With e-mail facilities today, employers frequently receive resumes that come either as an attachment or sometimes the resume will be in the e-mail itself from the applicants. Pouring through the large number of resumes may be quite laborious work. As for me, I will normally "filter" or "screen" the applications sent by e-mail using the following indicators:-
(i) Whether the e-mail was directed to me as an employer or was the e-mail directed to a number of other employers as well?
If the e-mail was directed to a number of other employers, you will be certain that I will not be calling the person for an interview. It doesn’t fare well for the applicant as employers will find this quite rude. Applying for a job is something quite confidential and to be treated seriously, an employee should take the time to send his or her application separately to the individual employer. Some applicants may call it saving time and multi-tasking but I will simply call it pure laziness!
(ii) Whether there is any covering letter accompanying the resume sent by e-mail?
To me, it doesn’t matter if the letter comes separately or in the e-mail itself. What is important is that there should be a covering letter. A good covering letter should have the full name of the prospective employer and the contact details (if known). As an employer, this will indicate to me that the prospective employee is courteous and has taken the application seriously. Sometimes, I do get a covering letter applying for a job in the e-mail saying "Hi there" or worse "Hey there" as the covering letter. It amuses me to see such a covering letter. It makes one wonder, how can the employer treat such an applicant seriously? I must say, so far all of the candidates who have written nice covering letters and were interviewed by me have left a positive impression on me.
Story: The radiographer that came knocking
A few years ago, we were looking for a clerk to assist in administrative work. We advertised the position online in the internet. At that time, we didn’t realise that there was a long stretch of public holidays when the online advertisement came out. To advertise during that period was not a good idea as most people were away and might not be checking the postings. So, we decided to put out another advertisement. This time, for some reason, instead of advertising the position of a "Clerk", we wrote "Administrative Assistant". Both positions came with the same duties and salary. Only the name of the position was different.
Amongst the applications that came in was an e-mail from an ex-radiographer together with an attached resume. The covering letter was well written. It contained our firm’s name, address and name of the contact person. It also explained why she decided to leave her job as a radiographer and apply for the job of Administrative Assistant. By reading the resume and the covering letter, one could feel that the applicant was responsible, sincere and had initiative. The applicant’s resume and covering letter certainly warranted an interview with us. However, what impressed me most was that the applicant made reference to the 2 postings we had online. The applicant mentioned that she noted there were 2 postings online from our firm and that she wished to apply for either one of them as both came with similar duties (actually, exactly the same!). To me, it showed the applicant was observant, rational and independent thinking. Some applicants didn’t even realise that we had 2 similar postings online. We received 2 identical resumes from the same applicant in our inbox. It became even more remarkable when the e-mail came in with just the subject changed from "Clerk" to "Administrative Assistant" and without any covering letter. Well, back to the story of the radiographer, she did come for an interview and she got the job. Way to go, Madeleine!
When screening job applications or resumes, I tend to look at the number of years a person has spent in his or her previous employment. For me, if the person spent less than 2 years in his or her previous job, I will make a note of that. If the applicant is invited to attend an interview, I will pose a question to the applicant to gather more information as to the reason for the short duration of his or her last employment.
However, we have to be careful not to jump to any conclusions just because a person has spent less than 2 years in his or her previous employment. I have a former classmate who worked for a company for 14 years before he decided to leave to "explore other opportunities in the world". The second job was with a well known accounting firm, where he worked for hardly a month after which he had to resign. Well, in his case, he had a valid reason as his mother was taken seriously ill and being the only child and unmarried as well, he had to take time off to look after his mother. When his mother finally recovered after close to a year from his resignation, he anxiously looked for a job. It was understandable as a lot of his savings had been used to pay for his mother’s medical bills. He had a difficult time securing an interview for a number of reasons but perhaps the obvious one was that he had been unemployed or jobless for close to a year. He was reluctant to list the well known accounting firm as his last employer for fear his prospective employers might think that he was fired from his last job given the short duration that he was there. He came to seek an opinion from me on his resume. I suggested to him to include the well known accounting firm in his resume despite him being there for only one month and to include a short written explanation as to why he had to leave the firm’s employ as most prospective employers would want to know. The prospective employers would then be aware that he wasn’t sacked but instead had to leave to undertake a bigger responsibility.
Story: An applicant with a colourful job history
I had an applicant once who listed his previous jobs as a waiter, a cook, a bus driver, a temporary teacher, a clerk and subsequently, an administrative officer. Normally, I would put the resume and application aside if I see any evidence that the person lacks focus. However, in this case, my curiosity got the better of me and I just had to invite this applicant for an interview. During the interview, I was quite impressed with the applicant. He had a charming smile and an answer to every question asked. This could be due to his employment background - being exposed to various types of jobs from one end of the spectrum to the other. I must say he could handle people rather well. However, one thing I could safely conclude from the interview was that the applicant was not suitable for a desk job as he liked to move around and talk to people. I was being honest and I told him just that. I even hinted to him that he would make an excellent sales person. He was quite excited when I told him about his strength which unfortunately did not fit in with our organization. He left feeling happy and I am sure it won’t be long before he adds sales executive as one his jobs in his next resume!
(i) Whether the e-mail was directed to me as an employer or was the e-mail directed to a number of other employers as well?
If the e-mail was directed to a number of other employers, you will be certain that I will not be calling the person for an interview. It doesn’t fare well for the applicant as employers will find this quite rude. Applying for a job is something quite confidential and to be treated seriously, an employee should take the time to send his or her application separately to the individual employer. Some applicants may call it saving time and multi-tasking but I will simply call it pure laziness!
(ii) Whether there is any covering letter accompanying the resume sent by e-mail?
To me, it doesn’t matter if the letter comes separately or in the e-mail itself. What is important is that there should be a covering letter. A good covering letter should have the full name of the prospective employer and the contact details (if known). As an employer, this will indicate to me that the prospective employee is courteous and has taken the application seriously. Sometimes, I do get a covering letter applying for a job in the e-mail saying "Hi there" or worse "Hey there" as the covering letter. It amuses me to see such a covering letter. It makes one wonder, how can the employer treat such an applicant seriously? I must say, so far all of the candidates who have written nice covering letters and were interviewed by me have left a positive impression on me.
Story: The radiographer that came knocking
A few years ago, we were looking for a clerk to assist in administrative work. We advertised the position online in the internet. At that time, we didn’t realise that there was a long stretch of public holidays when the online advertisement came out. To advertise during that period was not a good idea as most people were away and might not be checking the postings. So, we decided to put out another advertisement. This time, for some reason, instead of advertising the position of a "Clerk", we wrote "Administrative Assistant". Both positions came with the same duties and salary. Only the name of the position was different.
Amongst the applications that came in was an e-mail from an ex-radiographer together with an attached resume. The covering letter was well written. It contained our firm’s name, address and name of the contact person. It also explained why she decided to leave her job as a radiographer and apply for the job of Administrative Assistant. By reading the resume and the covering letter, one could feel that the applicant was responsible, sincere and had initiative. The applicant’s resume and covering letter certainly warranted an interview with us. However, what impressed me most was that the applicant made reference to the 2 postings we had online. The applicant mentioned that she noted there were 2 postings online from our firm and that she wished to apply for either one of them as both came with similar duties (actually, exactly the same!). To me, it showed the applicant was observant, rational and independent thinking. Some applicants didn’t even realise that we had 2 similar postings online. We received 2 identical resumes from the same applicant in our inbox. It became even more remarkable when the e-mail came in with just the subject changed from "Clerk" to "Administrative Assistant" and without any covering letter. Well, back to the story of the radiographer, she did come for an interview and she got the job. Way to go, Madeleine!
When screening job applications or resumes, I tend to look at the number of years a person has spent in his or her previous employment. For me, if the person spent less than 2 years in his or her previous job, I will make a note of that. If the applicant is invited to attend an interview, I will pose a question to the applicant to gather more information as to the reason for the short duration of his or her last employment.
However, we have to be careful not to jump to any conclusions just because a person has spent less than 2 years in his or her previous employment. I have a former classmate who worked for a company for 14 years before he decided to leave to "explore other opportunities in the world". The second job was with a well known accounting firm, where he worked for hardly a month after which he had to resign. Well, in his case, he had a valid reason as his mother was taken seriously ill and being the only child and unmarried as well, he had to take time off to look after his mother. When his mother finally recovered after close to a year from his resignation, he anxiously looked for a job. It was understandable as a lot of his savings had been used to pay for his mother’s medical bills. He had a difficult time securing an interview for a number of reasons but perhaps the obvious one was that he had been unemployed or jobless for close to a year. He was reluctant to list the well known accounting firm as his last employer for fear his prospective employers might think that he was fired from his last job given the short duration that he was there. He came to seek an opinion from me on his resume. I suggested to him to include the well known accounting firm in his resume despite him being there for only one month and to include a short written explanation as to why he had to leave the firm’s employ as most prospective employers would want to know. The prospective employers would then be aware that he wasn’t sacked but instead had to leave to undertake a bigger responsibility.
Story: An applicant with a colourful job history
I had an applicant once who listed his previous jobs as a waiter, a cook, a bus driver, a temporary teacher, a clerk and subsequently, an administrative officer. Normally, I would put the resume and application aside if I see any evidence that the person lacks focus. However, in this case, my curiosity got the better of me and I just had to invite this applicant for an interview. During the interview, I was quite impressed with the applicant. He had a charming smile and an answer to every question asked. This could be due to his employment background - being exposed to various types of jobs from one end of the spectrum to the other. I must say he could handle people rather well. However, one thing I could safely conclude from the interview was that the applicant was not suitable for a desk job as he liked to move around and talk to people. I was being honest and I told him just that. I even hinted to him that he would make an excellent sales person. He was quite excited when I told him about his strength which unfortunately did not fit in with our organization. He left feeling happy and I am sure it won’t be long before he adds sales executive as one his jobs in his next resume!
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