Archive for January, 2008

The Cover Letter That Conquered Tokyo

January 31, 2008 at 10:03 pm · Filed under Advice, Human Resources, Interviewing, Jobs, Recruiting ·Tagged , ,

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Applicants don’t understand how important their cover letter can actually be. Most of the time they write one, and only one, that they will send out to every company they apply to. At best, they might paste your company name over the last one they sent a résumé to. Doesn’t that make you feel special?

The type of cover letter you’re looking for, regardless of your company, is one that was tailored specifically to you. One that you can tell was written specifically by this person to apply to work for you. That much is a given. Beyond that, what you’re looking for is a little personality.

The kind of personality you’re looking for depends on the office environment you’ve created. If it’s more professional and serious, look for a cover letter written in that tone. If your culture is a little more relaxed and boisterous, then see if you can spot that in the letter.

For instance, I was reviewing résumés to hire an instructor for a small college. The open position was for one in the film and television department. As you can imagine, the other instructors in that department had created an atmosphere that was very creative and fun loving.

Several applications quickly passed over my desk; too bland, too generic, not qualified. However, one cover letter stood tall and proud over the others.

First, the applicant explained briefly why he was qualified for the position. Not very exciting, but at the very least I could tell that he wrote this specifically for this open position. After that, though, was when he really shined.

He explained that if he were to get the job, we’d be helping him accomplish two of his life’s goals. The first would be to teach in the field of film and technology. The second would be that he’d finally have enough money to go to Tokyo and actually watch a Godzilla movie while sitting in the town that Godzilla was rampaging through.

It was cute, it was relevant to the position he was applying for and it showed the type of personality we were looking for. From that cover letter, I instantly knew that he had a distinct chance of not only being able to succeed at the job, but fit in famously with the rest of the staff in that department. I immediately set up an interview with the department head.

That’s just one example, but I think it’s pretty illustrative of what a great cover letter should do. It needs to be like great art, I can’t explain to you what it is, but I know it when I see it. The same goes for cover letters.

~Career “Creature Feature” Writer

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Video Résumés – Are You Ready For Them?

January 18, 2008 at 8:31 pm · Filed under Advice, Human Resources, Interviewing, Jobs, Recruiting ·Tagged , , , , ,

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It would appear by all of the press that You Tube has generated over the past two years that they are currently planning their world domination tour. They have pretty well entrenched the term “viral video” into the cultural lexicon. When a You Tube video hits it big, real big, it can get a mention on the network evening news.

All of the predictions from the ‘80s about the new generation being obsessed with video have come true. It’s safe to say that if we don’t already get the majority of our news and entertainment from moving pictures, it’ll be that way soon.

It’s just a natural progression that this new generation is starting to embrace the idea of a video résumé – a video produced and posted on an internet video site that can be viewed by a prospective employer.

Job seekers are attaching these videos, typically as a link in an e-mail, with the hopes that employers will see the personality and enthusiasm for a job that can be lost in a written résumé. Some applicants believe that their oral communications skills are better than written, and that he will be better able to sell himself with a video.

The upside is that these benefit you too when you’re looking at the initial résumé package. You will be able to save the time of an interview if you don’t think the candidate presented himself well, or you can skip right to a follow up interview if you were really impressed.

There is a downside to a video résumé that many legal experts are warning employers and recruiters about – the possibility of a lawsuit. Most of the factors left off of a paper résumé to prevent discrimination, i.e. gender, race, weight and age, are front and center in a video. Even if you don’t discriminate against the candidate for any of those reasons, it’s easier to prove you don’t if you lack that knowledge entirely. You’ll want to carefully consider if the advantages of a video résumé outweigh the possibility of a discrimination suit – although none have been brought to court as of this writing.

If you do decide to click on that link and take a look, judge the video the same you would any résumé or interview. How much effort was put into the video? Is the applicant just reading his cover letter? How professionally is he dressed? How well does he communicate ideas?

In the same vein, don’t get caught up by a particularly flashy video or one that has lots of effects and editing. Is he trying to hide something behind all of that flash? How much of his personality is actually coming through?

You may also want to use the video at the screening stage rather than the initial review process. A good eye can search through the initial stack of résumés spending 30 seconds on each one. A video can be much longer than that, and you can potentially spend four times as long searching through that initial pool of applicants. Saving the video for the screening stage can then save you time by possibly eliminating the phone screening step so you can go ahead and invite the applicant in for an interview.

At this stage, a video résumé should only be viewed as, and accepted as, a supplement to the applicant’s formal cover letter ad résumé. Perhaps one day our business will go completely video – but, for now you can feel confident to keep your feet planted in the old school and dip your toes into the new media waters.

~Career “Creature Feature” Writer

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