Re: Resumes

[Tim Altom <taltom -at- IQUEST -dot- NET>]

At 05:13 PM 2/20/97 -0800, you wrote:
>At 02:47 PM 2/20/97 -0600, you wrote:
>>But in today's world the best jobs don't even come on the market. You
>>have to be proactive and learn about the plums before they even appear.
>>
>
>So, in addition to "publish or perish," you say "network or nothing"?
>
>Possibly.
>
>Hank
>
No, not quite. But as a relative strategy, consider the numbers. You might
send out dozens or even hundreds of resumes and get how many interviews,
five, ten, a dozen? And how much time must pass? Weeks, perhaps? How much
money are you losing in the interim?

Consider for a moment the purpose of a resume. It's to get you an interview,
isn't it? Why not simply extend the logic to a year-round effort to actually
get to know the hiring manager? It's an extended, personal interview.
Managers feel as queasy about hiring on the basis of a interview as you do
going to the thing. They love to hire old interns, promote internally, and
make other personnel moves for people they know. Even a mediocre but
consistent performance is a known quantity. And as a networking bonus, you
get to know the various organizations and people in them too, so you can
cherry pick a bit on your own. Offhand I'd rather have the competitive
advantage of networking than the retroactive and reactive minor benefits of
resumes.

Tim Altom
Vice President, Simply Written, Inc.
317.899.5882 (voice) 317.899.5987 (fax)
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