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With national unemployment rates peaking at 8.1 percent—and Washington state’s unemployment rate reaching 7.8 percent—the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 12.5 million people are currently unemployed[i].  To this growing flock of job seekers, I find it ever more topical to share morsels of my personal strife as a token of commiseration (just think, it could always be worse) and also share some advise I recently received.

Once, during an interview, I was asked, “If you were a car, what type of car would you be?” Unable to conjure up relevant car brands, I referenced my own car, a Toyota Yaris.  When they asked me why I was a Yaris, my internal voice shouted gleefully, “Because it’s cute and white!”  Thankfully realizing neither of those qualifiers were applicable, or politically correct, I mumbled something about zipping around and getting the job done.

And, I certainly can’t forget the moment where I realized my interviewer was a guy I had a vague recollection of bulling on the bus during 6^th grade.  The lack of a follow-up call can only lead me to believe that either a) he remembered that us 6^thgraders didn’t let him sit in the back of the bus or b) my overcompensating enthusiasm and vigor in the interview was overwhelming and not what they were looking for in an employee.

Humorous interviewing casualties aside—what does one have to do these days to get a job?

1. HOW DO YOU MAKE YOUR RESUME STAND OUT? Face it, for each open position there is an unholy amount of competition right now.  Kristen Fife, a human resource specialist, says jobs that were getting 25 applications now receive upwards of 300 applications.  “The key is to make your resume hyper-targeted,” she says.  “Rather than saying ‘I have great communication skills’, give examples like ‘I have experience in presenting to large groups of people.’”

2. WHAT DO RESUME SCANNING APPLICATIONS LOOK FOR? I’ve always heard the first third of resumes are scanned for keywords.  However, Fife says application scanning programs these days look for key words mentioned in the job posting and tally how many times each word appears.  With so many applications, recruiters won’t even consider your resume if you don’t rank high in the word search.  Repeat your matching skills as many times as you can.

3. HOW DO I FOLLOW-UP AFTER MY RESUME HAS BEEN SENT IN? I actually had one woman tell me that their company had posted an online application because the absolutely did not want any phone calls.  Fife says to remember that recruiters are bombarded right now.  Rather than phone call, she says, send a follow-up email and include one sentence that specifically highlights why you should be hired and hope that will be enough to pass your resume along. Don’t be a stalker! These days you have to let your resume do the talking.

As the immortal Red Green always says, “Remember, I’m pulling for you.  We’re all in this together.”  Never have words rung truer.