Author: Chris Washa

In today’s day and age of technology, the personal touch of finding a job has somehow been lost. Applying for a job on-line can be long, intrusive, and down-right frustrating. The cyber black hole of the internet and on-line applications has taken the job market away from what is most important, the human interaction. 

No longer are you solely evaluated by your skills, experience, inter-personal skills, or personality, but on how well you can write a resume and articulate your experience/value on paper.  As you read this, you may be judging or trying to evaluate my tone and attitude towards the whole process. When reading a resume, blog article, or whatever it may be, the information being read is subject for much more interpretation then a conversation over the phone or a face-to-face encounter. 

The purpose of submitting a resume ultimately is to get a personal, face-to-face interview. Until the hiring manger, recruiter, influencer, etc. has a chance to tie your resume to your voice or face, there is zero emotional involvement. Once you have talked with or met this person of influence, they now associate you the person to your resume and a bond is formed. It is much harder to turn down someone that you have met and had a chance to get to know. On the job, you are evaluated by not only performance but how you fit into the culture. Both are important but neither can be evaluated through email. 

The truth is one of the most important tools for finding a job is the telephone. Try to find out who you are interviewing with and call that person in anticipation that they have received your information or will receive it soon. If you can find this information and you make the call, remember these managers, recruiters or whoever is very busy and your call may not have the influence that you hope. All you can do is remind them about your availability, interest, and values experience. Just make sure you are very pleasant and appreciative of their time (try not to be too long winded if leaving a voicemail). 

Exhaust every angle in order to get on the phone or in front of the influencer.  Then establish the connection or bond needed in order to sell yourself, and evaluate the opportunity that you are pursuing.