Re: Question about sending one's resume to companies
OK. Please refer back to the lurking thread some time ago when ISince you singled out my reply for comment, I feel obliged to stress that I'm not offended. Disagreeing is not the same as being offended. I honestly hope that nothing I said discourages you from contributing in the future.
specifically mentioned WHY I choose to lurk. I thought I was being helpful
with my post. Unfortunately, it appears I've offended some people.
I don't blacklist people because they send unsolicited resumes. I'd like toOK, it's unsolicited submissions that don't show a familiarity with the company that you'd blacklist. But while that modification reports your position more accurately, it doesn't change my original statement.
direct Bruce and others who responded to me to the last paragraph of my
original message:
From a job-hunter's viewpoint, I agree with you completely. Job-hunters who don't show any sign that they 've researched the company to which they apply are lowering their chances. They're losing a chance to stand out from other applicants, and they risk offending employers. In other words, they're using poor tactics.
However, from an employer's view, I disagree. Discarding mass-mailing submissions would be a good way to weed out the mass of resumes - except for the fact that, as you say, very few people customize their submissions to the company. For that reason, refusing unsolicited, uncustomized resumes is not a very good filter; it's as likely to discard good job candidates as bad ones. That's why I believe that the practice isn't good for a company.
I mean, let's face it: as much as employers may dream of highly motivated employees, most are simply looking for a regular pay cheque. That's one reason, I think (besides the ease of them), why mass mailings are so common. While job-hunters may have some companies or industries they want to avoid for ethical reasons, most of them are probably less concerned with which company they work for so long than with working at a decent salary. For example, a Techwr-l poll about a year ago suggested that only a minority would follow the industry they were involved with if they weren't being paid. Naturally, employers are looking for that minority, but the reality is that most positions are probably going to be filled with the less strongly motivated. However, being less strongly motivated doesn't mean that someone won't do a professional, highly acceptable job, or that employers still don't want the best of the less strongly motivated - even though, ultimately, such people may be second best.
That's why, when I've had a say in hiring, I've gone through all the resumes that were submitted, no matter how unfamiliar their senders seemed with the company. Oh, I grumbled, and I didn't keep up with the influx unless looking to fill a specific position. But I did find some fairly decent people that way. If I had used the same filter, I would have had a much harder time. In fact, I'm not sure that some of the positions could have been filled at all.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
"'Hal-an-tow, jolly rumbelow,
We were out long before the day-o,
For to welcome in the summertime, To welcome in the May-o,
Summer is a-coming in and winter's gone away."
- Traditional, Halston Furey Dance
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