Games Game March 2010

What's the Trick To Avoid Getting Filtered Out? (March 2010)

 

Hi Mr. Sloper,

What I want to know is how employers filter résumés. If I know what criteria they use to weed résumés out, I'll know how to design mine so it stays in consideration.

I figure those guys look to see what college I went to and what degree I have, and what my GPA is, and what projects I worked on in class, what technologies and environments I've learned in class.

Also, I heard that I shouldn't put my address in the résumé, because they can always just contact me and ask me where I live if they're interested in me. And then when I've got them on the line, I can put on the sales pressure.

Will those do the trick?

Filter Me Not

Dear Fil,

There are many schools of thought on how best to arrange a résumé and what exactly should go in it. But your résumé isn't likely to get filtered out just because of the way it's laid out, or due to a poor choice of filler material.

First we go through and just look at the email containing the résumé, to see which job (which specialty) the applicant is applying for. Then, having selected the ones applying for the job we're hiring for, we look at the résumé itself. We don't look at the portfolio unless the résumé fits our criteria. Every hirer has different criteria, so some folks might not do it the way I do it.

The things I really look for when filtering résumés are:

• Your focus. Are you applying for a job we have open, and would you fit the opening;

• Have you had work experience? Do you know how to comport yourself in a genuine work environment;

• Where do you live;

• What degree you got (a bachelor's is better than an associate's) and how long you were in school (4 years is much better than 2 years);

• Do you know the stuff we need you to know to do the job we need you to do;

• What you've done with what you learned -- you learned how to program, or draw, or animate, or write, or whatever, right? Prove it. Show me a great portfolio.

Nobody expects a lot in the résumé of a recent graduate. You're brand-new, so of course you don't have much, if any, actual work experience. But if you have the right degree and the right focus, and if we're considering raw candidates, then I might forward you on to the department manager. Or if the department manager needs me to also filter portfolios, then I'd check out your portfolio too. If it's too far removed from what we're looking for, then you're out of the running.

If we're willing to take a raw graduate, that doesn't mean we're willing to deal with the additional bother of interviewing and hiring an out-of-towner. Much less someone from another state or country. So actually, that's usually the first thing I look at on the résumé -- where you live. If you didn't give an address, then I look for clues, like the area code of your phone number, the location of the college you graduated from. If you're applying to be an artist, you've just graduated from a 2-year art school, and you live in another state, then I don't need to look at your portfolio. Because we can find truckloads of good artists just like you right here in town.

So there's no special trick to writing the résumé.  It's what's IN the résumé, not how you write it, that's important.  It's about who you are and what you have to offer. No résumé trickery can hide that from us. If you're raw, the real trick is to be qualified, and to be local. If you're experienced, there is no trick.