Would you hire Gladys Kravitz?

Gladys Gravitz was the infamous “know-it-all” snoopy neighbor on Bewitched. If you are unfamiliar with her character, you can read more about her here.

I was channeling Gladys Gravitz the other day when I read this Job Posting:

“Seeking super smart person to join our wildly successful global team. Proven track record of brilliant thinking, complex problem solving and must be absolutely fabulous in most ways. Needs to have great fashion sense, superb innovation skills and be a good communicator with others. Team player, bright and overall a really nice person.

For immediate consideration send resume with salary expectations and cover letter to: hiringmanager@super-secret-company.com

No phone calls please, this company is confidential”

As I read through it I kept thinking…

“OMG, that’s ME. I’m perfect for that role! I'm the perfect candidate!!!!”

Now let’s back up here. How did I really know I would be the BEST suited for that role. Honestly, would I make the ‘perfect’ candidate for that job? How do I really know?

In reality, here’s what I DON’T know:

1. Company
2. Industry
3. Role exactly, title, etc.
4. Pay Range
5. Benefits
6. Travel required
7. Size of company
8. Public or private
9. Company location
10. Who does this position report to?
11. Expectations
12. Company culture
13. Duties
14. Requirements
15. Experience level
16. Growth path
17. Financial stability of company
18. Product/service… what does this company do exactly?

….. and the list can go on and on…..

If I send my resume, cover letter and salary expectations I may actually position myself "out of consideration".

How?

By presenting myself in a way that they “aren’t” looking for.

To give you an example. If I chose to divulge my salary expectations and it's 100K and the job pays 50K, what are they going to think? My resume will go into the “out of the price range” pile, better known as the trash basket.

It’s easy to believe that you would make the perfect candidate, but it's also important to realize that YOU have to position yourself accordingly during your very first contact with this company.

Qualifying an opportunity before presenting yourself as the right candidate gives YOU the leg up on everyone else who applies blindly. AND you will show that you care about the role by researching and doing your homework. There is nothing worse than a "I have no questions" candidate. It's okay to ask questions, as long as they are smart and show you'd make a good hire.

For an ad like this, try to figure out as much information before hand as you can. You can do key word searches in Bing and Google and see if you can find it posted somewhere online WITH the company name. If that doesn’t work, try replying to the blind email address with a clever “call to action” that will entice them to reply back. This is something that takes a little ingenuity. Sometimes if you’re lucky, the true email address may show up or you might get a reply with a name attached to it.

Think of yourself as a job search DETECTIVE (hey, cool blog title there). Find and gather as much information as possible. Knowlege is key.

If all else fails, you might have nothing to lose by applying blindly, but don’t feel bad or rejected if no one replies to you. Since you have no clue who/what/where or when about this ad, it’s kind of a crap shoot. Like a slot machine – but hopefully without losing money ;-)

Remember it makes sense to QUALIFY the opportunity as much as possible before positioning yourself as the PERFECT candidate. You just might be, but the more information you can find out ahead of time the better your chances are of making sure your first line of contact says so too.

Would you like to hire Glady Kravitz?