For 2018, we will be blogging about Campus and Slightly Seasoned Recruiting. We hope you will find our comments thoughtful and helpful as we together navigate this ever changing recruiting world.
We review thousands of resumes every year for our clients and each year we marvel at the number of candidates who apply for positions without taking the job qualifications seriously. Hiring managers are very careful about crafting job descriptions that set forth their needs but candidates often assume that those needs don't count in the decision process. We can state with great confidence that they do!
Here are some of the most frequent issues that come up:
- Year of graduation - if a job description says that candidates must be Juniors then Seniors, Alumni, Sophomores and Freshmen should not apply.
- Sponsorship requirements - especially with the uncertainty about Visa availability, if a job description specifies US citizenship or permanent residency, then do not apply if you need sponsorship.
- Expertise - certain industries require certain skills or a demonstration of interest in a particular area. For example, if the job is in the real estate industry, the employer may require a Real Estate major or minor for the candidate to be considered. Do not apply if the word real estate does not appear anywhere on your resume. You just won't be competitive.
- GPA - if you leave your GPA off your resume, the employer will assume that your GPA is less than a 3.0.
- Language abilities - there is no need to include "beginning French" or other language on your resume if you are not in a position to conduct business in that language.
- Interests - many employers will focus on interests first and so if you are not skilled or passionate about your interests, do not include them on your resume.