Highlights
“What I found in my experience is that [a Cover Letter] also can be a tool that highlights: gaps in your resume, your interest, or your connection to the mission and vision of the organization and can really give the recruiter or ultimately the hiring manager or search committee insight into your worldview.”
[Cover Letter]
“With technology helping to make talent acquisition much more productive and efficient, I think the first step would be to ensure that your resume matches what the organization is seeking.”
[Cover Letter]
“You have to be your biggest advocate. You have to be your biggest advocate in an interview and show them this is what it’s like to work with me.”
[Interview Mistakes]
“The overarching strategy is that, over time people change positions. Three to four years down the line, they’re now showing as the vice president of a Fortune 500. So that recommendation is no longer just from a colleague. It’s now from a Fortune 500 C-level executive.”
[LinkedIn]
“But I think knowing the organization and the industry is going to be most beneficial in order to display those transferable skills.”
[Transferable Skills]
“I think that’s one of the biggest things that I’ve done over time is network, network, network. Because I’ve gotten resources and tools from people over time that I feel like are invaluable compared to my peers.”
[Networking]
Standing Out
Before getting to an interview – what are some ways a candidate can stand out?
“I think having a resume that captures their experience in a way that not only shows the outcomes of the work that they’ve done, but shows it in a very succinct and concise way.
I think depending on the organization, the candidate should definitely research the expectations of the role, and ensure that their CV or their resume is reflective of the organizational culture. As an example, as someone who’s in higher education, it is very acceptable, and probably normal, to have a multi-page CV or resume.
I think as you move into corporate spaces, your Fortune 500’s, etc. – when I recruited in those spaces, I didn’t have a lot of time to review a ton of resumes, so less was definitely more. Understanding the industry that the person is trying to break into is important.”
Cover Letter
“I think another thing is standing out by a cover letter. I think sometimes, depending on the organization, people can think that cover letters are invaluable or that they are just kind of old school additions to the resume.
“I think lately what I’ve seen is – Yes, AI and technology has come to make crafting a cover letter quick and easy. But someone like me who uses AI very frequently, who has studied large language models, I can identify that quickly and it’s almost as off-putting because it seems like there’s less effort. And so yes, AI is about efficiency. Yes, AI is a tool to assist, but it takes away that human touch. So I think just remembering that a Cover Letter is that kind of way to put the bow on your CV or your resume.”
What about having your cover letter or your resume match the job description? Like put it into ChatGPT and have it mimic the keywords and all that kind of thing. Is that something that’s important?
“I think that is extremely important because I’ve worked across a variety of industries and a variety of organizations and so oftentimes individuals don’t know if it’s going to be a machine that is going to screen your resume or a human. If it’s a machine it’s definitely going to be keywords; if it’s a human, it’s going to be keywords as well as those human elements.
But I think there’s that added benefit of giving someone the luxury of knowing similar organizations that you’ve been a part of. And so although you might not highlight that you were responsible for talent acquisition or recruiting your resume, if I know that you worked in a account executive role at Adeco, for example – I’ve worked at that organization. I know kind of the customer acquisition pieces. I think that would be something that would be synonymous for a role that I’m seeking (if it was talent acquisition, for example.) So you know that human touch does add an extra layer.
Interview Mistakes
What are common mistakes you find candidates make during interviews?
“So today as an example, I had several candidates who made it to round two and I gave them a task to do a brief presentation, 5 to 10 minutes with specific functions that were theoretical but could be practical scenarios in a day in the life of the role. One candidate literally talked about the role as if it was some third party entity. They didn’t show the connectedness.”
So the one was very, not robotic, but very disconnected?
“It was very disconnected. It’s almost like they were applying for someone and not for themselves.”
“I think as a leader, although I know that the other two candidates did not know the day in the life, they put themselves in the shoes and then told me how they would attack those scenarios from their perspective – That gave me insight into their ability to be creative, innovative, and even how they would navigate certain situations.
I think what candidates need to remember is not all managers are going to do behavioral based interviews. They’re looking for some of those social cues. So if you, as the candidate, can put yourself into the daily life and show them that this is what it’s like to work with me, I think hiring teams and hiring leaders would be more prone to want to select you to move to the next round because they can then get a sense of what it’s like to engage with you, and how you think about certain scenarios.
Even asking questions. I think at some points where you feel there’s a gap where the scenario might be general, but you want to know in [their] organization what makes them different, ask questions about that. Have the hiring team also engage with you about what a day in the life in the organization is so then you can craft your next response in that conversation to be geared toward directly what they’re seeking.”
Dr. Parker’s Interview Strategy
“When I interviewed here, I had an entire packet that I provided, including me as the candidate right there.
[picture of packet]
All kinds of things on my plans – 30, 60, 90 day plans. Really gave them insight into who I am, my creativity, and what I anticipate doing.
I’m very strategic in the materials that I upload in all of my applications. These are all of my recommendations from LinkedIn from the beginning of time. It shows them for 14 years, the diverse industries that I’ve worked with, the various people that I’ve worked with, and so they can get a sense of what it’s like to work with me holistically.
I also upload my transcripts to show a reflection of the type of continuing education or advanced education and certifications that I’ve obtained. So, I think those added material sets me aside from other candidates because I think the vast majority of people are going to go with the status quo. If you only require a resume, they’re probably only uploading a resume. The more to showcase how you are different than the competition, the better.”
So you really go all out, huh? You do it all.
I go all out every single time. Give them an experience to work with. I also think the caveat to that is when I showcase all of this, I feel like I should be able to ask, within reason and within internal equity and stuff like that, but I should be able to ask for the top of the range.”
Red Flags
What are some red flags you see from candidates?
“A Red Flag for me is definitely not being prepared. I’ve had individuals over the past week who didn’t even know that [my] organization is single sex from a perspective of who we serve. On the surface, that is probably one of the things that one should do: research the organization that they’re applying to.
So you know what I think if I had to answer that probably more concisely is:
Not knowing the organization’s mission and vision is a total red flag.
Not knowing the organization’s value is a red flag. I don’t want to sound too professor about this, but research says:
When personal values and organizational values don’t align, people don’t stay. If you don’t know what the organization values, it’s likely you will go into there thinking that you’re going to change the world, and you probably will not.
The organization has a specific mission, they have a specific vision of how they view where they’re going and so aligning that with your personal values and what you see in your trajectory, I think is important.”
Green flags
How about some green flags you like to see from candidates?
“I think green flags are asking strategic questions about the day in the life of the role. I think oftentimes individuals will ask general questions surrounding the interview, like the interview process.
But I always ask people, you know, why are you there? What is it like to work with you? Remembering that an interview is a two way street. It shouldn’t feel like you’re being interrogated, it should more so feel like a conversation.
So I think a green flag is if your interview feels like a conversation, then you are more likely engaging and producing productive dialogue.
If it feels like you’re pulling teeth to ask questions, and obviously the interviewer can be a terrible interviewer, but I think having a conversation is a green flag, and also a great preparation tool.
“If you can get comfortable with having conversations about your experience – Getting comfortable with talking about your experience like an elevator speech, getting comfortable with identifying ways that you’ve made organizations better and how that translates into making that organization better, I think is a great green flag.”
Stand Out Conversations
What about some standout questions that you’ve been asked by candidates when you’re interviewing them? Stand out questions either good or bad; maybe even responses that have been really good or really bad.
“I think for me, standout responses or responses that showcase that they’ve done their homework and they want to know more.
What I mean by that is, as you’re researching organizations, most organizations do not publish everything that they have to offer on their external-facing website, and so there are gaps.
So someone who is truthfully trying to either be strategic or engage with an organization on a deeper level, will be able to see those gaps and wonder like, ‘Hey, I didn’t see these particular things, but this is my assumption. Or I did notice that the full team organizational structure wasn’t out there, Can you tell me more about what it’s like to work on this team?’
So identifying those gaps I think is a huge standout question because it then makes the interviewer either have to explain more about the day in the life of the role, but it also lets them know, like, hey, you’ve done a little homework.
I had a person today that in their presentation had our old Organization Chart, and even though we’ve recently ReOrged our department, it was good because I knew that that person did some digging. That’s not something you’re going to find on page one of the website.”
Follow-Up
If a candidate doesn’t hear back after an interview, should they follow up with you or a recruiter?
“I think yes. I think talent acquisition and the world of work is going through a revolution in general. I think as organizations reimagine what it’s like to engage with their employees as well as future employees, sometimes things get missed. I think following up with the recruiter who contacted you first is not a bad idea. It’s something that I’ve done in the past, or even following up with a hiring manager as well.
I think before following up with the hiring manager, make sure that you’ve done your due diligence.
What I mean by that is in that interview, one of the final questions is:
‘What do the final steps look like?’
‘When can I expect to hear back from you?’
That puts the ball in their court. So following up after that point shouldn’t feel uncomfortable for the hiring manager or the applicant.
For the recruiter – I would say anytime, all the time. I think that’s their core job function, to engage with candidates. Still make sure that you put the ball in the recruiter’s court so you understand the dynamics of where they are with their requisition and kind of when they anticipate closing that out.”
LinkedIn profiles. What are your thoughts?
“I’m probably the wrong person to ask because I have to keep deleting connections because I keep meeting my 30,000 – but I think I’m for it.
For me, I think LinkedIn brings a unique combination of social media with professional insight and so the connections that I’ve made on LinkedIn, the introductions that I’ve had on LinkedIn, I think has been very beneficial, including down to my resumes.
It’s also something that I reference in my interviews. I let them know this is what it’s like to work with me, check out my recommendations.”
“I do try to keep everything on my LinkedIn up to date, including recommendations annually. I’ll go and refresh and say, hey, you know, let me think about who I can get a recommendation from.
Because the overarching strategy is that over time people change positions. So, yes, you all may have been colleagues at one organization. Three to four years down the line, they’re now showing as the vice president of a Fortune 500 company.”
“So that recommendation is no longer just from a colleague. It’s now from a Fortune 500 C-level executive. So the strategy behind it I think is a long-term game, but you can also get a lot of short-term wins from having an up-to-date visible profile.”
Transferable Skills
What a good way for candidates to display their transferable skills? Like if they’re trying to change industries, is there anything they could do?
“Yeah, I think that’s a very unique niche kind of thing.
An example of that probably would be recruiting. You don’t go to school for recruiting. There is no degree in recruiting. You can probably come from any industry and be successful. You can be a person who’s in communication. You can be a mathematician. I think you can be a variety of things and be successful in recruiting.
But I don’t think you can do the same if you’re trying to break into health care, for example, you don’t just say, ‘I was a really good administrative assistant. I can be a really good nurse.’ Those are two completely different professions. One is extremely technical and one isn’t. So I think it depends on the industry they’re trying to break into.
Certifications and education work as well, but I think it’s also about knowing the organization you’re applying to.
Some organizations are, in fact, learning organizations, so they constantly reskill and upskill their current workforce.
Other organizations are about having a very specialized workforce, so they may not have the time or even the effort to upskill someone.
Another industry might be oil and gas. Right. Like they have engineers of all sorts, process engineers, chemical engineers, etc.. And if you’re trying to break into that field, you might have to start as someone who is cleaning the huge tubs of oil and then kind of navigating your personal connections as you move throughout the organizations.”
Sometimes it’s not really about what you know, it’s more so about who you know.
Good thing most things can be taught, right?”
Networking
So to that point, networking, that’s huge, right?
“Huge. It’s the biggest thing.
It’s so funny. When I first started here, which was a month ago, I had a person who reached out and they were like,
‘Hey, we just want to get in front of the individual who’s responsible for this job function, and I just want to introduce myself.’
It ended up being someone who worked for me as my regional sales manager years ago. So it’s just crazy how small the world is.
But networking is also beneficial to finding positions that are coming up. You know, there are positions that are out there that are not always posted or that will be posted. So as you’re networking with individuals, you’re able to get insight into what’s to come and get in front of some hiring leaders faster because their job is to fill the role. If they know someone they can trust who can assist them with doing that quickly, I think that is beneficial.
But also it’s about understanding emerging and current trends. So as you’re networking with people, I think sometimes we work in silos. You know, what I do at my job and what you do at your job could be the same exact job title, but our tools, our resources and our tactics could be totally different in how we approach the work. And so as we’re networking, we find out, hey, you have a different touch point. You actually speak with hiring managers and candidates at this point. And we don’t do it until after the offer, you know.
So you can begin to speak about how you are and how you approach your work, which ultimately can make you a better professional.”
Follower Question
Someone recently left this question on a LinkedIn post of mine:
“Curious to know, Why do budgets get canceled after offers are extended? And why do candidates often only hear about it much later, with gaps between client and staffing company communication? Would love to understand how this typically happens.”
I asked Dr. Parker:
Why do budgets get canceled after offers are extended?
“I think it’s a variety of things. It’s going to be situational based on the organization, but it’s really driven by how the position is funded.
Especially right now, for example, in this political climate where grants are being terminated, it’s a situation where a position might have been grant funded and the grant has either been suspended or terminated.
So the institution itself, from a profit and loss, from an operational, a fiscal operation standpoint, might have not budgeted for any additional funds. And so that grant is an external fund that’s being accounted for. And once that goes away, they’re not able or willing to add to the operational cost to add another position that includes fringe benefits.
If you think about it, it’s a long-term gain. They know the position is not just a point in time – you’re potentially an added expense long-term, and that’s inclusive of your fringe benefits.
So it’s one of those things where it depends on how it’s funded and then it depends on the organization. If you’re with a large organization like Microsoft, Coca Cola, Google, Facebook – they’re very agile in the sense that they will look at their profit and loss. They know that they have stockholders who are their stakeholders and they’re looking at those numbers.
If we are looking like we are going to be on a trajectory of losing money, we can trim the fat and improve our fiscal operations. Those public organizations are definitely looking at fiscal management from a larger scale.”
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