“They hadn’t even read my resume,” a client said incredulously in an after-interview discussion with an Endeavor agent.
“Can you believe it? I’m meeting with the board and several of the questions they asked could have easily been answered had they just read the resume.”
The agent told the client that them not reading his resume is normal and really human nature.
“Really?” he asked in amazement. “Even for a CEO interview with a board of directors?”
The agent explained that boards aren’t full-time employees. They show up to meetings on a monthly or quarterly basis, read through the reports and make decisions. Some will prepare thoroughly. Others go through the motions. It’s just human because we are all busy and other priorities may occur.
We help our clients build resumes where key things will jump off the page and prompt the casual reader to see targeted things quickly. Interviewers use a resume as a cheat sheet to scan during an interview to ask reasonable sounding questions.
Most of the executive candidates invited to the interview did not go through an on-line application process. They came through the back door by making a connection on the inside.
The resume is still important but understand how it’s used and build it to meet that purpose.
