Hiring Managers Brain Exposed

Hiring Managers Brain ExposedHiring Managers Brain ExposedHiring Manager Jillian Zavitz unveils herbei brain and what she looks for when she reviews a resume.It was succinct, and on target. In short, the teachers resume was perfect for a job teaching English as a second language (ESL) online.The resume worked. It caught the attention of Jillian Zavitz, programs manager for TalktoCanada.com, which offers online English learning instruction.Such a revelation is rare for resume writers and readers. Theres no transparency when youre job-hunting. A hiring manager doesnt take time out of her day to tell us our resumes are too long or our experience irrelevant, or that weve presented ourselves suspiciously as the perfect candidate. That lack of transparency stops here. Weve persuaded hiring managers to dissect what it is they liked enough about a resume to hire a candidate. Heres Zavitz, letting us peer into her hiring process.Short Sweet FocusedFirst off, the cover letter really focused on exactly what Zavitz was looking for. The openingThe enclosed resume will highlight my achievements in the teaching field as well as showcase my dedication to education. I have a strong academic background in education and applied linguistics. I have recently completed a masters degree in Applied Linguistics, specializing in literacy.The cover letter also covered the candidates teaching experience, her future, what her goals are, why she thinks shed be a good person for this lokalitt, Zavitz said. Its short and sweet and grabs my attention. She has experience abroad, shes taught a bunch of levels, she obviously has education behind it and its exactly what Im looking for.Everything in the resume was also related to education. Personally I dont care if you sweep floors somewhere, Zavitz said. I dont want to read that. Thats not important.FlexibleAt the top of the candidates one-page resume, Zavitz said she loved the objective in the candidates executive summary To obtain a highly re sponsible part-time or full-time position in the teaching field where proven skills and education can be used to benefit the school in its success.I love that its not demanding, Zavitz said. Shes not just looking for full time shes available part time as well. Shes flexible, shes dedicated to teaching, wants not only to help students but the school as well. I imagined that shed help the school, give us ideas and help us grow with her dedication to the position.BelievableZavitz liked the resume, but just as importantly, she believed it. She said that hiring managers can tell when people are filling it with blah, blah, blah, and just trying to get our attention. Too-good-to-be-true resumes give themselves away by parroting the job listings exact requirements. In this case, an unbelievable resume would have included experience in the Middle East (rare), familiarity with the companys platform (impossible unless the candidate had worked with the company before) and a preference for work ing the graveyard shift (unlikely).Specific DatesZavitz also liked the specificity of the candidates experience dates, which listed day, month and year. For Zavits, specific dates are a sign of validity that the dates arent fictitious. And while acceptable, vague dates like 2005-2006 are hard to pinpoint, which personally bothers Zavits who said it can mean anything from two days to two years.Knowing how her industry works, the specific dates allowed Zavitz to interpret something about the candidates level of commitment. The candidate taught at a Chinese school for exactly one year, which told Zavitz that she had a one-year contract and then moved on.ReferencesThis candidate listed two references at the bottom of her resume. Professional resume writers dont typically advise job seekers to put references on their resumes and Zavitz rarely calls the references candidates volunteer - the real references are the ones they dont have, not the good ones they list.But in this case, the ref erences were actual people related to past positions. Theyre not like your moms best friend, Zavitz said. Its related to the position theyre applying for.The educator was hired and successfully worked with TalktoCanada for two years. In other words, she was as good as her very good resume.