One of the frustrating things as a candidate is to be judged solely on your resume.
It is even more frustrating when you know that you have the experience, but the limits of the resume preclude you from sharing it.
For example I have had recruiters say that companies don’t read more than the first 2 pages of a resume. If you have worked for a long time, it is impossible to sum your skills in 2 pages.
So what happens is that a recruiter contacts you for a job, and you tell them that you are an SME in all of the things they are asking. Then they go to the client and they look at your resume and say I don’t see their experience or assume things from your experience that aren’t true. They say they aren’t interested and the recruiter doesn’t get the initial interview.
What I have learned is that some people just are not good at judging someones value. It doesn’t mean you are a bad worker, you just didn’t present your information in a way that a lazy hiring manager can digest it.
Now to be fair, I have paid hundreds of dollars for my resume and recruiters have told me that they thought it was strong and helpful. My resume has gotten me work at Fortune 100 companies, so there is nothing wrong with it. The problem is that when you have a candidate like me who has a wide range of experience it is difficult to communicate that in a short summary of the candidate or even resume.
Now some people might say well then use AI to create a targeted resume. I have done that as well. I have matched exactly what they say in their ad, but then I get rejected for something else. Hiring managers will reject you for any reason and that has nothing to do with your experience, character or ability to help their company. I think they just enjoy rejecting people and feeling the small sense of power that they have.
Which is fine. There are tons of companies who need your skills and who want you to help them. Don’t focus on people who don’t give people a chance. I can guarantee you that if your hiring process is rough working for them will be worse. I should have said no in the past when the hiring process was rough, and I have learned. If you don’t have a good feeling with the company, no matter how much they want you, its best to say no.
No is the final word for the lack of respect that others may want to treat you with.