True/False questions:

• Employers and candidates view résumés as having the same purpose.
• A résumé is most effective when it precedes your interview with the hiring manager.
• A hiring decision maker will be the one to screen your résumé.
• Résumés are read thoroughly.
• You will need a résumé to land a job.

Many people answer True to all of these statements. Read on to find out why I’ve found them all to be false.

Employers and Candidates Usually View Résumés as Having Different Purposes

Employers use résumés as a screening device to deal with the deluge of responses to job postings. Just as a boat jettisons cargo to stay afloat in a storm, the résumé screener-drowning in dozens if not hundreds or thousands of résumés all vying for one single position—is purposefully looking for reasons to dump you. The slightest “error”-skills missing, disorganized content, a tiny typo-may be cause to disqualify and discard you (your résumé is now a liability). The rules of law and civility do not apply here. You are not presumed innocent or given the benefit of the doubt. The mentality is weed, winnow, and whack to get the pile down to manageable size. A mediocre or even average résumé can knock you out of the running for positions for which you might be wholly qualified.

In contrast, applicants use résumés to introduce themselves to employers, with the hope of getting an audience (interview) with a hiring decision maker. Too often, applicants use résumés incorrectly, making it their primary tool in the job search with the mistaken belief that employers will be thrilled or have the time to read every word about them. That’s just not the case in this imperfect world!

A Résumé Is Most Effective When It Follows Face-to-Face or Voice Contact with a Hiring Manager

The employer’s initial focus is to find grounds for discarding résumés. Again, your résumé can be more of a liability than an asset. After working with thousands of candidates over the years, I believe a better strategy is to establish rapport with the hiring manager (or others who influence hiring decisions) before submitting a résumé. For most people, an initial face-to-face or voice contact is more engaging than print-on-paper.

In some cases, a direct encounter will be difficult if not impossible because many corporate systems are set up to insulate managers from “interruptions” like you. But with a little sleuthing and perseverance on your part, it can be done (see the hint in the next paragraph). After you’ve established rapport and the hiring manager knows of your relevant experience in solving problems (you’ve said so in your rapport building), then you can introduce the résumé to reinforce your initial statements, reveal more about your skills and accomplishments, and remind the hiring manager of how wonderful you are.

A Support Person or Computer Program Will Probably Be the One to Screen Your Résumé

Unless you’re applying to a relatively small organization, it’s more likely that a support staff member or computer program, rather than a hiring manager, will be screening your résumé and comparing it to a “walk-on-water wish list” of superhuman endowments, education, and experience. What? Your résumé doesn’t include walking on water under the Skills section? Liability. And, if your résumé is being electronically processed, there’s an even greater chasm between you and the hiring manager. Depending on the applicant-tracking software the company uses, there’s the possibility that your résumé will not be categorized properly or that your terminology will not match the keywords the organization uses to find a strong candidate match. Even executive recruiters hire researchers who spend hours every day combing Internet databases for keywords and key candidates. For these reasons, it’s critical that your résumé be as screen-proof as possible. Better yet, use your initiative to get your résumé directly to the decision maker.

Résumés Are Not Read Thoroughly

Not on the first go-around. Feedback from screeners is that an inviting-toread, “pretty” résumé is more likely to get into the interview pile. Then, if you’re lucky enough to get the résumé into the interview pile, you’ll eventually get a read-through. However, more than a few candidates report that interviewers admitted not reading their résumés word for word; rather, they liked the look of a résumé and quickly were able to locate key achievements and skills that were important for the position being filled.

You Won’t Always Need a Résumé to Land a Job

You will, however, always need an interview. To my continued surprise, I still meet professionals who tell me they got their last job without a résumé. So, as proud as I am of my profession that helps people write their professional “success story,” I must humble myself and admit that my services as a résumé writer are not indispensable.

I will report, however, that the number of people who sail into a position sans résumé is decreasing. Companies, especially smaller ventures, are finding that formal, well-documented personnel files (complete with résumé) help to comply with labor laws and protect against the litigious attitude so prevalent today.

Some people find themselves in situations where the employer-to-be has obliquely offered a job and requested a résumé as “a formality.” Be cautious if this is the case. Remember that you are a slave to your written words and can’t easily take them back. A quickly thrown-together résumé reflects the quality of work you will put forth in the future. It may happen that the boss-to-be also has a super-sharp résumé for a candidate competing for your supposed “sure-thing” job.