<p>My youngest college grad has sent out some 20 resumes per week for advertised job openings in very large companies relevant to his major, with a hand-tailored cover letter each time. He’s heard back nothing on hundreds of submissions, not even a courtesy negative reply.</p>
<p>I wonder what he might ask, during a follow-up check-in phone call, that would allow him to come in person to talk to anyone relevant. I don’t care if it’s a Human Resources officer or someone in a department, it seems to me he just needs to put a face on the e-submission to get some attention.</p>
<p>It’s almost as if he needs a good pick-up line!</p>
<p>If it is literally multiple hundreds, perhaps the resume needs an overhaul? But that is not your question so I have only these suggestions: If he knows the company he should follow up 3-4 days after he sends the resume with a phone call. Have him find out the HR recruiters name or make a blind call. He should use Linked in to find out if he knows ANYONE in the company who would be willing to stop by or call HR and put in a word. Finally if he has a specific target industry/location he might try getting an interview foot in the door through an outside recruiter. Often larger companies will work with specific recruiters and often the jobs are posted on the company website as well as with a recruiter. Finally if he’s pulling jobs from company websites, if the job has been posted for many, many months then the company is looking for something very, very specific and that might be an entre: Call and say something like "I noticed this job was posted x months ago, are you planning on filling it? Is there something specific you are looking for I might not have addressed on my resume. Sometimes job are “posted” because a manager wants to hold the headcount but the manager isn’t specifically interested in filling the job in the near term so determining if it’s a “real job” can help. Sometimes it’s as simple as an e-mail a week or two later that says, “I applied for xyz job and haven’t heard anything back, can you give me an update on what is happening with efforts to fill that job. I’m still interested.”</p>
<p>Very large companies handle very large amounts of applications. They are screened by computer looking for hot words. If they pass that step, then they are reviewed by a live person.</p>
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<p>Company could care less at the first stage. The question is: does the person have what they are looking for. In the job posting, they will say what the person does and what KSA’s (knowledge, skills, abilities) and experience they want in the candidate. Make sure the resume and cover letter address all those areas. Not with “i can learn it”, but with examples of how they meet the criteria. If the tie between a requirement and something on the resume is not clear, make sure the cover letter clarifies. In fact, make sure the cover letter makes the tie regardless. If the requirement is GPA of 3.5 or higher, then state on the cover letter GPA of 3.8. You get 15-30 seconds with the first live reviewer. The less they have to work, the more likely you are to get past that person.</p>
<p>You didn’t ask, but I am going to suggest he start networking. Find a professional organization related to the field he is in tersted in and join it. Attend the meetings. Not sure how this works in the humanities, but I know engineering and science professionals have local tech groups in most major cities which meet about once a month. Perhaps a college professor could help him find one or two. People who attend these meeting tend to be folks who know who is hiring and when.</p>