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By Andy Domino | MiBiz
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WEST MICHIGAN — Finding a job takes years of experience, good performance in the interview process and a little bit of luck — but employers are finding some job-hunters are still stuck on the basics.

“We still get a lot of resumes with typos and no cover letters,” said Lisa Brannan of Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. She’s also co-president of the Kalamazoo Human Resources Management Association. “It seems very basic, but people don’t do it.”

A quick Internet search turns up nearly 3 million results for “job hunting tips,” mostly simple ideas like networking with former co-workers, updating and customizing resumes for a particular position, and doing a little research on the employer before an interview.

“All it takes is a visit to the company website,” Mary-Frances Oliphant, HR director at Schupan and Sons in Kalamazoo, said in an email. “This also demonstrates to the employer that the candidate is interested in being a good fit for the organization, something that should be of primary importance to companies concerned with employee retention.”

But job seekers’ first step is to find an available job. The simplest route is by checking job boards online or even in the newspaper classified ads that are still available. The old saw, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” is probably the best guideline, HR experts say.

“Network, if not face-to-face, at least voice-to-voice,” said Beth Kelly, who operates the Grand Rapids-based HR management firm Connexsource. “To have somebody endorse you will help you stand above the pile of resumes.”

She said typically, the person doing the hiring spends 30 seconds or less glancing at a resume. Printing a clean, grammatically correct copy is important, but in many cases, the data on a resume is translated directly into an automated system, so she said it makes no sense to waste high-quality paper, Kelly said.

“I receive resumes and cover letters that do not address why the candidate is interested in the particular position,” Dan Dunn, VP of human resources at Comerica Bank in Kalamazoo, said in an email. “(The resume should) provide the reader with highlights, causing the recruiter to want to bring in the job seeker for an interview.”

Experts say that a resume should never be more than one or two pages long, and should be customized to the specific job a person is applying for — emphasizing skills relevant to the job, and even using the same keywords found in a job posting, if there are any.

Kelly suggests writing a career objective on a resume, reflecting the specific job.

“Tell people what you’re interested in: not, ‘Anything in management,’ but people need to understand what your strengths are,” she said.

Other hiring officials say too much of a gap on a resume is a red flag. A span of more than 3 or 6 months without a job often indicates that a person has seemingly dropped out of the job-hunting game. Brannan said most recruiters realize that the gap may be a little longer when in a challenging job market, like the one in Michigan right now. Dunn said there’s still plenty of ways to fill a gap in the resume, even if a full-time job isn’t available at the moment.

“Those individuals who have been actively seeking employment, have updated their skills through further education, or are working in some capacity (perhaps through a temporary service) appear to want to be in the workforce,” he said.

If a resume presents the skills an employer is seeking, the next step is the interview. But again, employers are finding job-hunters making a lot of simple errors, Oliphant said. They need to dress nicely — men should wear a suit in all but the most casual workplaces. They need to give honest answers to the hiring official’s questions and sound upbeat, but not overly enthusiastic.

“People want to hire somebody who has confidence to represent the company,” Kelly said.

Brannan said what seem like the most obvious job-search tactics are still important, like being friendly without being aggressive and arriving at the employer’s office 5 to 10 minutes ahead of the appointment. She said a job-searcher could get there even earlier, and use that time to slip into the office bathroom.

“Hopefully you find someone there, and you can say, ‘Hey, how do you like working here?’” she said.

In an interview, job seekers should do more than just answer questions, Dunn said. He suggested creating a mental list of key skills and examples of past experience. That way, the job hunter can point out how he or she can contribute to the company on the first day on the job. It’s also a way to respond to questions about personal strengths and weaknesses.

In an employer’s job market like the one in Michigan, where there are far more job hunters than positions for them, someone looking for work may be willing to take a job that pays less or is less challenging than their last role. But giving a first impression that says, I’ll take any job you offer, is not what companies want to hear, experts say. It’s up to a job hunter with more talent than the job calls for to explain why they’re willing to take a step backwards, professionally.

“If you are overqualified for a job, explain why you’re interested in the job,” Brannan said. “You want to stay in West Michigan. Say, ‘I really want to be in this industry, I have a passion for it. I can do the job, but I’m looking to do more.’”

Kelly said overqualified can mean several things to an employer.

“They’re nervous about your abilities to adapt, that you haven’t kept up with technology, that you’re complacent in your role” and won’t attack your new job with the energy and enthusiasm the employer is looking for, Kelly said.

Lastly, employers still appreciate one last step in the job-hunting process after the interview: sending a thank-you note. It simply reminds the employer what the interview was about, and the skills the job seeker can bring to the workplace on that day the job hunt finally comes to an end, experts said.

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TAGS:

• beth kelly
• comerica bank
• connexsource
• dan dunn
• employers
• employment
• interview
• job search
• job seekers
• kalamazoo