a great resume with only your best skills and your highlights. You never want to put your mistakes/errors on your resume for your future employer to see; shit they will figure that out 4 months after they hire you.
“Fat Girl” would tell me about all these emails and attention she would get on the dating website from potential suitors. How this guy wants to meet her and this guy asked her out (interview). Plus in her BIO (resume) she would say only the most amazing things about herself. She wasn’t a “consultant” (that is my favorite job title for unemployed professionals), she would say “I’m not working BUT searching for my passion”. HOOK LINE and SINKER!!!!!! “Fat Girl” would go on date after date but when I followed up with her and asked about second dates, it was always the same old story. “Fat Girl” wasn’t interested. Reality Check, the guys finally saw you and realized that you look more like SNOOKIE from the Jersey Shore than Courtney Cox (from the 90’s) .
I often compare the dating process to the interview process because they are so similar. In this scenario I wish some of my candidates knew how to put a resume together that could catch the attention of our clients (the date). That means recognizing what their strengths are, their accomplishments and really selling themselves. Being able to put together that eye-popping resume/profile that just makes us and our clients say YES we want to interview that person. Sure, we do this with some of the candidates, but it is impossible to do this with everyone. Being self-aware and recognizing what it is going to take to get noticed, to get the interview and have the opportunity to get the job is sometimes more than half of the battle. Luckily most of our clients aren’t judging the candidates by what they look like, but initially what we have to say about them, their resumes and then finally how they interview and articulate what they have done over the years. You can’t fake it, eventually the truth comes out, but you can learn to sell yourself better and put yourself in a better situation to succeed.
I am not making fun of “Fat Girl”, I am simply pointing out that she was playing the odds. As the Great Wayne Gretzky said “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take”. She was taking her shot that one of these guys was going to be ok with what she had going on and see her a second time (ha ha). Isn’t that what interviewing is all about? Very few people get every job they interview for and those who do I would argue never took a shot and challenged themselves to be great.
Gnozzo Knows 