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Dr. Randall Hansen, a nationally recognized career expert, is the Career Doctor.
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and find previous issues of this column at the home of The Career Doctor.
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provide valuable assistance with, please
feel free to email him at: careerdr@quintcareers.com.
Dr. Hansen writes this column on a biweekly basis.
Anonymous writes:
I have applied several times to a particular company and just discovered,
much to my horror, that I had been spelling the city's name wrong (at least
three applications so far). It's a two-word name and I made it one word.
Worse, it's a company I do business with regularly and that's one of my "ins"
into the company, my "knowledge" of them, and yet I didn't know such a
small thing. How embarrassing, but worse, how damaging to my credibility.
I just applied for THE position I had been waiting for and it was after I mailed
that letter that I realized the mistake I had been making. I was hoping so
much to finally get an interview with this company and now this. Is there any
way to recover from this error? Should I follow-up with an "at least I'm
consistent" light-hearted, letter or hope they didn't notice as it was going to
a different department?
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
If the job you are applying for is that of an editor or proofreader, then perhaps
it’s a major blunder, but otherwise I think you can just let this error be. In the
great scheme of cover letters, it is MUCH more important to get the name of
the hiring manager and name of the company spelled correctly -- and I am
assuming you did that.
Look at DeLand, where I am based. Most of the mailed correspondence I get
spells it as Deland, and don’t even get me started about how people pronounce
it. Regardless, while I would of course recommend all job-seekers have perfect
spelling and grammar in your cover letters, I would not make a big deal of your
oversight.
I might be concerned, however, about someone who has applied for three
different positions within the company. Are the positions similar? Do you
have any sense why you were not interviewed for the previous positions? If you
do have a few contacts within the company, I would ask them whether there is
any “word” on your reputation from the people within the departments you are
applying to.
And speaking of cover letters, wanted to share this comment from a job-seeker
who had asked me how to make a bigger impact with his cover letter for an
internship -- and I told him to deliver it to the manager personally, but when
doing so to be prepared for an on-the-spot interview, which is just what happened:
“Just writing to thank you again for your advice with my cover letter for an
internship and how to deliver it. I found the manager’s name, and went to
deliver my letter to her today. She was so impressed with my initiative of
actually delivering the letter by hand, that she interviewed me on the spot,
and wants to set up a more formal interview in the near future. Thanks so
much, your edits and advice about actually hand delivering the letter were
invaluable, and I really appreciate your time.”
Q:
Kristen writes:
I had a quick question for you. I had written a cover letter and wasn't
sure where to put my name and contact information. I had originally
put it on the top of the page, in the middle so that it would match the
heading on my resume. However, my mom told me that she has never
heard of putting that information in the top middle of the page. She said
that it had to be right or left aligned or that it could be at the bottom after
I sign my name. I looked in the cover letter resources on the website
but I am still not sure. Could you let me know if all of those are
acceptable?
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
You know, I don’t really have anything against well-meaning parents, aunts,
uncles, cousins, etc., but unless they work in the career management field,
they are probably not the best person to ask about these things -- and I get
these kinds of comments all the time.
So, I am glad you have asked me. In the ideal situation, all of your job
correspondence should look exactly the same -- a matched set. The “header”
of your resume – where you have your name and contact information -- should
be the same on your cover letter, as well as on your references page, salary
history page, and any other supplemental pages.
It doesn’t matter if the type is centered, left-justified, or right-justified. What
matters is that you are consistent and use a readable font.
And just a reminder about what should go in the header: name, address, phone
number (home and/or mobile), email address. Provide as much contact
information as possible, but if you use an email address, be sure it’s a
professional one, not like one I received recently from “sexyprincess84.”
Q:
Anonymous writes:
I have been on two separate job interviews, and still have not landed a job. I
dress for success, project a happy attitude, and show up for the interview on
time. I research the company I am interviewing for, have a pleasing personality,
and I am enthusiastic about joining their company.
My question is this: What am I doing wrong?
My resume is good enough, otherwise I would not be called in for an interview.
I think the fact that I do not have as much experience as someone else is a factor.
But how am I supposed to get ANY experience if no one will give me a chance?
It seems like the companies like something about my resume that I submit, but
when it comes to the hiring part, I get burned.
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
It’s important for job-seekers to do the kind of self-analysis you have
done, because if something is not working, you need to fix it.
I agree with you that your cover letters and resumes must be pretty
good -- good enough to get you two interviews, but how many positions
have you applied to? Even though they seem to be working for you, I
would review them as part of the process. Make sure your resume clearly
identifies your accomplishments, skills, and education/training.
And while you say you are doing all the right things in the interview,
the results -- though only a sample of two -- say something different. It
could be that in these two situations, you were just not the person they
were looking for, but it could also be that you are doing something
wrong in the interview.
So, here are your choices. If you felt as though you had good rapport
with one of the recent interviews, I would contact that person and ask
if they would mind giving you a critique of your performance in the interview.
If that option is a bit too unnerving for you, then consider conducting a
mock interview with a career professional -- perhaps from your alma
mater -- and asking that person to critique your interviewing style.
If you are struggling with interviews, or getting interviews but not job
offers, then you should review the many interviewing tools provided in
this section of Quintessential Careers:
Guide to Job Interviewing Resources.
Q:
Mike writes:
Hi, I have a question. I'm applying for an administrative assistant position with
the state. They are asking for a salary request. What am I to do? They
already have the salary range listed on their website. Should I just copy
that verbatim?
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
There seems to be a rush in employers asking for salary requirements
because I have received about five similar emails in the past month -- from
job-seekers applying to both government and private sector jobs.
There are any number of reasons why hiring organizations ask for your
salary requirement, most often to see if your request fits into the salary
range for the position.
Your strategy as the job-seeker is to not get pinned down with a specific
number. In fact, unless you know the range, you should be fairly vague. In
your case, I would simply list the range from their site -- or just the higher
end of the range (if that’s where you belong).
Remember that you want to delay salary discussion for as long as possible
-- until you are the last, or one of the last, job-seekers left. You’ll have more
power to negotiate when the employer decides you are the perfect candidate
for the job.
However, employers can get the upper hand in the process by asking for your
salary requirements, often eliminating those folks who ask for too little or too
much. So, if the salary range is not listed, your goal should be to see if you
have a networking contact within the company who can supply that information,
or use a service such as salary.com to get a ballpark of the salary range. If
you do not have any firm information on the salary range, you should try
and be as vague as possible, such as “a salary in the mid $30’s.”
