When you’re on the search for a new job, you know the golden rules to follow: make sure there are no typos on your resume, direct your cover letter to the correct company and show up on time for interviews. But there are some less obvious mistakes job seekers make and they can make the difference between getting the job and getting rejected.
As the head of global talent acquisition at Microsoft, Lauren Gardner has seen it all from people applying for jobs. In her 31 years working for the tech giant, she’s evaluated thousands of job candidates and she says the worst thing a candidate can do is resort to “blanket applications.”
“They’ll send out a thousand resumes and hope that one gets a hit,” Gardner explains. “I wouldn’t recommend sending out only one or two applications, but when you send out too many, people will start to question what you’re truly passionate about.”
- Instead, this expert advises targeting your job search by starting with a list of 10 to 15 companies you’re interested in and expanding from there as needed.
- Another pro tip? Be succinct and make your resume fit on one page. Think of your resume as your elevator pitch. If you get someone’s attention for 30 seconds, what do you want them to know about you?
- Gardner says in this hot market where people are applying to many different companies, you want to tailor the details of your cover letter to explain why you’re applying to that one and what’s most interesting to you about working there.
Source: CNBC