The Importance of Being Personal

I just posted a small web design job on getafreelancer.com. Not surprisingly, given the state of the economy, we have been inundated with responses - far more than we got the last time I posted something like this.

I just spent an hour skimming through them and of the 30 bids I reviewed, only one was in any way personalized. Only one person showed any signs of having read my brief and looked at the attached files. I’m looking for a design only (no coding) and I specifically said this in my posting. Yet several people have sent me links to look at their previous coding projects.

The others have sent me links to work samples that bear no relation to what I’m looking for. Their emails to me include things like “we have 5 years of experience coding large scale websites.” Great! If I ever need to code a large website, I’ll know just who to call! But right now, I need a web designer to create a Photoshop file for me - JUST LIKE I DESCRIBED IN MY AD!

This is exactly what it’s like to wade through job applications. It’s almost always as though no one even read your ad. You search and search for that resume or cover letter or e-mail introduction that screams “I know just what you need and I can help” but you rarely see it. That’s where you can set yourself apart.

Please, please, please make sure your cover letter or email introduction specifically addresses the needs of the employer and edit your resume to address the requirements in the job posting. If they say ‘experience in new channel development’ is the most important requirement for a sales person, make sure your 5 years of doing that is highly visible. You can guess which designer I’m hiring.

Cross-posted on my Blue Sky Resumes blog

Comments

[Paul]

Good article, running with the quality, and not so much the quantity - of your resume submissions is something that I found extremely helpful in my last job search. True, spending more time on one submission leaves you with less prospective jobs you've applied for - but it does make a noticeable difference in the callback ratio you have with recruiters. And in these times, you're certainly going to need something to capture a recruiters attention.