As constructive criticism to many kababayans in the Philippines who have sent me their resumes since I started this column, I am providing my personal insights for them and our readers to give a glimpse of how the typical busy executive treats these resumes that mirror the applicants.
The resume is just the initial piece of paper that will hopefully catch the interest of the employer’s assigned personnel to select the most likely candidate to be interviewed. Nobody is hired after simply sending a resume.
Let’s paint a hypothetical (but very typical) scenario: I am the vice president, finance of a big private hospital in need of a new accounting manager. An ad for the said vacancy is placed in the Los Angeles Times for a week by our human resources manager. This translates into 500 resumes from applicants. As I am very busy with my duties and responsibilities, the HR staff will sort out all these resumes, pick about 25 to be interviewed by the HR manager and my controller, then endorse to me about 10 applicants to interview. The remaining 475 applicants will just get a form letter, if not a postcard, advising them that the hospital will keep their resume on file – a sort of consuelo de bobo.
During the interview process, I will look beyond the applicants’ resume: their work background, highlights of their professional life, extra-curricular activities or community involvement, leadership, personality, work ethic and communication skills. By the way, US employers generally do not need college transcripts, diplomas or even pictures of the applicants, or do we really care about where the applicants graduated – unlike in our Philippine "caste system" where a college graduate of the University of Aparri or College of Sulu has substantially no chance, despite of all the copies of his/her diploma, transcript and pictures (multiply that unnecessary expense 100 or 300 times!), to compete with the so-called graduates of the "elite" schools like Ateneo, De La Salle, Letran, San Beda, Holy Spirit, Assumption, St. Joseph, Sienna or Miriam. (Come to think about it, these are all Catholic colleges and universities that have taught us that all men are created equal!)
Anyway, prior to the interview, I would read all the resumes and the notes of my HR manager and my controller. I will then tell my secretary or the HR manager to set up an interview of these applicants at my own time and convenience. What I will be looking for is an applicant that can do the job without (or just minimal) supervision; one who can easily blend and can work well with my existing staff. He or she should have a pleasing personality, good communication skills – both verbal and written. His or her family responsibilities should not interfere with the job.
To make my work easier and my professional life less stressful is the primary but unwritten objective in hiring the best candidate.
Imagine yourself as one of the 500 applicants. What are your chances to be interviewed and finally be hired? Be pragmatic in your appraisal of yourself as a businessman treats his business operations.
• Your transcripts or college diplomas are yours; employers do not need them. However, an independent evaluation service company might need them if you are being petitioned by a US employer for a working visa. They need to ascertain that the education you underwent is equivalent to the standards here in the USA.
• Do not send pictures, unless specifically requested. Recommendations are self-serving; never resort to them. This practice is not acceptable in America.
• Your resume should not be your entire biography. We already know that you were born and we don’t need to know the exact town or the place of your birth. If you are a CPA, we can deduce that you also finished high school and college. We don’t need your grade in high school, college or even your grade in the CPA exams. (But I might be interested to know that you finished your college education and passed the CPA exams despite working full time to support yourself.)
• Employers are interested in what you can contribute to the department’s overall objectives or targets. In my marketing company, I am always a sucker for student leaders or working students in college that may more or less mirror my background. Gutsy personality but coachable; strong personality but pleasing; intelligent but not boastful. Research about the company and the executives before your interview. Also, remember that the traits of the applicants being hired must have, to a degree, some correlation or parallel to the traits of the persons hiring.
• Employers will request for personal or professional references if that’s company policy. Do not give them such right away. Never enclose a politician’s recommendation.
• Do not volunteer all the names of your kids, mothers and fathers or grandfather in your resume. Indicating your civil status as "married with two kids" will be more than enough. You do not even have to mention that you are an immigrant or US citizen. If US citizenship is required, it is expressly mentioned in the ad.
• Do not list or give us all the seminars you have attended. We do not have the time to read them. You needed them to improve yourself; we have our own seminars that we worry about.
• If you have to send a cover letter, make it very brief without flowery words or complex adjectives. It should not be more than three short paragraphs. Do not forget your phone number, fax or e-mail address both in this cover letter as well as in your resume.
• Do not send a 12-page resume! Two pages are more than enough for us to see what you can do.
• Above all, never, never be late when you are called for an interview. Arrive early so you have time to relax, observe the company’s surroundings, indulge in small talk with anyone in the front lobby or even a guard about the company. Appointments, are negotiable. If the secretary says 4 p.m., you can always ask how about 2:30 p.m. You must not accept everything everytime. Doing so might be your undoing with your prospective employer.
• Never burn your bridges. I personally brought two Filipino nurses to an American hospital for their interview (they later got a working visa and the job without paying a dime to us in advance). But for unknown reasons, one went back to the Philippines while the other transferred to New Jersey. Both didn’t have the courtesy to inform us they were no longer interested. How very inconsiderate and self-centered! Because of them, we have changed the way we conduct our recruiting activities.
• One last advice: Read, read, read. Seek successful people in the industry you wish to be part of and ask questions. In the final analysis, you will become successful because of two external factors: the people you surround yourself with and the books you read.
By the way, kababayans, when you come to America, try very hard to refrain from prefixing all your sentences with "sir" or "ma’am." It is not necessary, as it also connotes some degree of "inferiority" complex!
Happy Easter to all of you!