According to research by employment search website Simply Hired, hiring managers get an average of 34 applications per job listing, but they spend time genuinely considering an average of only 12.6% of them – that’s less than 1/3. Some applicants may feel the need to go above and beyond the average application and do something unusual or unexpected to grab the hiring manager’s attention.
Simply Hired conducted a survey to find out whether or not “nontraditional” strategies to stand out are worth the risk, or whether it makes sense to stick to a traditional resume and cover letter. They surveyed over 500 hiring managers and over 500 job applicants to find out what sort of outside-of-the-box approaches applicants are willing to take, and which ones do and don’t pay off.
Most notably, the survey found that over 63% of hiring managers find attention-grabbing gimmicks totally unacceptable, with only 20.2% saying they were acceptable. Hiring managers were also given a list of unusual strategies to rank from most to least acceptable. Unsurprisingly, the least acceptable strategy was offering to sleep with the hiring manager – which should really go without saying.
Interestingly, hiring managers also really disliked when applicants persistently emailed their resumes over and over until they got a response. One or two follow-up emails after your initial application aren’t such a bad idea – but if you don’t get a response after that, continuing to pester the hiring manager isn’t going to help.
While sending baked goods to the office was considered a somewhat acceptable strategy, sending those same cookies to the manager’s home address was a big no-no. Desserts might sweeten your application, but not if you cross a professional boundary by bringing them to someone’s home – that’s just creepy.
Another tactic that hiring managers received fairly positively was “enduring extreme weather to hand-deliver a resume” – but waiting around for inclement weather to apply for a job doesn’t seem very efficient. However, hiring managers did respond well to applicants who went out of their way to demonstrate a skill, for example, by creating a mock product or presentation or completing their interview in a second language. A librarian who was surveyed said she landed her job by making her resume into a book and creating QR codes with links to her portfolio, while a woman applying to work at the hotel hopped behind the counter and started checking customers in.
It’s worth noting that while most hiring managers aren’t into your gimmicks and games, of the 12.9% of applicants who said they have risked an unusual strategy, 67.7% of those actually landed the job.
Still, it’s probably a safer bet to stick to the protocol and not try any theatrics. So then, what can you actually do to improve your chances of landing the job?
Applicants surveyed tended to focus most of their time on their resumes, but according to hiring managers, the interview and cover letter are “the top ways to stand out among the rest.” Sure, brush up your resume, but make sure to give equal time to writing a strong cover letter and practicing potential interview questions.
In the survey, applicants also tended to overestimate the importance of knowing people within the company and having a “unique” cover letter and interview question answers; meanwhile, they underestimated the importance of asking smart questions at the interview and personality. In fact, hiring managers reported that personality was the most impactful factor in their hiring decisions.
It appears that the best way to stand out in a job interview is to wow them with your personality and nail the interview. Weird outfits, stunts, and baked goods will only get you so far – and in fact, may backfire.
Mana Tulberg
October 27, 2008 at 10:58 am
Thanks Mark. Very valid points yet ignored by so many.
Missy Caulk
October 27, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Mark, your email signature is so important. I use to call to actions on my email signatures.
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Mark Eckenrode | HomeStomper
October 27, 2008 at 7:04 pm
@missy: email sigs! wonderful addition to the list! throw a headline above those calls-to-action hinting at what folks may learn or arouse their curiosity and you’ll get more clicks
Poppy Dinsey
October 28, 2008 at 4:33 am
Very good points Mark, but I have to say, it wasn’t the headline of this article that drew my attention…it was the picture!
The Argus was my local newspaper for many years when I lived in Brighton and Hove, it always filled my train journeys to London with glee with it’s ridiculous local news stories. I must say, as far as sensationalist newspaper headlines are concerned, us Brits do them with style!
Great article 😀
Elizabeth
October 28, 2008 at 8:56 am
Great Article Mark. Do you have any insight on what has been successful for others regarding email headlines…For example, using a question, or negative spin, or specific words?
Thanks so much for your wisdom!
Mark Eckenrode | HomeStomper
October 28, 2008 at 10:13 am
@poppy: yeah, i had fun browsing through all the photos on flickr of The Argus.
@elizabeth: these all work – question, going negative, curiosity, controversy contrarian, newsy, big benefit.
oftentimes i’ll turn to the news and see what’s topical… one of my favorite headlines i used lately was “My fellow prisoners…” right after the McCain gaffe. that got open rates!
here are a number of myemail marketing articles but my process boils down to this…
– determine my purpose for the email
– come up with a hook
– write the headline
– write the email
just keep in mind that the purpose of the subject line is to simply get the email opened – not tell the whole story