Dear J.T. & Dale: I applied to 100 jobs and didn’t get any responses. So, I invested $350 in a résumé writer. I thought the résumé looked better, until I showed it to three of my friends who are hiring managers. All three of them thought it was horrible. Even worse, all three of them had different things to say about what was wrong. So, what’s the point? — Liza
DALE: As soon as you say, “I applied to 100 jobs,” we know that your approach is the problem, not the résumé. You’re asking your hiring manager friends the wrong question: Instead of asking what they think of your résumé, ask them to talk about the last few people they hired. I hope you will learn that your friends prefer to hire people referred by current employees or who had some other connection to the company. On the other hand, you may learn that they’re the passive sort of hiring managers, ones who just let an automated system prescreen candidates. In that case, you’ll hear the statistics on how few applicants ever get truly considered, and then you’ll see that while 100 applications feels to you like job-searching, it’s really sitting at a computer and job-daydreaming.
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J.T.: My advice is to stop focusing on the résumé and start focusing on your networking. People hire people. You need to figure out ways to get connected and have a conversation so that when they look at the résumé, they actually see what they want to see.
Dear J.T. & Dale: I have a disability that makes it difficult for me to sit at a desk for more than two hours at a time. Every time I reveal this disability, I get excluded from interviews. I’m thinking about just lying; then, once they see my work, they’ll make the accommodation for me. What do you think? — Zach
J.T.: If the job description is clear about what is required and you lie about your ability to do it, then they have every right to fire you for misrepresentation. And, in some states, that would mean that you could not collect unemployment. That said, I understand your frustration. I coach people with disabilities to put together a bucket list of employers that they would dream of working for. I have them network with people who work at those organizations, inquiring as to what it would take for them to hire somebody with a disability. I even have them put together information and resources on the benefits of hiring people with disabilities and sharing that. If you can network your way into these organizations and show them how passionate you are about exceeding expectations, you can eventually get someone to see that hiring you is a win-win. I know it doesn’t seem fair that you have to go the extra effort, but at the same time, if you’re focusing on dream employers, isn’t it worth it?
Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a career coach and the founder of the leading career site www.workitdaily.com. Dale Dauten is founder of The Innovators’ Lab and author of a novel about HR, “The Weary Optimist.” Please visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via email, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803.
