IT Hire Wire

A lot of people assume that recruiting is about persuasion, and convincing people to take jobs.  The reality is that most of my time is spent performing an exclusionary function.  I’m interviewing and evaluating candidates, and looking for reasons to throw away your resume.  My job is to find out why you’re wrong for the position, and to save everybody’s time (and my reputation) by weeding out the bad matches.

Glory may be fleeting, but obscurity is forever

Fact is, employers pay me to do what they don’t know how to do, or don’t have time to do.  My job is very time-consuming, and it’s not glorious.  I am an equalizer in the battle to preserve a reasonable signal to noise ratio.  A lot of candidates don’t seem to realize it, but I am the first-round interview.  Let me give you an example.

The haystacks come to me

Recently, I agreed to help an international medical device company conduct a search for a new CIO.  I happened to start working on the role on a Friday, writing a detailed job description with firm requirements and posting it on a number of job boards.  On Monday morning, I had 312 resumes and a full voicemail box.

30 seconds

I hate to admit it, but that’s about how long I initially spend looking at your resume.  If you match up with the requirements for the position, you’ll get a phone call.  If you don’t match up, then you probably won’t.  I just don’t have time to do it any other way.

It’s a twister!

Surviving the trip from the top to the bottom of my funnel is about presenting yourself succinctly and accurately when you apply.  Take a moment to alter your resume, highlighting experience and skills that are relevant to the job description.  If you submit a cover letter, you should use that opportunity to give yourself proper and specific credit for the aspects of your candidacy that match the requirements.

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