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.
BawldGuy
October 6, 2008 at 12:26 pm
What you’ve described is a living poster of why the public holds real estate agents in such distain. How smart do you have to be to figure some of this stuff out?
Steve Simon
October 6, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Mangy Mutts need love too:)
If a property is badly priced most often it can be assessed as such without a visit.
I think the amazing thing about your post is this:
You showed 25 homes in three days (that is a years labor in my mind).
Sanderson must be likeable, cause the buyer stayed with you for all that time you were showing her “curs”.
Just my thoughts, God I am glad i don’t have to anything I don’t want to in order to survive (played 18 this morning) 🙂
Pam Buda
October 6, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Great post–when I tour poorly prepared listings I get grumpy. I also get peeved when I see bad grammar and spelling on MLS copy (never mind bad photography or non-existent photos). Is it too much trouble for an agent to proof-read their copy blocks before uploading a listing? Or run a spell-check?
One of my favorites was for a $3,900,000 vineyard listing in the wine country of Sonoma County, California where I am based. The agent had about 2 sentences of copy and had mis-spelled vineyard, “vinyard”. I don’t care if it was a $200,000 condo, is it too much to ask to double-check what you post?
Linsey
October 6, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Not only does it make the listing agent look like they are blowing smoke in their descriptions, they are missing their target market.
This weekend I showed a home that was a ‘cosmetic fixer’. It also said ‘renovations needed’. Interesting because I didn’t see a kitchen or baths that needed ‘renovations’. I didn’t see a kitchen or baths AT ALL. There were no kitchen cabinets, so counters, no fixtures, no interior doors, no sinks – well you get the picture. My client was looking for a ‘fixer’ not a full construction project. Why not direct the marketing to the audience that this home would appeal to most – like buyers with construction background?
Just be honest. I’d rather have 3 well targeted showings than 10 showings with the wrong audience.
Vicki Moore
October 6, 2008 at 5:36 pm
You are so right. We laugh about that in my office all the time: “John just listed a new one – you know it’s a piece of crap.” On the other hand, I drove by a listing with a particular agent’s sign out front and thought: Oh, I’ve got to see that one. Carol listed it – it’s got to be good.
Btw – I had to read your post first just because of that picture!
Excellent writing. Thanks for the humor.
Lisa Sanderson
October 6, 2008 at 6:20 pm
BawldGuy: It ain’t rocket science, that’s fer sure!
Steve: You’re so awesome.
Pam: I get pretty frickin’ grumpy too! 😉 And yes thank you for bringing it up, spelling counts. EVERYTHING counts. It’s all a reflection of one’s professionalism & credibility.
Linsey: YES! Get the *right* people in the door and the property will sell. Easy peasy.
Vickie: Compliments will get you everywhere! Thanks for reading and for honing in on the point. We do get a reputation based on the kinds of listings we get. And that will affect how consumers see us AND the showing traffic we get from other agents.
Jason Sandquist
October 6, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I have been showing homes to Canadian buyers the past couple of days (yes they come to Minnesota too and not just Phoenix), but anyways they were quick to point out the misconception of photos online. These homes were upper bracket and I was a little ashamed, why because most were from my own company that definitely prides itself on being the leader distinctive homes.
Brampton Realtor
October 6, 2008 at 8:57 pm
I guess that client had a ruff time?
Oh, i should be shot for that one.
But on a serious note what you are saying its totaly true.
Its not about volume of people passing though your open house.
But a properly targeted market segment.
Missy Caulk
October 6, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Lisa, I once showed a single guy a house advertised like this. ” gorgeous home, blah, blah, blah.
We went in and a bar was hanging over the stair banister. It got worse, but this is a blog so won’t post how much worse here.
When you have been in the business long you learn which agents over price, and over state the condition of the home.
Missy Caulk
October 6, 2008 at 9:06 pm
opps bra….
Ben Goheen
October 6, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Dear fellow agents,
NEVER, I repeat, NEVER use the phrase “won’t last long” in the description. It’s a curse, your listing will then be on the market much longer then all the competition. I laugh whenever I see this phrase on a sold listing that has 100+ days on the market. I’m sure I can search my MLS right now and find at least 10 examples, so just don’t do it.
PS – go Vikings!
Helene
October 7, 2008 at 5:50 am
I’m Lisa’s buyer and I’m sure glad Steve is not my broker and that she is. 🙂 Since I travel almost 2 hours to get to the area where I am looking, I truly appreciate the fact that Lisa spends all that time with me! I wish the ads were honest so as not to waste my time. I have made 3 trips since June and I am truly disappointed that my search is not over yet. The houses I chose to see looked so good on paper. Unfortunately, so many of them had been miserably misrepresented and an insult to a serious buyer. By “embellishing” your ads you may get me to your listing but after I see the house I realize that I have been duped and don’t ever want to see another one of your listings!
Pocono Real Estate
October 7, 2008 at 7:57 am
Hi Lisa,
My biggest pet peeve is crappy photos on listings, especially when it’s the high end of the price range.
Another one is when the listing agent doesn’t take the time to make sure they get the directions right. There were TWO mistakes in one the other day and it was a top of the market house. A few years ago we went miles out of our way up in one of the big developments because the roads were renamed and he left out one of the roads.
Lisa Sanderson
October 7, 2008 at 9:58 am
Jason: So you’ll be forwarding this article to everyone in your office then? lol
BR: ‘a properly targeted market segment’ Bingo!
Missy: You don’t have to go in to detail. I’m sure we all have stories to tell. What I can’t figure out is, what are these people thinking? Ya put your dang bars away if you have ANYONE coming over let alone a potential buyer. 😉
Ben: Good one. PS-What is this Viking reference?
Helene: Thanks for being my inspiration and for chiming in here. You are going to have an awesome home in the Pokies very soon. I can feel it!
Malcolm: Welcome to AG! As you can read from comments here, it is not just the Poconos that has these issues. At least there’s that. 😉
StraightDave
December 2, 2008 at 5:37 pm
All: Identification as a foreclosure is a big clue… most effs have lots of stuff ripped out. So, buyer expectations should be in line. It may take 25 “dogs” to find a neat pooch… the price one pays in this market.
Perhaps, the MLS should have an agents (only) “rate this house” for each listing, or “rate this listing for accuracy.”