?? How to secure an interview? ??

The purpose of a resume is to secure an interview. The purpose of an interview is to secure an offer. The purpose of an offer is to secure a new job. Today, I will write about part one of this equation, “How to be selected and secure an interview?”

With my combined 17 years of owning my recruiting agency, Direct IT Recruiting Inc., these are my top recommendations to help you secure an interview and be well on your way to the next chapter of your successful career.

1. Customize your resume for each job application. Ensure that any mandatory requirements listed on the job description are highlighted in your resume's SKILLS and WORK EXPERIENCE sections. This allows recruiters to clearly see that you have the skills and experience required for the role and that we can qualify the years of experience.

2. Do not include a cover letter. We do not have time to read cover letters. Recruiters spend, on average, 5 seconds reading a resume before deciding to pursue or not to pursue a candidate.

3. Include your cell phone number, LinkedIn URL, and email address on your resume so we can contact you quickly.?Recruiters often work within a 1–48-hour deadline to submit a candidate. Please be responsive to recruiters. Each minute counts, and recruiters may also have a cap on the maximum number of candidates we can submit. The first qualified candidates to respond will be submitted.

?4. Your LinkedIn URL should be personalized with your first and last name, such as https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/darlasomerville/ This demonstrates attention to detail and professionalism.

5. Your LinkedIn profile should have an inviting, smiling, professional picture of yourself from the shoulders up.

6. Your resume and LinkedIn profile should reflect the exact month-year start and end dates for each work experience with the same titles, education and certifications. Recruiters ensure the accuracy of both the resume and LinkedIn profile otherwise, there are too many red flags, and we may decline the candidate. We ask ourselves, is the candidate being truthful? The resume and LinkedIn's accuracy will demonstrate the candidate's attention to detail.

7. Keep the length of your resume to 2-3 pages. Some of our customers will only accept a resume with 3 or fewer pages otherwise, the candidate is REJECTED.

8. Perfect spelling and grammar are essential on the resume. Grammarly is a great tool and tremendous help with your resume writing.

9. No gaps in the resume. If there is a gap, such as maternity leave, sailing worldwide for a year, furthering your education, taking care of a family member, etc., please indicate these timeframes on the resume.

10. Do not be a job hopper. If you have multiple jobs listed, gaps in the resume, and a plethora of 1-3 month contracts, the recruiter will REJECT your resume.

11. Post your resume on Monster.ca. Professional recruiters pay for a subscription to the Monster resume database. If the recruiter likes your resume posted on Monster, we can contact you immediately as the phone number and email address are listed.

12. Post your resume on ZipRecruiter.?Professional recruiting agencies pay for the privilege to access the resume with the phone number and email address so that we can contact the candidate immediately.

13. Post your resume on Indeed. Please embed your LinkedIn URL within the resume so that we can try to reach you quickly. Email addresses and phone numbers are removed from an Indeed resume making it difficult for a recruiter to contact a candidate. The Monster and ZipRecruiter candidates have a head start on being submitted, as Indeed is a passive system. If your LinkedIn URL is embedded in the Indeed resume, we will immediately send you a LinkedIn message.

14. Please enable the #OPENTOWORK green label on your LinkedIn profile picture. This immediately allows recruiters to know that you are looking.

15. RTR – Right To Represent. Professional agencies will kindly request a Right To Represent for a specific company, job title, job ID (if available). Please email back to your recruiter that “I understand and approve”. Please keep a meticulous spreadsheet of which company, job ID, title, location and date of each of your resume submissions. Some companies keep your resume on file for 6 months and up to 12 months. If you duplicate a resume submission, then your candidacy will be declined.

We wish you the best of luck securing the interview with these tips.

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