The workforce is more competitive than it has ever been. Sure, oftentimes just submitting an online application is all you need to do to get yourself noticed, but it never hurts your chances to think outside of the box.
In addition to your electronic submission, if the company is local, visit the facility and hand them your resume in person. In fact, if it is a small company, you may even ask the receptionist if you can speak to the person hiring for the position. Once you get the chance to meet the hiring manager, kindly introduce yourself and let them know that you wanted to personally drop off your resume. The importance of this small gesture is to prove one thing; INITIATIVE. Hiring managers love employees that go above and beyond the minimum requirements. The fact that you took your time to personally give the manager your resume will speak volumes to what type of candidate that he or she is getting with you. Additionally, in this electronic world, a paper resume will be noticed a seen a lot more than an electronic copy. If receptionist won’t let you see the manager, kindly ask to have your resume put in their mailbox or office.
Adjust your resume to fit the job description. There’s a reason HR spent time compiling the requirements… because that is what they are looking for in their candidate. Without a doubt there are several skill sets that you see on a job posting that you can recall doing at some point in your career. It’s ok to use the job posting as an outline to create your resume. Just make sure what you add to your resume is accurate! Let resume writers help you through the entire resume process.
Lastly, if you aren’t ambitious enough to visit the company in person, it never hurts to call and ask to speak to the person in charge of hiring just to give them a little nudge to be on the lookout for your application. They get so many, and if your name rings a bell when they see it, they are more likely to pick up the phone.
