Unsolicited Advice For You Job Seekers
A creative exec friend of mine (let's call her "C.") was recently tasked with hiring a few assistants for her entertainment company. From this experience she gleaned a few lessons. I thought she made some excellent points so, with her permission, I'm happy to share "C's Unsolicited Advice For You Job Seekers":
Having been given the enviable task of finding both our CEO and COO new assistants in the last six weeks, I have seen more résumés than any girl should ever have to sift through. But it has given me insight into why some candidates are asked to come in and why some aren't, and I wanted to share a few of the things you'd think would be common-sense, but apparently are not.
I know this is unsolicited, but with things as tough out there as they are right now, none of us can afford stupid mistakes. And please know, this is GENERAL, and not in response to any one particular résumé.
1. Triple check for spelling errors and typos. And then ask your roommate, BFF, mother, lover AND goldfish to look it over as well. I've literally seen an otherwise well qualified candidate booted out of the "consider" pile because she forgot a space between two words.
2. Your résumé doesn't need to include every job you've ever had since you were in high school. For assistant level jobs, there is no way you need to provide more than one page of information.
It also shouldn't be color-coded or have boxes around key phrases in order to make them stand out. And yes, I've actually seen both of these things in real life.
3. Along the same lines, a full-page, single-spaced cover letter is completely unnecessary. You really only need to provide the highlights of how fabulous you are, and make a quick mention of whatever special skills you have that are perfect for this particular job.
Also, we're professionals, so that means no jokes or silly little puns in the cover letter. You are not trying out for a sketch show, and your potential boss probably doesn't want to be your pal, so probably best to leave the personality display for the actual interview.
4. Follow the directions listed in the job posting. That means if it says to email it to a particular address, you should email it to that address rather than hunting down the personal email of someone at the company and sending it there instead. Of course if you actually KNOW (or are on a board with) someone at the company, it makes sense to shoot them an email and ask more about the job, if it's OK to send over a résumé, etc.
And if the posting says "Please put COO ASST in the subject line," then do that. Don't put "Your dream assistant's résumé is attached!"
5. Don't have a stupid email address. Your résumé might be fantastic, but if your email is donkeypunch123@gmail.com, it doesn't reflect well on you. Neither does scriptdevelopmentdude@hotmail.com when you're applying for a job that has been specifically listed as a NON-development job.
6. Last but not least, take the three seconds to at least write a tiny note in the email you're sending. It doesn't have to be an official cover letter, but don't just send a blank email through with your résumé attached. It screams of lack of effort. (This one might just be a pet-peeve of mine, but so be it. I'm still throwing it out there.)
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Thanks, C!
Having been given the enviable task of finding both our CEO and COO new assistants in the last six weeks, I have seen more résumés than any girl should ever have to sift through. But it has given me insight into why some candidates are asked to come in and why some aren't, and I wanted to share a few of the things you'd think would be common-sense, but apparently are not.
I know this is unsolicited, but with things as tough out there as they are right now, none of us can afford stupid mistakes. And please know, this is GENERAL, and not in response to any one particular résumé.
1. Triple check for spelling errors and typos. And then ask your roommate, BFF, mother, lover AND goldfish to look it over as well. I've literally seen an otherwise well qualified candidate booted out of the "consider" pile because she forgot a space between two words.
2. Your résumé doesn't need to include every job you've ever had since you were in high school. For assistant level jobs, there is no way you need to provide more than one page of information.
It also shouldn't be color-coded or have boxes around key phrases in order to make them stand out. And yes, I've actually seen both of these things in real life.
3. Along the same lines, a full-page, single-spaced cover letter is completely unnecessary. You really only need to provide the highlights of how fabulous you are, and make a quick mention of whatever special skills you have that are perfect for this particular job.
Also, we're professionals, so that means no jokes or silly little puns in the cover letter. You are not trying out for a sketch show, and your potential boss probably doesn't want to be your pal, so probably best to leave the personality display for the actual interview.
4. Follow the directions listed in the job posting. That means if it says to email it to a particular address, you should email it to that address rather than hunting down the personal email of someone at the company and sending it there instead. Of course if you actually KNOW (or are on a board with) someone at the company, it makes sense to shoot them an email and ask more about the job, if it's OK to send over a résumé, etc.
And if the posting says "Please put COO ASST in the subject line," then do that. Don't put "Your dream assistant's résumé is attached!"
5. Don't have a stupid email address. Your résumé might be fantastic, but if your email is donkeypunch123@gmail.com, it doesn't reflect well on you. Neither does scriptdevelopmentdude@hotmail.com when you're applying for a job that has been specifically listed as a NON-development job.
6. Last but not least, take the three seconds to at least write a tiny note in the email you're sending. It doesn't have to be an official cover letter, but don't just send a blank email through with your résumé attached. It screams of lack of effort. (This one might just be a pet-peeve of mine, but so be it. I'm still throwing it out there.)
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Thanks, C!