Recently a company we were assisting was looking to recruit a senior manager. We are not recruiters, however we do help our clients with critical processes and decisions.
The candidate would become the senior manager in the company and will be responsible for all aspects of the company. The company placed ads in various places including job web sites, industry web sites and the Straits Times. The job ads included the name of the company and its line of business. Potential applicants could only apply through an email.
We received just over 90 applications. The whole process was successful and the position has now been filled with a strong candidate.
Remember that we were looking for a senior manager. This person would set the direction of the company and we had to have the confidence that they could steer the company in the right direction. The first clue for this competence will come from the application.
Consider some statistics from the process.
The cover email is the first opportunity to get the attention of the person reviewing the the applications.
Amazing. The recruiter is looking for people who match the company, why not make their job easier by showing up front why you match their business?
(There was one classic example where the candidate had forwarded their application email from previous applications. We had a full list of all the companies they had sent applications and the timeline of their applications.)
The strength statement is a concise statement of your particular strengths and capabilities. It presents your unique offering to the company. If you do not know how to position yourself, how will you lead and position the company?
The strength statement should explain your unique capabilities, your areas of strength and most importantly the areas you are motivated to achieve. Half of those that did include a strength statement were convinced they were superman or superwoman. They claimed to be able to do everything and, of course, immediately lost credibility.
A candidate that knows the boundaries of their capability stands out. A candidate that knows where they want to excel stands out even more.
This is a management position, the ability to use a word processor is not necessarily a pre-requisite, however if you can't find someone to help you format your resume, what's going to happen when you start working for the company?
As a manager, it is your achievements that will speak the most. Education is important, however put it at the bottom.
No it wasn't read. Consistently the best candidates (as discovered through an initial phone interview and the subsequent personal interview) had short concise resumes.
Most of the candidates applied in response to the newspaper advertisement. This was also surprising. Are there really managers out there who have yet to discover and understand the internet?
This one totally amazed me. What sort of drive does someone have who can't even follow up with a phone call?
The good news is that if you are reading this entry, then you will be one of the more aware candidates. You are ahead of the competition.
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