RECRUITERS SPEND SECONDS LOOKING AT EACH RESUME In a February article I referenced Deborah Walker's well written article TEN THINGS A RECRUITER WILL NEVER TELL YOU posted at www.alphaadvantage.com and said I would be expanding on some of her comments. The second item on her list "Recruiters spend five to ten seconds looking at each resume." is extremely important for job seekers to heed in this fast paced age. Internal company recruiters or third party recruiters have been forced to read resumes very rapidly and make almost snap judgements as the the job hunter's potential fit for the job. I know a lot of recruiters and resume writers believe that a list of key words is key to getting your resume read. I believe it is more important to include the products manufactured or service rendered by present and previous employers.
Manufacturing companies have little time for training or hand holding in today's very fierce competitive economy so they try hire people who can hit the ground running. How can they determine if you may have the experience required if the hiring company or third party recruiter cannot determine how your past experience relates to their products. As an example of the problems recruiters face an Internet interchange follows between a potential candidate and me.
"Thanks for requesting our help with your job search but we do not have any positions available that match your qualifications. We recruit primarily for the plastics Industry. I am sorry we are unable to help you with your job search at this time. Best wishes with your career."
I received the following reply:
"Dear James:
XXXXX Products is one of the the key suppliers of plastic flower posts and accessories in the Horticultural Industry. We produce over 300 Million flower pots at XXXXX every year. I was involved in Injection Molding, ThermalForming (sic), and Extrusion."
Unfortunately, the original resume said nothing about involvement in Injection Molding, Thermoforming and Extrusion nor did the resume provide any insight into what his past employers manufactured. Also, I do not know what "involvement" means, as it relates to Injection Molding, Thermoforming and Extrusion.
This recruiter is willing to tell you that we do not have time to look up every company on the Internet that is listed on a resume to find out if the candidate has experience in the industry our client company wants and I do not recognize the name of every plastics manufacturing company (I have 12,000 plastic industry companies in my database and I am sure there are even more). Please take a few moments when writing your resume to think about your audience (as you should when writing anything). If the company is looking for a Injection Molding Process Engineer, listing or providing examples of you injection molding experience on your resume is probably a real good idea.
11:06:09 AM 
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