Remember Me?

Are you giving them a reason to remember you?

There have been volumes upon volumes of information, advice and counsel offered over time on how to write a good cover letter and/or how to prepare a good (or effective) resume. Some night when you can’t sleep, try reading some of those tomes.

OK. OK. We admit that there are definite “no-nos” and some clear-cut “must haves” to adhere to when preparing your job search documents. But is that enough? With some reports claiming that LinkedIn processes about 11,000 applications per minute, our guess is “no.”

Think about it.

According to “The Interview Guys” the average corporate job opening attracts between 180 and 250+ applications. The same report says that, for highly competitive fields that number easily skyrockets into the thousands. Of those upwards of 75 percent are immediately discarded. From what’s left, only 2-3 percent will ever get an interview.

How can you be fortunate enough to land in that 20 percent? Some people claim that all it is, is luck. A profound football coach once said that “luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” What kind of preparation can you do so as to be ready when opportunity knocks? This is when it starts to become difficult.

When you write your cover letter, when you prepare your resume, you must keep in mind that the person on the other side of the desk will be looking at dozens of letters and resumes – usually all in the same day.

As that hiring manager peruses one resume after another, after another, after another, after another… what is it that will make your resume stand out? What is it about your cover letter that will make it memorable when pitted against all the other dozens?

Your only hope is to make your letter or resume stand out from the pack. If you’ve done a good job of self-evaluation, you know what your strengths are. You know what will differentiate you from all the other candidates. That’s what you need to emphasize. That’s what you need to hit them between the eyes with.

And you’d better hit them with it hard and hit it them with it early, because studies have shown that people make up their minds about other people in only two to six seconds. Studies and anecdotes are always good. A quote from a famous person that underscores your strengths will help. One recruiter says that humor is a definite winner.

Whatever you do, however you do it, you need to make yourself memorable. That’s the only way to make it past the first cut and keep you in the game.

More tips.