I’m currently working to backfill a position at my company for a Senior Systems Administrator. Even though I’ve received a couple hundred resumes over the past 3 months, I have yet to fill the position. Yes, I’ve had some people in for interviews but none of them have been quite the person I’m looking for…..well there was one, but we were too slow to make an offer and he accepted a position elsewhere. How that transpired is probably fodder for another post.
Through the process of trying to identify qualified applicants, I’ve come up with these 10 things that pretty much ensure that you won’t be on the receiving end of a job offer. Yes, all the examples cited here are true.
1. Don’t spell-check your resume and cover letter.
I can’t believe how many people don’t perform this simple task. In most editors the spell-check is automatic. So either people are turning off the spell-check, or ignoring the highlighted words that are marked as incorrect.
2. Make sure you are using the incorrect word
This is closely related to spell-checking the document. Sometimes a word will be spelled correctly, but it’s the wrong word. For example I had a candidate indicate that he had experience with “cash servers” instead of “cache servers”. The word was spelled correctly, but was completely wrong.
3. Get your former employer incorrect.
If you worked for a large national company, or a regional company in your area that everyone will know about, then for goodness sakes get the company’s name right.
4. Don’t read your resume and cover letter out loud.
To ensure that your resume and cover letter contains comprehensible and reasonably intelligent sentences, read it out loud. No, it doesn’t count to read it in your head; you must speak it aloud so your ears can hear it. Better yet, have someone else read it OUT LOUD to you. And having two or three people read it is better than one.
5. Don’t include a cover letter
Actually not including a cover letter won’t get you disqualified, but it certainly drops your overall impression in my mind. And if you do include a cover letter spend a couple of paragraphs telling me exactly why (based on the job description in the ad) you are a great candidate for the position. Just saying you are responding to the xyz ad doesn’t cut it. If you are smart enough to include a decent cover letter you just added a bunch of points to the mental point calculator that I keep a running tally on as I evaluate your submission.
6. If I call you for a phone screen, wait several days to call me back
I’m guessing that if you sent me a resume that you are actively looking for a position. That means that you should actually take an interest in responding to my phone calls and eMails. Even if you have accepted another position you should still respond because guess what, odds are that we’ll cross paths again. If you are interested and you’ve taken 5 days to call me back it’s nothing but an uphill battle for you. Have a pre-scheduled vacation? Great, no problem. Just let me know in your cover letter that you’d love to speak with me, but will be unavailable for a few days, and then give the dates you’ll be gone.
7. Call me from the server room or a restaurant
Make sure you are prepared and have the time and a nice quiet place to conduct the phone interview. When I call you the first thing I ask is if it is a good time. If it isn’t, say so. I’ll happily schedule a time when we can speak for 10-15 minutes. I had people do their phone screen from the server room (I love the sound of 20 server and UPS fans whirring in the background) with terrible cell coverage (see #8), and from a bar at a restaurant while they were waiting for a table.
8. Use your cell phone for extended conversations
Sorry, but irregardlessly (yes, I know that’s not a real word) of advances in technology cell phones still sound like cell phones 93.4% of the time. Unless it’s a very brief call, make sure you use a land line in a quiet environment to speak with me. That also means no kids or noisy animals in the background. I actually asked one guy if he had a pet dolphin. Turns out it was just his noisy bird in the background.
9. Don’t do the basic things I ask
If I send you an eMail with our job application and ask you send that back to me BEFORE your scheduled onsite interview, take the time to fill it out and send it back before you come in. If you don’t then it tells me you can’t follow simple instructions. And for a Senior Admin position I expect that you can follow directions without me holding your hand.
10. Don’t show up for the interview (or show up late with no phone call)
As strange as it may seem, I’ve had two people not even show up for a scheduled interview. Why not……? I have no idea. One called the next day and said he forgot, and the other never bothered to call. And if you got stuck in bad traffic on a freeway that just had a giant sign fall onto it stopping all traffic, call me and I’ll understand if you’re running late or need to reschedule.
I have more helpful tips for making sure you don’t get a job offer, but I titled it “10 things” so I’ll have to stop for now.
Posted by Doug Hampshire 
Posted by Doug Hampshire 