In an effort to head off the crowd and differentiate yourself should you:
- Ignore the instructions and contact Christina directly?
- Secure the fax number of the company and wire your credentials?
- Send your resume through a contact who works for the employer?
- Omit your salary history if you don't know the pay range for the advertised position?
REALITY: Making direct contact with a busy executive more often hurts than helps your chances for an interview.
These are certainly tough questions that pass through every job hunter's mind at one time or another. Sometimes breaking the rules gives you an edge. Other times, breaking the rules alienates the receiver and eliminates you from the competition.
How your differentiated actions will be received by the people on the other end is the unknown element of this predicament. Will they be impressed by your aggressiveness or irritated by your outright violation of specific instructions? When there are many unknown variables, such as the personality of the recipient and his or her priorities, the safest policy is to play by the rules.
To help you understand the impact of breaking the rules, let's take a behind-the-scenes look at how your actions could be perceived by a potential employer.
Making Direct Contact
MISCONCEPTION: Faxing is one of the fastest ways to get your resume on potential employers' desks.
REALITY: Over 50 percent of all unsolicited faxes never reach the desks of the intended recipients.
The important thing you need to understand is that responding to your calls and correspondence is a very low priority for busy executives. Unexpected calls that get through secretaries or assistants because they are targeted before 8 A.M. or after 5 P.M. more often irritate than impress the receiver.
There is a very thin line between being assertive and being obnoxious. Unfortunately, this is a subjective determination totally dependent on the recipient's state of mind at the instant of contact. You have no control over how someone feels when he or she first glances at your credentials or hears your voice on the phone.
Faxing Unsolicited Information
In addition to alienating someone with an unexpected phone call, unsolicited fax transmissions can also be distracting, creating a poor first impression.
Most companies keep their fax machines unmanned in a central location. Therefore, it is highly probable that your transmission could get lost or misplaced with other faxes. It is not uncommon for a mailroom attendant to have specific instructions to treat unsolicited resumes as junk mail. The same may be true of faxes. So, to determine if your fax reached its destination, you'd have to call a person you don't know, who may have more important tasks than tracking down your fax. You need to keep a realistic perspective on the willingness of a prospective employer to take your call or respond to your information.
MISCONCEPTION: Omitting your salary history when it is requested will result in a follow-up call.
REALITY: Not giving your salary history when requested is more often interpreted as a negative factor.
From a pure appearance standpoint, you should be aware that fax paper is thin and slick and has a tendency to curl, making it hard to handle. Also, many dark papers and type styles smudge and distort when transmitted over a fax. This can distort your professional first impression. Be assured, most potential employers will not ask you to resubmit if they can't read your name. Finally, your credentials might have to be reviewed by managers in other locations. It's impossible to fax a fax and maintain a quality appearance. To get your resume into shape, someone will have to make a special effort to copy your fax. That means extra work and trouble, which can result in a quick trip to the waste barrel.
Since you can't be on the receiving end to ensure a quality transmission to the appropriate people, sending an unsolicited fax is not likely to result in a favorable response.
Sending Your Paperwork through a Contact
Circumventing the crowds by submitting your credentials with a friend or an associate can help or hurt. If you have a good contact, it may be worthwhile to consider breaking the rules.
Omitting Salary History
Many job seekers wrestle with this decision all the time because they fear this one piece of information that can immediately cut them from the competition. Sometimes a salary that is too low can give the impression that you're not a performer with high hopes and expectations. On the other hand, too high a salary could be interpreted as a stumbling block if you have solid credentials.
MISCONCEPTION: Companies are delighted to recruit candidates who previously made more money with another employer.
REALITY: In today's market companies are reluctant to hire at lower salaries due to the financial and emotional impact on the candidate.
In a tough job market, the problem of making too much money at a previous job is a more significant concern since so many highly paid, older executives are on the street. Companies usually cite these logical reasons for bypassing people who would come in for less than 20 percent of their last salary:
- New employees become disenchanted once they see the first check at the lower amount.
- Lower pay will keep them looking for a job instead of concentrating on the one at hand.
- Pressure will be too strong on the home front to maintain their previous standard of living, resulting in a loss of enthusiasm on the job.
- New hires who earned more at a previous employer can infect the attitudes of current employees by complaining about low wages.
Rather than give the impression that your salary requirements are too lofty for the position, comply with the employer's request and submit salary information. But instead of listing a specific salary like $67,578.23, provide a range with an accompanying statement.
Compensation for the past three years, with incentives and salary, has averaged in the mid $60's.
This kind of input enables you to answer the question while providing flexibility for future compensation discussions. The alternative of not including a salary history may leave the impression that you are making big bucks, particularly if you've had plenty of experience in well-known companies. This could be an eliminating factor in itself.
Playing by the rules during the screening process is the first indication that you can be a compatible team member once you are given a chance to play. Break the rules and you may not survive the cut.
