Courtesy and technology seem to differ from place to place when it comes to the application process right now. It is important to remember the human touch on both sides of the application process.
Gone are the days when a personalized letter or email would automatically come from an employer to a potential applicant; in many cases, a form letter/email is sent out to every applicant regardless of qualification that indicates that an application has been received and will be reviewed or kept on file for x amount of days.
As a prospective employee, employing the human touch in the process may be to consider using tools like LinkedIn to contact people at companies who may be involved in the hiring process for an informational interview. For many of my colleagues and students, this process has been a great success. Spending a few minutes on the phone or via email conversing with a prospective coworker or employer can make you stand out in a stack of resumes.
Take it from me – I have seen a few people over the years who frown at the prospect of simply contacting someone they don’t know to engage in friendly dialogue; those people are generally unemployed or unemployable for longer periods because they don’t know how to banter with someone without it ending with a job at the end. Fact-finding missions like informational interviews create a low-pressure environment to gauge interest and get you on the right track BEFORE you go on an interview.
So the next time you think about sending a resume to 100 different places, think about the personal touch, and how you can make your way through the sea of applicaitons.
