Tips to Help You Fit the Round Hole- Round Peg Profile Process
Years ago, one of the greatest things I learned in Navy Recruiting School was the meaning of “Empathy” (not to be confused with sympathy) Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes without getting emotionally involved. Empathy in your job search can be a great asset. So as you read this article try to harness your ability to empathize and think like the people responsible for making the decision to HIRE YOU.
One thing Job Applicants either don’t realize or don’t want to realize is that, hiring you is a BUSINESS DECISION and not a personal one. I hear all the time from all different job seekers, things like: I know I am qualified for that position and can’t even get a call back, or that company never even called me back after the interview… Recruiters may seem like the Gate Keeper or your enemy but to a company they are cost savers. Their job is to find the type of people that can do the job, are going to be a cultural fit and have the longevity to grow and prosper with the company. Now to give you some insight into why this is important to a business( and yes I know I mentioned this before), look at it this way: On average SHRM reports it cost a company on average $4,800 to hire one person factoring in recruitment cost (sourcing/ advertising ect). To replace an employee that leaves a company, it cost 150% of that persons yearly salary to recruit, train and get up to speed a new hire factoring in lost productivity. So you can see why the recruiters job is ultimately important to a company’s bottom line, they have to be able to do their due diligence on an applicant early in the hiring process and unfortunately the very first filter of this process is done based off a resume, yes a resume. Think of the entire onboarding process as a huge funnel with various screening out points to take a large group of applicants down to a few, leaving the best potential matches at the end.
Now nothing is 100% but for the most part, a good recruiter can profile an applicant based off a resume and be pretty close to 80% correct on whether or not that applicant is going to cost either time (which is money) or if they are going to have a high propensity to make it through the interview process, not bad odds when you consider the amount of resumes they receive. Let’s call this the round hole, round peg part of the funnel, square pegs don’t fit round holes right? If a recruiter has few applicants for a position, they may take the time (Money) to dig deeper and make the square peg round but obviously that is not going to be the case very often given the number of qualified applicants on the market.
Now each individual, each job, each company and each recruiter is different but the common key is that everyone is looking to fit a round peg in the round hole. The best recruiters know how to make the best matches from the very first contact which like we said is your resume. This is why an effective resume is so important, I wrote a piece earlier on the MilitaryStars blog called “Rescuing Your Civilian Resume” which details more of the nuts and bolts of the resume, for the purpose of this article, we will focus more on the psychology behind the profiling process and what you can do to make the cut. A lot of this will apply to the interview phase as well if you are successful at getting that far.
Now as a Job seeker, it is your responsibility to make your resume attractive enough to become that recruiters (or companies) round peg. Easier said than done right? Well it becomes a little easier if you think about things and approach the application process with that specific companies prospective in mind. The most effective way (besides insider information) is to use the same profiling method a recruiter uses on your resume to decode the companies Job Description for the position you are applying for. The Job Description can give you valuable information and tell tale signs of ways to make yourself more of a round peg. As an example, here is an actual company description I took off of a Job Posting found online:
“ ABC company is a passionate and dedicated team that prides ourselves on meeting the needs of our customers through technology based solutions and a dedicated focus on providing the highest quality service. We are currently interviewing local candidates for the position of Maintenance Technician. The Maintenance Technician is responsible for troubleshooting and repair of our clients equipment onsite at their facilities”.
Now the average job seeker will take this at face value and focus on the fact that this basic description says maintenance, troubleshooting and repair and say “hey I can do that all day long”. However, decoded to a recruiter this says we need a good maintenance person but equally as important we need a sharp looking individual that carries themselves well that can work at our customers facility. They must present a solid and professional type image because they are representing our company. This person must be a customer focused individual with great customer service skills and a sales type personality. Additionally since we are technology based, we need an individual that is knowledgeable about new technologies and not just familiar with older equipment and processes.
So how does this apply to your resume or introduction at the interview? The average Job seeker (square Peg) would highlight keywords and situations focusing on the duties of the job (I.E. Maintenance, troubleshooting ect.). However, the better candidate (round Peg) will additionally focus on the intangible skills like customer Service, sales, professional demeanor, and may even showcase experience/ knowledge about new technology or even list things like held a Top Secret Security Clearance (good indicator of credit worthiness and responsibility).
Notice also, that the description says “Interviewing Local Candidates”. Now does this mean if you are not local you don’t have a chance? Actually you may still but it is going to be more difficult to get through the resume screening. Companies that post for local candidates only do so for one of two reasons. First, they have been burned by new employees who move to the area and leave only after a few months or weeks due to the location (wasted company money). For example, it’s hard for someone from Texas to assimilate quickly and enjoy living in New York City even if it’s a great job unless they have ties to the area. The second reason is most likely they do not have a budget for paying new employees relocation costs. (Transitioning Veterans should make it know they have a Military move)
It is obvious in this day and age that you must have multiple versions of your resume. I would encourage you to do the “Empathy” test on each version, based on the company and position you are applying for before you hit send. My personal recommendation is to print out 4 things: your resume, the company job description, the company Mission Statement and the About Us page from the company website. Now set all four things next to each other and read them carefully as you never know what information you will be able to pull out of them. Draw a line from important items in the companies information to areas of your resume you feel match up or lend themselves to what the company would be looking for. Circle every keyword you can find on the Job Description and draw a line to the word or phrase on your resume, count keywords that are listed multiple times in the Job Description, the ones listed most in the Job Listing are the most important to them and they should be to you. List these as close to the top of your resume and make them as prevalent as possible. Eliminate overflow information on your resume that does not apply to give yourself more space to focus/ elaborate on the items the company has listed as required or desired.
Now let’s talk briefly about the “Empathy” Test on your interview preparation. Hopefully, you have read and retained the information from the items you printed out for the resume test. Now it is time for you to do your due diligence on the company or interviewer. When the interview is set up, many Recruiters or Talent Acquisition people will tell you whom you are interviewing with or scheduled to meet initially, either with them or possibly the Hiring Manager directly. Either way, now is your time to research them and find out what information you can use to prepare yourself. As I mentioned above, Cultural Fit should be foremost in your mind, most interviewers sub consciously hire people who are most like them. First, let’s check the more popular Social networking sites for the Interviewers profiles I usually start with Linked-In or Facebook, then move on to more Niche sites ERE, Brazen Careerist and now the new BeKnown by Monster/ Facebook. You are looking for items that can aid you in your preparation, I will discuss this in more detail on my next blog about interviewing. However, for today, lets hit on the most prevalent. The following are items to look for: Where they went to school, Where they are From, How long they have been with the company, have they moved up through the ranks of the company or direct hire in from another company? Did/do they play sports, favorite teams, Military Service, Branch? This is all great information to help you build rapport and bond with the interviewer. In addition to preparing yourself for the technical (functions of the Job) also prepare yourself for the intangible and remember (Rapport+Personality+Likeability= Cultural Fit).
