[Vnbiz] Do CVs and cover letters still effective to select for the positions?

[Tin Le]

This is an interesting subject to me.  I've been doing a lot of both
looking for jobs and looking for employees to hire in the past 6 years. 
So I have the perspectives from both sides.

I just want to add to what anh Hoanh said.  There are several basic
things that are VERY, VERY, VERY important when you are looking for work.
 These things of course also depends on your particular situation.  E.g.
how much do you need to find a job (due to financial needs, personal
needs or something else).

If it is financial, then the goal is to just find a job, any job that
pays the bill and meet you/your family basic needs.

So (IMHO) are the basic things to think about when looking for job.

1. Goals - what are your goals?  to meet financial needs? personal needs?

2. Market (job) research - knowing the goals, now you research the area
you want a job in.

3. Target your search - create a list of companies you want to work for.
    . there is a lot of work for (3), you need to create targeted CVs and
     cover letters.  Each industries (Medical, Technical, Writing, etc.)
     have their own specific CV (resumes) format.

     Knowing your audience allow you to successfully target them and have
     higher chance of getting a job.

It's best if you know someone inside company that you want to work for,
because you have a "connection" that help you get an interview.

Everything you have done, researching companies, writing CVs/resumes,
cover letters, etc.  are just to get an interview.  The goal is to get
companies to get interested enough in you to call you in for an
interview.

The next hard step is to get past the interviews and get that job offer.

There are so many more I can write on the job search process, etc... not
enough time...

However, let me get back to Cover Letters and CVs (resumes).

It depends on the particular job market and job areas whether CL is
needed or not.  I don't know the VNese job market, but I know the US job
market very well, having been here more than 30years.

In the technical jobs (Sillicon Valley, San Francisco/CA) market, CVs
(resumes) is much more important.  You need to create multiple, targeted
CVs.  The CVs target particular types of jobs: developers, testers, IT,
sales engineer, etc.  This is because the technical job markets receive a
tremendous amount of resumes (literally thousands).

As a hiring manager, I get overwhelmed by the amount of resumes I receive
every day.  So there are software that filters out CVs based on words,
the sw scan submitted CVs, categorized them, rank them, etc. and send
them on to the appropriate HR person for action.

A well written, targeted CVs will get my attention (e.g. get me to read
past the first few paragraphs).  When I am looking for a C/C++
developers, I am not interested in wasting time reading one who does Java
or Cobol, etc.

So create multiple, targeted CVs and send the _right_ one to the right
company :-).  That's important!   Too many times I receives CVs from
people who obviously did not read the job requirements that I posted.

Such as I am looking for sw devel with very specific skills, and I get
resumes from people with completely wrong skill sets.

This has been a much longer message than I intended.  Sorry, I have to
get back to work!

I will try to continue more on this topic.

Tin Le
-- 
"Never continue in a job you don't enjoy. If you're happy in what you're
doing, you'll like yourself, you'll have inner peace. And if you have
that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you
could possibly have imagined." - Johnny Carson (1925-2005)

> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
> Dear brothers Nhon & Lam, sisters Huong Singapore & Huong DC & CACC,
>
> Brother Nhon poses an interesting issue.  And this issue shoud be
> analyzed separatedly from the recruiter's and recruitee's point of
> view.
>
>>From recruiter's viewpoint, companies have better recruiting methods
> than just relying on CV and cover letter, such as referral from
> current employees, internship, demonstration time, intensive
> interiews, etc...   But regardless of what method is used, the CV and
> the cover letter are ALWAYS a part of the process.  You can't just
> walk into a company without a CV and a cover letter.  They are your
> messenger.  If the messenger looks bad, you may get hurt.
>
> And that should be the recruitee's viewpoint:  The CV and cover letter
> are always your first messenger (even if you dad has put in a good
> word for you with the company before that).  Your messenger may not
> help you win, but may make you killed in the first minute.  In
> ddition, a good messenger may help you go further into the process.
>
> Indeed being a messenger, the CV and the cover letter are so important
> for job search that they are always the first focus of any job search
> training (like the project for undergraduate students that we are
> discussing).
>
> Writing a good cover letter is a truly challenging work of art.  In
> the old days, I usually spent a couple of hours to write a cover
> letter with less than 20 lines.  Cover letter is the first thing the
> recruiter sees on your "face."  You have less than one minute to make
> him like you more than 500 other applicants, through your over letter.
>  Better make that minute work.
>
> Have a great day!
>
> Hoanh
>
>
> On 12/4/06, Pham Thanh Nhon <nhonpt at gmail.com> wrote:
>> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>>
>>
>>
>> Dear anh/chi em CACC,
>> I released this topic because I found boring in traditional
>> recruitment. I'm
>> a person that something is crazy and very open-minded for dicussion. An
>> traditional interview is too oppressive to me. Maybe I's too unluck
>> that I
>> couldn't meet a passionate person as I like.
>> To chi Huong huongluongdc at yahoo.com, I really like the ways of American
>> using for recruitment. However, as you difficultly see this on
>> Vietnamese
>> employers as my friend mention: "It sounded great but it was too ideal
>> to
>> get easy because Vietnamese Manager, you knew, did not spend much time
>> for
>> any "no-name' candidate".
>> Chi Thu Huong meocon24 at yahoo.com, I understanded that traditional
>> recruitment was good in some case. Actually, I would like to note that
>> I
>> hate it not mean it's not suitable for others. I recommend that
>> employers
>> (especial Vietnamese recruiters) should look other methods for the best
>> recruitment. It's also the chance for employers gaining new experiences
>> and
>> broadening their mind outside the traditional thinking.
>> Nice day anh/chi em.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Best regards,
>> Pham Thanh Nhon
>> PR Freelance. If you like to do sth for our country, take me up:
>> Phone: (+84) - 987 728 911
>> YIM: companion7_18
>> MSN: nhon.pt at hotmail.com
>> Skype: nhonpt
>
> --
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
> Attorney of Law
> Washington DC
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