"Wow! You like me....you really like me!!" (If you can be the first to name who said that line and at what venue, I will mail you a box of Butterfinger candy bars). Thanks for all the great questions you have been asking over the past couple of weeks! I thought I'd use today's blog as an opportunity to address some of them. Sorry, for those of you who asked, "where do babies come from?" ," Why is Pam Anderson on Dancing with the Stars?", and "Will you marry me Beau?", I will not be addressing those. For all the rest, here we go:
1. When I submit my resume through a companies website, does anyone at the company actually look at it?
The answer is yes....sometimes :) You see, it's the age old numbers game. Depending on the size of the company and the number of applicants it gets, equals if your resume is reviewed by a human being. Take Google for example: Google as we all know, is to many, the holy grail of companies to work for. Hip, successful, and full of long term growth and financial wealth. Google receives 2 resumes via their website every minute, 2,800 per day, 20,000 per week! That's a lot of resumes to review. How can a company keep up with that kind of volume you ask? Well, the answer lies in what is called an Applicant Tracking System, or ATS for short. Back in the 90s and early into the new millennium, companies realized they needed a systematic way to keep track of all those resumes, both so they could review them, but also to understand and track data on candidates that wanted to work for them. Almost every major company today has an applicant tracking system. Along with keeping a record of every resume, the systems also weed out candidates that do not fit the job profiles. Thus, that 20,000 resumes that Google gets every week can be shrunk to a more manageable number where the in house recruiters can actually review them and get them in front of hiring managers. Now don't get me wrong, I have implemented ATS's for some of the biggest companies out there, ones that you would think would want to make sure that a million dollar plus investment in an ATS is used, and alas, they don't use it. So, the advice i have is yes, companies actually do review the resumes....but it's always good to get your resume in front of a real person at the same time too.
2. Should I send a thank you note after an interview and if yes, should I postal mail it or can I email it?
I like the idea of getting a note from a candidate after an interview. I don't think it needs to necessarily be a "thank you" note though. I mean, you didn't just have tea with the Queen of England or my grand mother. Rather than thanking the interviewer, I always like to shoot off a quick note saying that you enjoyed the meeting and then possibly reference something that was discussed in the interview. Possibly you and the interviewer discussed something and you found some more info on that topic and you wanted to share it with him/her. A follow up note is good because it keeps you fresh in an interviewers mind. When we are being interviewed, we always complain that it takes so long to hear back from the company. Well, this is usually do to two reasons, one, you are not the most important thing to the interviewer. He/she does have a job to do. And secondly, the reality is that sometimes an interviewer just forgets that they need to follow up or take an action. Again, this is usually due to point 1. So, like I said, a follow up note usually serves this purpose very well as a reminder. Also, the note shows the interviewer that you were actually engaged in the meeting. That's always a nice thing to show :) As far as the delivery format, email is not only professionally acceptable, it's the most logical and easiest way. For one thing, they get it right away. Second, postal mail usually gets handled by an assistant who may mistake it for junk mail or an advertisement and not get it to the interviewer. And lastly, we kill too many trees as it is! Save some!
3. What is the typical number of rounds of interviews I should expect to go through for a job and how long after completing interviews until I should hear the outcome?
There is no typical. A lot of people like to think that coming in for 3 rounds of interviews is usually the norm. I think this is true, but again, depends on the role and the level. Some jobs can be decided upon in just one interview, some take 6. It just depends on who needs to be involved. I interviewed for a job once where I had my first interview on a Monday, I came back that Wednesday for a second interview, and was offered a job before I left that day. That is a bit unusual and certainly something that if you are in that situation, you should think twice about. I always get a bit suspicious when someone offers you a job on the spot after only spending an hour with you. Makes me wonder how much they really need or want you there and how invested they are in your long term tenure with the company. Interviewing is like dating and needs to be invested in by both parties. I'll be covering that topic in a later post. I have also had an interview experience with a company that I had to meet with 17 different people, come in to their office 8 different times, and the whole process took over three months. That company, we'll call it "Moach", was a bit unusual but nonetheless. If after the third interview and you are feeling as though the process is pointless, you have a right to voice that concern. A lot of times, especially in today's market where the company is in the driver seat for talent, companies will take advantage of the fact that they know you need a job and that you should just be willing to wait as long as they want you to. This is not only unprofessional but risky as well on the companies part. Candidates have long memories and if they aren't treated right, they will remember that next time. But more importantly, if you are feeling wasted by the company, you need to voice that concern because it could be a sign of how decisions are made internally and that could effect your success once you've joined.
As for the amount of time it takes to hear the final outcome after all interviews are complete, a good rule is one week. After at least three rounds of face to face interviews, a hiring manager knows if they want to hire you or not. One week gives them the time to work with human resources on an offer package and any other housekeeping issues. Two weeks can also be normal, depending on what's going on internally or with work deadlines etc. Anything outside of two weeks and I would be nervous. Again, we sometimes forget that we are not the most important thing on a hiring managers mind, but in the end, after two weeks, I'd be wary.
4. Should I list internships on my resume and if so, for how long?
Internships are important, especially on some one's resume who is fresh out of school. They show the interviewer that you took extra steps to further your real world experiences outside of the class room. However, if you are a 42 year old who's had 5 jobs since college, I don't think you need to keep internships on the page. It all comes down to relevance. By including the internship experience on the resume, does it in any way contribute to what I am trying to do now? The key to a good resume is not about putting everything you've ever done in your life on the page, it's about putting what's relevant for today and what is relevant for where you want to go professionally. If mentioning an internship you did 6 years ago doesn't have anything to do with the job your are interviewing for today, take it off.
Well folks, I hope this was helpful. Please keep the questions coming and look for a new Job Juice coming your way!
JJ
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