Hey, Somebody Edited My Resume!

You've been in contact with a recruiter about a job opportunity, and he tells you the good news - you've got the interview!

So far, so good. You show up to interview, and you're sitting down with the hiring manager. The manager asks you to clarify something on your resume. You ask to see what she's talking about.

The manager shows you your resume, and it's unrecognizable. A quick glimpse at the resume she gives you shows that the formatting's been changed, your contact information has been removed, and it appears that there's been modifications to the body of the text. God forbid that any errors have been added in.

What. The. #*$!. Happened!?!?!?

Okay, brace yourself for this. Ready?

Recruiters may edit your resume to better suit their own needs. And it happens more often than you think.

A recruiter (even an internal, corporate recruiter) is in a sales role. He is held to metrics that such as placements, cycle time, etc.

At the minimum, the recruiter will remove your contact information to prevent an employer from going around them and reaching out to you directly, thus cutting them out of the deal.

But sometimes it goes further than that. Editing content, changing things around to appeal to a hiring manager, you name it - the recruiter may feel that he ishelping the candidate, but it's not always the case. A spell-check is one thing, modifying content is another.

You've put a lot of work into deciding how you would like to present yourself in your resume, what can you do?

• If you have the opportunity send your resume as a PDF, do it. It's a lot harder for anybody to modify.

• Bring your own hard copies of your resume to the interview. As the interview begins, provide a copy to the interviewer as your "latest version."

• Understand that changes may happen - the resume is often out of control once it leaves your hands.

• Make sure your resume is rock-solid before sending it to anybody. Make sure it's well-written, without errors or typos. Don't give anybody any reason to feel the need to edit your resume on your behalf.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Answers to Your Questions- Why Do Companies Advertise Job Openings When They Plan to Hire Internally?

Sometimes, they just gotta...

“Why do companies post openings when they know they are going to hire someone internally? I have lost out to many positions because the company already had an internal candidate in mind. The companies I have applied to are big and small, public and private.  I have started to ask if there are any internal candidates applying for this role and the answer is usually yes.”

I love this question, because it addresses a widespread frustration among job seekers. Remarkably, there are several reasons why a company may post a job opening to the outside world while they have an internal applicant in the wings:

• Company policy requires them to post every job. Every. Single. One. The bad news is, this frustrates external candidates to no end. The good news is that the company values internal movement and promotion of employees over external applicants, and gives internal applicant a chance at mobility. Should you get the job, at least you know you hit a high bar and you’ll get the same consideration for future opportunities.

  1. Union rules. Some collective bargaining agreements have it written into their contracts with companies that all jobs be posted for internal employees.

  2. The company wants to see who else is out there. Maybe the internal employee is good – but not that good. Often the posting rules indicate that, all qualifications being equal, the internal employee receives the nod. But if the external applicant holds better qualifications, the outsider gets the job.

  3. The hiring manager hopes a specific internal employee will apply. Sometimes the internal employee may be asked to apply, but ultimately decides she’s happy in her current role. It happens. And if the company hadn’t advertised outside, they wouldn’t have any candidates in the pipeline.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Get the Job by Minimizing the Chaos

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Great news! Remember when you entered your résumé into Melvin Motor Company's (MelMoCo) database for that dream job? You were so excited! The position practically had your name on it!

The recruiter at MelMoCo agrees! She's calling you now - and you're so excited when you answer the phone!

You're with Fido at the dog park. And all around you dogs are barking. And peeing. And chasing other dogs around. And performing other unspeakable doggie acts.

Yeah, that background noise is going to be fun to explain.  Please feel free to reapply with MelMoCo sometime next decade, when the H.R. department has completely turned over.

As a recruiter, I called candidates to conduct initial interview screens for jobs. And, more often than not, I've learned that people with a cell phone will pick up a call just about anywhere. To wit:

• In the drive-through at McDonald's, while confirming their order with the register;
• While attending a meeting;
• Grocery shopping, with the kids loudly demanding Cap'n Crunch;
• In a car, driving, with the windows open;
• Boarding an airplane;
• At the hairdresser, under one of those big dryer thingys;
• Watching television;
• Playing on the Xbox; and my number one all-time favorite...
• In the bathroom (yes, really)

Side note: It drives me bananas if I'm in a public restroom and somebody comes in talking on their cell phone. It's damn rude. So, I will flush the toilet - repeatedly - to make sure that whoever is on the other end of that phone call knows where it's originating. I suppose this makes me a sociopath, but I can live with that. :)

Anyway... the most remarkable aspect is that the CANDIDATE USUALLY TOLD ME WHERE THEY WERE WHEN THEY ANSWERED. I didn't even have to guess.

Sometimes, calls are unexpected - people aren't even looking for a job, and they get a cold call, so they answer the phone call like any other. For those of you whom this description fits, I hope the call goes well.

For those individuals who are actively looking for a job, consider doing the following:

• When an unfamiliar number pops up on your phone, unless you are somewhere quiet, let it roll to voicemail. Listen to the message immediately. Then call back from a quiet room.
• If you absolutely need to answer the call (and are somewhere socially acceptable to do so), tell the caller you are currently occupied, and set a time to call them back from a quiet room.
• If you are at home, and want to answer the phone, make sure the dogs are put away, the kids are quiet, and the television is off.

Your resume is probably one of several the recruiter has chosen to call for a particular job. Don't make it so easy for her to move you to the "no" pile.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.