Re: How do you differentiate yourself (UserFriendly)

["Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>]

I can't really say that I do much resume tailoring.  I have 
some variations on my full resume that bring specific
areas of experience into greater prominence and select
from these the one I think a potential employer or client
may find most relevant, but I can't recall the last time I
revised a resume specifically for one recipient.  My
resume "tailoring" really happens in my selection of
who I give it to.  The cover letter is, of course, very 
specifically tailored.

I don't use online sites for samples.  All my soft-copy
samples are either emailed or handed over in-person
on CD.  My soft-copy samples are all either documents
that are not sensitive because can be downloaded from 
compant websites, or highly scrubbed excerpts that
contain covers, TOCs and snips from chapters with
sensitive or proprietary information deleted and a 
note to the effect that my arrangements with the doc
owner is that I will provide the full printed version 
for in-person inspection but not redistribute copies 
of it.

As for thank-you's, I still consider them jobhunting
101, but it's amazing how seldom I get them.  I fear
the "throw out the old, tired ways" thinking of the
dot-com era has resulted in an entire generation of
people who have no idea how to look for a job.

Gene Kim-Eng




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dori Green" <dgreen -at- associatedbrands -dot- com>

> It's different and amusing, I'm told, that my resume and cover letter
> indicate that I have done some homework, know a little something about
> the company and its products and its culture, and know enough about
> myself to be able to indicate specifically how my particular set of
> skills would fill their stated needs.  
> 
> I post some of my samples on an invitation-only Yahoo group and offer to
> bring other samples to an interview.  If the potential employer
> indicates any difficulty using the Yahoo group, I offer to e-mail those
> samples directly to them -- I do not offer to teach them how to sign up
> for Yahoo or insist that they do so.  
> 
> I include a "hook" that the physical samples are more recent and more
> directly related to their topics -- and some are proprietary so I can
> show them but cannot let them out of my direct control so that I can
> protect the confidentiality of my other employers.  Most potential
> employers like the idea that I am aware and careful about such
> considerations, and that I will be as cautious with their information.  
> 
> I can't believe that other candidates don't tailor their applications.
> I'm told it's obvious that most of them don't even bother to look at a
> company's website.  I just don't get that.
> 
> I also send prompt thank you cards with a handwritten note inside to
> every person who takes time for me.  I won a job once because I sent a
> thank you and a cute $1 wet kitten refrigerator magnet to the
> receptionist who found me a hot cup of coffee and a real cloth towel
> when I arrived at a New Jersey interview in a pounding New Jersey
> rainstorm.  I can't believe other candidates don't do those things, but
> I'm told that I'm very different.  I guess this is not a bad thing.

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