In order to be the best job seeker possible, you need an understanding of what is going on in the heads of hiring professionals. In the current economic situation, with hundreds of thousands of people out of work, how can the overwhelmed HR professionals and recruiters possibly handle the volume of resumes they receive? Well, that's sort of a related question.
On Nick Corcodolis's, Ask the Headhunter, he sited and summarized "Why hiring is paradoxically harder in a downturn" by Auren Hoffman.
Here's my take away from reading Hoffman's piece:
The world of work is made up a A, B, and C Players. (A players are the best and C players do the job). Of course, most companies want to hire A players. The other important fact is that there are more B players than A players and even more C players than B. This makes A players scarce.
When layoffs occur, usually the C players are let go first. The company will try and hold on to A players, yet that isn't always possible. (i.e. Construction, Financial and Legal industries were hit hard and all players lost their jobs despite how well they performed)
The challenge now for companies is to find the A Players among the see of B and C Players applying for jobs. The resume isn't the greatest tool to use in screening these players.
An A player is innovative and hard working and their resume demonstrates that with accomplishments. NOT the words "innovative" and "hard working".
The other lesson here is that you want to be known for being an A Player, not a slacker. Do whatever you can do to change the way you do your job to become an A Player!
Hannah Morgan speaks and writes about job search and career strategies. She founded CareerSherpa.net to educate professionals on how to maneuver through today’s job search process. Hannah was nominated as a LinkedIn Top Voice in Job Search and Careers and is a regular contributor to US News & World Report. She has been quoted by media outlets, including Forbes, USA Today, Money Magazine, Huffington Post, as well as many other publications. She is also author of The Infographic Resume and co-author of Social Networking for Business Success.