Why I Delete Your Resume: Insight into the Employer’s Mind

When it comes to the hiring process, showing passion will help lift your resume through the mounds of options.

SPONSOREDUpdated 5:17PM • 03/16/16

As No Limit Agency* has grown, I have become more and more removed from the hiring process. I rely on my team to pick those who they want to enter our system. However, from time to time, I will get an itch to help sift through the resumes that come into our agency.

January was one of those itches.

I deleted hundreds of resumes—looking at each carefully before pushing delete. Here are a few of the thoughts that went through my head:

Reason I delete: If you’ve only been at your current job less than a year before applying for another, that is a red flag for me. If we are going to build a great agency, we have to try to find people who won’t quit a year in. We want people who want longevity. Less than a year shows me that you have commitment issues, which creates a little concern in my head.

Solution: Sometimes jobs are not the right fit. Put this in your cover letter. Call out your thought process. This way, you play to crisis management before having your resume removed from the process.

Reason I delete: The LinkedIn blast—where you apply to every job that exists (and you don’t write a cover letter and your resume does not match what we are looking for).

Solution: Cover letters provide you another opportunity to tell your why. Why should the company hire you? Even if you use a template approach to your cover letter, add in a little customization to help off-set the flaws in appearance. Don’t let the employer judge your book by your cover.

Reason I delete: Typos, carelessness, to whom it may concern, misspelling of my name, or the wrong name all-together.

Solution: Every time we post a job posting, we get at least one person who puts in someone else’s name from another company. Part of this is probably because they are blasting—but part of this is also carelessness. When looking for a job at an agency, carelessness can cause frustration with the client. Frustration with a client could cause you to lose your job. Therefore, read your stuff over—or have a friend read it, too.

Reason I delete: No energy toward the company. You have a boring resume when you are a graphic designer. You have a boring cover letter when you are a writer. Or you have a boring combination of both when you are applying for a more senior position.

Solution: I get it. Finding a job is tough—especially when there are so many options to apply to—and only so much time in the day. While, in this job climate, your laziness can probably still land you a job, if you are looking for a career that you can be proud of, you need to put the energy up front.

Reason I delete: Inquiry comes through our Website and says that you are interested in applying, and then you proceed to ask where and who you apply to.

Solution: Google it. Or read the Website. Our site, at least, provides tons of contacts. And, if you look our team up on LinkedIn, you will find even more ways to contact us. Make it personal.

While these may be slightly novice, they are stopgaps to help prevent the wrong person from joining our company. The little things go a long way in the hiring process. Showing compassion and passion will help lift your resume and cover letter through the mounds of options. The good news is that 99 percent of resumes that come through to the agency get deleted—therefore, it doesn’t take much to make yours great.

*This brand is a paid partner of 1851 Franchise. For more information on paid partnerships please click here.

Why I Delete Your Resume: Insight into the Employer’s Mind

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