Unfortunately, job search can be a "numbers game". When the Internet first came on the job search scene it was a great differentiator. Candidates who found jobs advertised on the Internet and submitted their resumes via email often went to the front of the line. They were competing with other job searchers who were still combing the Sunday Classifieds and faxing or mailing their resumes to HR departments. My, how times have changed! Now, the online job boards (Monster, DICE, HotJobs, CareerBuilder, etc.) have replaced the Classifieds as the "matchmaker" for candidates and jobs. Companies that use the job boards have built entire infrastructures around posting jobs and receiving, sorting, and sifting resumes. Staffing specialists in companies are often nameless, hiding behind an anonymous email id that obviously does not belong to a person. How do you get your resume read? How do you get it into the hands of the individual that will make the decision on whom to interview? Well, unless you have an "inside connection", it can be a "numbers game". How long will it take you to submit your resume to enough Recruiters and Hiring Managers to find the one that will actually read your resume and contact you to discuss an opportunity? Anyone who has been in the job market in the last 4-5 years knows the answer... it can take a long time! No matter how qualified you may be, no matter how many late nights you spend combing the job boards and responding to postings, it's going to be a frustrating experience! And most of those "blaster" services will get your resume distributed to a large audience, but it will get dropped right into an automated resume system without a recruiter even looking at it. It's going to be there to be searched against in the future, not to be read now! Why does that happen? ... because your resume isn't personal. It gets recognized by receiving email systems as a "blasted" resume and gets filed for later use. That's fine if you are looking for a job later. And you can pay $69, $99, $129, or more for these services. Do they get you an edge on the market? Not if your resume is once again just lost in the pack, indistinguishable from hundreds or thousands of other candidates. Executive Compass is a company offering a low-cost resume distribution service (SendMyResume) that avoids the "blasted" resume look of so many of the other resume distribution websites. Executive Compass allows you to craft a personal cover letter and choose the subject line for your email. Your resume is sent directly to hiring managers and recruiters from your own email address. The service is priced very affordably, at less than one cent per contact. You receive a confirmation page with a complete list of all names, email addresses, companies, and locations to which your resume was been sent. Job search may be a "numbers game", but games are made to be won! |
