Well, can you detail a few things?
Like, if you're looking for low-end, min wage bill payers, then really all there is to it is persistence. Min wage laws help make people in those positions a dime a dozen, so odds are there's no way to stand out, outside of maybe a stable past work-history.
If you're into the more competitive, skilled jobs mode, then there's definitely ways to help yourself.
1) Get your resume looked at. Maybe by career services at school, a professional career counselor (albeit these people can be expensive), or maybe a friend w/ more experience in these situations. Remember that your resume is a reflection of you and what you want employers to know about you when making interview decisions.
Make sure your resume is visually appealing, formatted, and most important, make sure you list your accomplishments in past positions, not a job description (no one cares if your role as a sales associate was to sell merchandise to customers, but they do care if you were the highest grossing sales associate in the company).
If your work experience is limited, but you have a college degree (as it seems for a lot of people these days), you should lead off w/ college. Unless you held some management role in the past, an employer will care more about your school/major, than the fact that you were a pizza guy or a part time receptionist. Also remember technical skills, and maybe include some activities or a reference in your resume if you have any available. Don't forget an objective, either!
2) Write a good cover letter. It's amazing to me how many people fail to do this basic step (it's not that hard, I use a standard format for all my cover letters, and adjust for different jobs, takes about 5-10 min to ensure quality). Not including one, or a half-assed one, is lazy to most people. Recently I posted a position in my company for a data miner, and some girl w/ a 3.7 GPA from a very good MBA program applied. However, she didn't include a real cover letter, referred to me as "recruiter" (despite me having my name on the job posting, and listing myself as an alum), and didn't even mention the position she applied for.
"But why care about a cover letter if a person is qualified?" is what I've heard from some. Allow me to use this as an example: You need a lot of home repair done, so you advertise the need for contractors in the paper. One contractor just sends you a business card in the mail. He never talks about himself, introduces himself, or announces what job he wants to perform, just a business card. Another guy, bidding for the same job, sends a detailed letter, and briefly discusses his qualifications. Who would you call back?
It's the same for a company. HR at big companies receive more resumes than they know what to do with. If you send your resume to a recruiter, without saying why you sent it, they won't bother to find out. Simple as that.
3) Follow up. Easily the toughest part as some recruiters actually don't like this. For a small to mid-sized company, though, I strongly recommend doing this, unless instructed not to (by the way, instructions supersede all. If a company says "just send a resume, don't add a cover letter, don't follow up", then just send a resume. If you can't follow instructions now, you won't follow instructions on the job). It shows pro-active behavior. For a big company, this is trickier, since it's hard to even find the right person to get in touch with, let alone asking the right questions about your resume.
4) Prepare for interviews. Once you get an interview, it means the company likes what they see on your resume and cover letter, aka it means you have the skills for the job. Rather than explain your skills, explain how you've been able to apply them to a business setting. Also prepare for some common interview questions (especially if you're being interviewed by people in the department instead of professional recruiters, they're inexperienced at interviewing and will rely on generic questions). Make sure you know plenty about the company, and explain why you want to work there ("I need a paycheck" or "Because my current job sucks" won't cut it).
5) Thank you letter. You'll likely get the contact information of everyone who interviews you, and they don't just give it to you as a formality; they do it in the expectation that their inbox will contain a nice, well-written thank you letter for their time. There's plenty of resources on the internet for thank you notes, as well as all other steps I've said before.
If you don't receive everyone's contact info, you should likely receive at least one, so be sure to remember the names of everyone and allow that one person to distribute the letter accordingly. At worst, you can ask the recruiter (whose info you will definitely have) to disseminate.
Also of note, if you are looking to enter a particular field of interest, it is worth creating a non-work related presence ahead of time. Example, if you want to break into a technological field, then starting a blog discussing advancement in computer sciences could be a good start. It shows the field actually interests you, which to many employers is as important as having the skills.
22 Nov 2010, 3:25 pm
