Since joining Amazon, I've had a surprising number of displaced leaders reach out about helping them land a great job. I've helped several land great jobs with Amazon and other companies, but I continue to see common trends and pitfalls worth noting. I know a lot of HR leaders and business partners, and they're some of the greatest people, but they are BUSY!!!!! A good external job posting at Amazon, Apple, or Alphabet probably gets thousands of applicants, so making it to a first interview is often the biggest challenge for a frustrated job-seeker.
Here's 12 tips that'll help you get through that first part of the process:
- You have 5 seconds. If your resume doesn't stand out in a positive way in less than 5 seconds, they've moved on.
- Format so a BOT can work your resume right every time - If you've ever applied to an online posting and the upload of your resume put things in the wrong spots, you know it's not formatted for these mediums properly. Fix it!
- 1-2 pages. If the job you expect to land has a base salary under $100,000, you have a one page limit.
- Be normal (unless you're in a creative field). 10-12 point. Normal font. Normal margins. Normal spacing. No glamour shots.
- Be quantitative. How many people did you manage? How big were your budgets? What did you accomplish - 38% bottom line growth year over year? 23% improvement in customer satisfaction? 81% reduction in turnover?
- Skip the summary. All you usually do in that paragraph is limit your job options and waste space. This is your resume not your autobiography.
- Use bullet points. List the job, company, dates. Give a 1-2 sentence summary of job scope. Drop to bullets to highlight key accomplishments for that role.
- Lose the acronyms and industry-specific terms from the dying industry you left. Terms like VPG or DPMO mean little outside the specific business or function where they're used.
- Forget Title. I've been a CEO and now I'm a Manager. It took me a minute to get over that anxiety, but here's the reality... Both have me managing huge budgets, leading great teams, responsible for big business decisions, and BOTH pay six figures. If you can't come to terms with the fact that you don't have your old job any longer, well then enjoy retirement!
- Know your Value. Be realistic about what you have accomplished and what you bring to the table. Don't exaggerate. Don't sell yourself short. Facts. Numbers. Statistics. Don't be the ass that takes credit for someone elses work.
- Lose "References Upon Request". They know that. \\\
- Network. Network. Network. All the above said, you're probably going to land a great job for a good boss by meeting that good boss first and finding out they have a great job open before you ever apply. Show some initiative. Use your network. Get off your butt. Sometimes you find the job before the hiring manager and sometimes its the other way around, but work all the angles to maximize your chances of success!
I hope these insights help you land that next great role. I know it can be tough, but there are some really great jobs out there. Go get yourself one!
Creating a culture of collaborative teamwork to achieve breakthrough results for hotels, resorts, and attractions. Former CEO | VP Sales and Marketing | Revenue Management | Customer Advocacy | Adjunct Professor
3 年Great advice. Congrats on landing the new role with Amazon. You are going to accomish great things.