Why You Didn’t Get the Interview
After reading the tremendous response to Why You Didn’t Get the Job (a sincere thanks to those that read and shared the post) I realized that many of the reasons referenced were specific to mistakes candidates make during interviews. At least a handful of readers told me that they didn’t get the job because they didn’t even get the interview.
With a down economy, most of us have heard accounts of a job seeker sending out 100, 200, perhaps 300 résumés without getting even one response. These anecdotes are often received by sympathetic ears who commiserate and then share their personal stories of a failed job search. To anyone who has sent out large quantities of résumés without any response or interviews, I offer this advice:
The complete lack of response is not due to the economy. The lack of response is based on your résumé, your experience, or your résumé submission itself.
My intent here is to help and certainly not to offend, so if you are one of these people that has had a hard time finding new work, please view this as free advice mixed with a touch of tough love. I have read far too many comments lately from struggling job seekers casting blame for their lack of success in the search (“it wasn’t a real job posting”, “the manager wasn’t a good judge of talent“, etc.), but now it’s time to take a look inward on how you can maximize your success. I spoke to a person recently who had sent out over 100 résumés without getting more than two interviews, and I quickly discovered that the reasons for the failure were quite obvious to the trained eye (mine). The economy isn’t great, but there are candidates being interviewed for the jobs you are applying for (most of them anyway), and it’s time to figure out why that interview isn’t being given to you.
If you apply for a job and don’t receive a response, there are only a few possibilities as to why that are within our control (please note the emphasis before commenting). Generally the problem is
- a mistake made during the résumé submission itself,
- problems with the résumé, or
- your experience
Qualified candidates that pay attention to these tips will see better results from their search efforts.
Your Résumé Submission
Résumés to jobs@blackholeofdeath – The problem here isn’t that your résumé or application was flawed, it’s just that nobody has read it. Sending to hr@ or jobs@ addresses is never ideal, and your résumé may be funneled to a scoring system that scans it for certain buzzwords and rates it based on the absence, presence and frequency of these words. HRbot apocalypse…
Solution – Do some research to see if you know anyone who works/worked at the company, even a friend of a friend, to submit the résumé. Protip: Chances are the internal employee may even get a referral bonus. LinkedIn is a valuable tool for this. Working with an agency recruiter will also help here, as recruiters are typically sending your information directly to internal HR or hiring managers.
Follow instructions – If the job posting asks that you send a cover letter, résumé, and salary requirements, this request serves two purposes. First and most obviously, they actually want to see how well you write (cover letter), your experience (résumé), and the price tag (salary requirements). Second, they want to see if you are able and willing to follow instructions. Perhaps that is why the ad requested the documents in a specific format? Some companies are now consciously making the application process even a bit more complicated, which serves as both a test of your attention to detail and to gauge whether applicants are interested enough to take an extra step. Making it more difficult for candidates to apply should yield a qualified and engaged candidate pool, which is the desired result.
Solution – Carefully read what the manager/recruiter is seeking and be sure to follow the directions exactly. Have a friend review your application before hitting send.
Spelling and grammar – Spelling errors are inexcusable on a résumé today. Grammar is given much more leeway, but frequent grammatical errors are a killer.
Solution – Have a friend or colleague read it for you, as it is much more difficult to edit your own material (trust me).
Price tag – As you would expect, if you provide a salary requirement that is well above the listed (or unlisted) range, you will not get a response. Conversely and counterintuitively, if you provide a salary requirement that is well below the range, you will also not get a response. Huh?
Suppose you want to hire someone to put in a new kitchen, and you get three estimates. The first is 25K, the second is 20K, and the third is 2K. Which one are you going to choose? It’s hard to tell, but I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to use the one that quoted you 2K. Companies want to hire candidates that are aware of market value and priced accordingly, and anyone asking for amounts well above market will not get any attention.
Solution – Research the going rate for the job and be sure to manage your expectations based on market conditions. Another strategy is trying to delay providing salary information until mutual interest is established. If the company falls in love, the compensation expectation might hurt less. There is some risk of wasting time in interviews if you do not provide information early in the process, and most companies today will require the information before agreeing to an interview.
Canned application – By ‘canned’ I am referring to job seekers that are obviously cutting and pasting content from previous cover letters instead of taking the time to try and personalize the content.
Solution – Go to the hiring firm’s website and find something specific and unique that makes you want to work for that company. Include that information in your submission. If you are using a template and just filling in the blanks (“I read your job posting on _____ and I am really excited to learn that your company _____ is hiring a ______”), delete the template now. If you aren’t willing to invest even a few minutes into the application process, why should the company invest any time learning about you?
Too eager – If I receive a résumé submission for a job posting and then get a second email from that candidate within 24 hours asking about the submission, I can be fairly sure that this is an omen. If I get a call on my mobile immediately after receiving the application ‘just to make sure it came through‘, you might as well just have the Psycho music playing in the background. Even if this candidate is qualified, there will probably be lots of hand-holding and coaching required to get this person hired. Reasonably qualified candidates with realistic expectations and an understanding of business acumen don’t make this mistake.
Solution – Have patience while waiting for a response to your résumé, and be sure to give someone at least a couple/few days to respond. If you are clearly qualified for a position, you will get a reply when your résumé hits the right desk. Pestering or questioning the ability of those that are processing your application is a guarantee that you will not be called in.
Your Résumé
Your objective – If your objective states “Seeking a position as a Python developer in a stable corporate environment“, don’t expect a callback from the start-up company looking for a Ruby developer. This applies even if you are qualified for the job! Why doesn’t the company want to talk to you if you are qualified? Because you clearly stated that you wanted to do something else. If you put in writing that you are seeking a specific job, that information must closely resemble the job to which you are applying.
Solution – You may choose to have multiple copies of your résumé with multiple objectives, so you can customize the résumé to the job (just be sure to remember which one you used so you bring the correct résumé to the interview). As there may be a range of positions you are both qualified and willing to take, using a ‘Profile’ section that summarizes your skills instead of an ‘Objective’ is a safer alternative.
Spelling and grammar (again) – see above
tl;dr – To any non-geek readers, this means ‘too long; didn’t read‘. To my geek readers, many of you are guilty of this. I’ve written about this over and over again, but I still get seven page résumés from candidates. I have witnessed hiring managers respond to long-winded résumés with such gems as ‘if her résumé is this long, imagine how verbose her code will be‘. (Even for non-Java candidates! #rimshot) Hiring managers for jobs that require writing skills or even verbal communication can be extremely critical of tl;dr résumés.
Solution – Keep it to two or three pages maximum. If you can’t handle that, get professional help.
Buzzword bingo – This is a term that industry insiders use to refer to résumés that include a laundry list of acronyms and buzzwords. The goal is to either catch the eye of an automated search robot (or human) designed to rate résumés based on certain words, or to insinuate that the candidate actually has all the listed skills. Software engineers are probably more guilty of this than other professionals, as the inclusion of one particular skill can sometimes make the difference between your document being viewed by an actual human or not. When candidates list far too many skills buzzwords than would be reasonably possible for one person to actually know, you can be sure the recruiter or manager will pass based on credibility concerns.
Solution – I advise candidates to limit the buzzwords on your résumé to technologies, tools, or concepts that you could discuss in an intelligent conversation. If you would not be comfortable answering questions about it in an interview, leave it off.
Your Experience
Gaping holes – If you have had one or more extended period of unemployment, hiring managers and recruiters may simply decide to pass on you instead of asking about the reasons why. Perhaps you took a sabbatical, went back to school full-time, or left on maternity leave. Don’t assume that managers are going to play detective and figure out that the years associated with your Master’s degree correspond to the two year gap in employment.
Solution – Explain and justify any periods of unemployment on your résumé with as much clarity as possible without going into too many personal details. Mentioning family leave is appropriate, but providing the medical diagnosis of your sick relative is not.
Job hopping – Some managers are very wary of candidates that have multiple employers over short periods of time. In the software world it tends to be common to make moves a bit more frequently than in some other professions, but there comes a point where it’s one move too many and you may be viewed as a job hopper. The fear of hiring a job hopper has several roots. A manager may feel you are a low performer, a mercenary that always goes to the highest bidder, or that you may get bored after a short time and seek a new challenge. Companies are unwilling to invest in hires that appear to be temporary.
Solution – If the moves were the result of mergers, acquisitions, layoffs, or a change in company direction, be sure to note these conditions somewhere in the résumé. Never use what could be viewed as potential derogatory information in the explanation. Clearly list if certain jobs were project/contract.
Listed experience is irrelevant/unrelated – This could be a symptom of simply being unqualified for the position, or it could be tied to an inability to detail what you actually do that is relevant to the listed job requirements. I would suspect that most of the aforementioned people (that received no responses to 100 submission) probably fall into the unqualified category, as job seekers tend to feel overconfident about being a fit for a wider range of positions than is realistic. Companies expect a very close fit during a buyer’s market, and are willing to open up their hiring standards a bit when the playing field starts to level.
Solution – Be sure to elaborate on all elements of your job that closely resemble the responsibilities listed in the posting. Instead of wasting time filling out applications for jobs that are clearly well out of reach, spend that time researching jobs that are a better match for you.
You are overqualified – The term ‘overqualified’ seems to be overused by rejected applicants today, as there is no real stigma to the term. It’s entirely comfortable for a candidate to say/think “I didn’t get the job because I possess more skills at a higher level than the employer was seeking“. When a company is seeking an intermediate level engineer, it isn’t always because they want someone earlier in their career than a senior level engineer (although in some cases this could be true). Rather, they want the intermediate level engineer because that is what their budget dictates or they expect that senior engineers would not be challenged by the role (and therefore would leave). There are also situations where companies will not want to hire you because your experience is indicative that you will only be taking this job until something better comes along. A CEO applying for a job as a toll collector will not be taken seriously.
Solution – Be sure that your résumé accurately represents your level of skill and experience. Inflating your credentials or job titles will always work against you.
Conclusion
The time you spend on your job search is valuable, so be sure to use it wisely. Invest additional effort on applications for jobs that you feel are a great fit, and go above and beyond to be sure your submission gets attention. As a general rule of thumb, you want to be sure that whoever receives your résumé will get it into the hands of someone who has a similar job to the one you want, not just someone trained to look for buzzwords. Employees that have similar experience will be the best judges of your fit. If you aren’t getting the response you want, do not keep using the same methods and expecting a different result.
If you found this post useful, you may find my ebook Job Tips For GEEKS: The Job Search even more helpful. You can follow Job Tips For Geeks on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.
Job Tips For Geeks 
I read this in LifeHacker. Very useful. Thank you very much sir.
Glad you found it useful, thanks for reading.
Please provide websites where salaries are posted according to company and profession in order to be on target when “salary requirement” is a required field on the application. Glassdoor.com has limited information. I am interested in Medical informatics positions for Physicians such as clinical content writers, Consultants for electronic medical records companies, hospital medical informatics directors.
Susan – Thanks for reading. Although I don’t know of too many sites that have lots of free and vetted information (there are some groups that cater to companies seeking competitive info and charge for their data), you could try Salary.com as well. I certainly do not endorse any particular site. Good luck!
Great post and not surprisingly the same information can be used by freelancers when applying for jobs.
Absolutely. Most of my articles are written with permanent salaried employees in mind but can almost always apply to consultants. Thanks for reading.
Regarding explaining the gaps in my employment, I’ve been out of work for three years now due to a nearly fatal illness, some bad resumes, and, I suspect, poor interviews. How and where on my resume do I explain this?
That’s a tough one to explain and I can’t say I’ve ever had to coach someone on that. I think the illness should be disclosed – perhaps not the specifics or the seriousness, but the fact that you were out due to health and not by your own choice. If your health is now 100% (or somewhere close), maybe that could be somehow mentioned too in order to quell any fears they may have of hiring you and paying extended sick leave. Glad things are better for you and good luck in the search!
Thanks, Mr. Fecak. Where should I put it, though? It doesn’t seem like “Relevant Employment” to me.
You can call me Dave! 🙂 Under employment where the gap is, write something like ‘Medical Leave’ with the dates and a brief explanation such as ‘Took medical leave for illness that required extended hospitalization’ or something like that (assuming that is true).
My name is Matthew. I have had over 12 years of experience in my field of Shipping manager. I have had longevity at my current company, but I am ready for a change. I got a professional Resume and Cover letter made for me and I send them to companies that are hiring in my area and I don’t get any phone calls for interviews. Though I don’t have a degree in my current position, I do have many years of experience and contacts with Sales Reps at trucking companies. I am proficient in computer software for my job and I know my stuff. What can I do to get an interview where I can showcase my experience. All companies only want you to apply online. Help. Thank you
Matthew – If the online application requires your resume, you at least get the opportunity to differentiate yourself from other candidates. Professional resumes and cover letters are not always a great investment, as there are people in that industry just looking for a quick buck. If you are sending that resume and cover letter to companies and not getting a response, it could be a few issues.
1 – Is the resume/cover letter package applicable to the jobs you are applying to?
2 – Are you customizing the resume/cover letter to the jobs you are applying to?
3 – Some kind of issue that is causing readers to be turned off by the resume/cover letter.
4 – Your experience isn’t in line for some reason.
There are many other possibilities beyond your control, but stick to the ones that you can control.
#2 here is critical – I don’t care how great your resume and cover letter are, if the objective of your resume says “Seeking a position as a Shipping Manager” and you are applying for a different position, you will not get a call (because it appears that isn’t what you want to do.
As a former Fortune 500 executive I’ve hired hundreds of employees.
The key to getting hired whether there’s an opening or not is to customize your approach. If not, you won’t stand out or get an interview. So stop blasting out countless resumes. Most never make it through the automated screening process and even less make it into the hands of a real person in HR.
Your target is not HR! It’s the hiring manager that matters most.
Companies hire people to solve problems (both positive and negative). Your ability to uncover your target employers problems and position yourself as the solution is what will get you hired even when there are no open postings.
Develop a personal marketing campaign whereby you send important problem solving information to the hiring manager on a periodic basis. Done correctly this builds credibility and ultimately leads to a meeting.
Bob Prosen
CEO
Hi Bob, can you clarify what exactly you mean by sending important problem solving information to the hiring manager? sorry I am just trying to figure out your meaning of this, I work in the Oil & Gas industry where allot of problems would need to be solved as you would gather and I personally wouldn’t send problem solving information to someone who has turned me down for a position, I am just trying to see where you are coming from on this, if you have any tips to give me personally on what you like to see in a resume, something that says to you ” this is different, I like this one, lets get him in” would be appreciated as you have hired lots of people thanks.
Hi Dave, Apart from being one of your target readers (though from Australia) I appreciated your post in Life Hacker simply because it was a genuine peace of communication from knowledge, experience and skill. I thank you for NOT calling it “15 reasons why you don’t get interviews”!! I enjoyed and appreciated what you have to say and will use your wisdom to guide my future actions. I am in a difficult age group, as it is (60+ – less of a problem in USA, I know, as I am more likely to be invited for an interview by an American company operating in Australia) so I take any suggestions for improving my chance to get to the interview stage. Thank you for your guidance.
Ann-Marie – Thanks for the comments, and my intent was to give job seekers direct and actionable advice based on my experience. I hope the information serves you. If you have any specific questions about your job search, send me an email and I’ll be happy to respond best I can. Good luck!
Hi Dave
I seem to be in that situation where I am sending out Cv after CV and no reply, like Matthew I had a ” professional” CV made and to be honest when I looked at it I myself was not to impressed, I do stick to the jobs I am fit for and to be honest sometimes over qualified ( I do not like using that term, would rather use “more experienced” ) for just to see if I even get to the interview stage, think out of 200+ CV’s sent, I have one interview coming up soon, I work in the Oil & Gas industry and had jobs ranging from Supervisor to Manager, I think this is one of the most hardest industries to actually get a job in even if you have all the abilities they are looking for its still hard, what I am trying to get at is, some people ( and I have thought this myself sometimes) think they are the only people applying for the position and sit there and wait for the interview mail to arrive and in reality there are hundreds and more applying for the same vacancy and what people have to realise especially in my field of work is that its an open market for employers they can be as picky as they want to be and take as much time over it as they want to do as well so what would also be a good point across is that point, Never presume you are the only one applying for the post,that’s why your CV has to stand out like a sore thumb……and just to comment on what Bob Prosen has mentioned, which I would like clarification on “Develop a personal marketing campaign whereby you send important problem solving information to the hiring manager on a periodic basis. Done correctly this builds credibility and ultimately leads to a meeting” I don’t know about this, I would find it strange if someone who has applied for a position and failed is sending problem solving information to a manager surely this would tend to be on the side of “Harassment” of the person? I don’t know I will have to clarify this with Bob on what he actually means…sorry to ramble on thanks for the hints and tips.
Steve – First, thanks for reading and for the comments. As for your comment on a “professional” CV, your timing is interesting. After coming across dozens of people who had paid large sums for poor resumes, I decided to launch a fairly priced resume service. The problem seems to be that professional resume writers are often just unsuccessful writers who learned they can earn a living writing resumes. Unfortunately, most don’t have experience in the industry. You really need to have worked in hiring in order to write a good resume, because you need to know what your audience (hiring manager) is looking for. We just launched Resume Raiders (http://resumeraiders.com) this month to provide a good service at a fraction of the price.
As for your story, if you are sending out CV after CV and getting the same results, something needs to change. 200 CVs and one interview is obviously a bad sign. If you are more experienced or perhaps overqualified, sometimes deleting some of your experience can be helpful. The resume need not include every job you’ve ever had – at least in the US.
I like the idea of a marketing campaign for jobs at some levels, but it’s a very specific tactic that won’t work for over 90% of the workforce I’d estimate. For someone like yourself, the resume and listed experience will likely be what gets you in the door – perhaps some personalization or demonstration of interest in the job might be beneficial as well.
Good luck!
Interesting reading, however, I am none the wiser in understanding where I’m going wrong. I’m applying for positions in quality assurance, mainly in management or as a senior engineer. I have a grad diploma in management, Bachelor of science, certified quality manager, lean six sigma green belt and a number of other relevant qualifications. I have 8 years experience as a quality assurance manager in automotive (19 years in total), 5 years as team leader, lead auditor in defence and 2 years in compliance management in oil and gas. I have engaged the services of two different recruiting companies and have had former clients introduce me to head hunters. Both the recruiters and head hunters have stated that both my cover letter and resume are well written and accurately target positions that I am definitely qualified for. Roles where I don’t have the entire suite of skills, qualifications or experience, I do not apply for. When I was made redundant in the auto industry, I applied for two positions and was interviewed for both and chose the position I wanted. Whilst working in defence I made the move to oil and gas and received replies to all 4 jobs I applied for requesting me to attend an interview. The same cover letter and resume are now getting me nowhere. Clearly something else is at play here. I think a lot of your points are valid, however your take on why people are not being interviewed does not address the reason why perfectly suitable individuals, with the right resume, cover letter and contacts are not being interviewed. It is quite simplistic and definitely not helpful in these instances for you to merely suggest that there is something the candidates are doing wrong. It is apparent that many HR professionals are anything but professional. Furthermore, the pseudo psychological analysis by some HR people that seems to be at play here is quite disturbing to say the least. It would be a welcome change if HR professionals stuck to the requirements of a role and compared resumes according to candidates meeting the fundamental requirements rather than playing Freud with us.
Kind regards,
Paul
P.s. I am in Australia, but assume the market conditions are similar to the US.
Thanks for the comments Paul. As far as your personal anecdote regarding “where you are going wrong”, it’s a bit difficult to diagnose where (or even if) you are going wrong. If you are absolutely qualified and not getting interviews when submitting your resume, it’s hard to imagine that these are all phantom job listings and that nobody is being interviewed. So let’s assume someone is being interviewed, but you are not among those chosen.
You mention 19 years total experience. In some industries, ageism is an issue (in the US at least). I know nothing about the quality assurance and/or automotive industries in Australia, so I can’t speak to that, but at some point in your career it might make sense to stop listing your earliest experience (which is usually the least relevant) and perhaps remove graduation dates from education to try and at least reduce the possibility of ageism.
Regarding my “take on why people are not being interviewed does not address the reason why perfectly suitable individuals, with the right resume, cover letter and contacts are not being interviewed”, of course my article is not going to address every single possible scenario. There are simply too many possibilities. Perhaps the first applicant was the CEO’s child or cousin. The job was filled by an internal candidate, and was only even posted due to some legal regulation or internal company policy. There could be thousands of reasons. This article was intended to address the more common ones, and more importantly, the more common reasons that job seekers might actually be able to CONTROL. Job seekers can only control a small part of the hiring process, so it’s vital that they do their best to make sure it’s not something on their end.
I tend to find that people who are not getting any interviews have at least some issues with the resume. The fact that you’ve had it looked at by some people who you know is helpful. People tend to shy away from criticizing people they know. I launched a side business called Resume Raiders (http://resumeraiders.com) earlier this year to address these issues, and I provide both resume writing and review services that are direct and come with actionable advice. I’m willing to at least take a quick look at your resume to see if there is anything glaring.
Dave,
Firstly, thank you for taking the time to reply. As I mentioned in my first post, you make some valid points, however, seeing as you offered advice within the context of “The complete lack of response is not due to the economy. The lack of response is based on your résumé, your experience, or your résumé submission itself”, then mY objection to your assumptions are that you do not qualify your assertions that indeed, the lack of response may not be your fault. I did also say that my resume and cover letter were reviewed by head hunters and recruiters, people that I do not know on a personal level. If you can’t get a non-biased critique from these people who are in the business of hiring, then who do you go to? As you can understand it is extremely frustrating to not even get to interview when the same, previously successful techniques are no longer working, hence, what Am I doing wrong? I thank you for your offer to review my resume but respectfully decline.
Kind regards,
Paul
Paul – Speaking of context, you took my quote out of context, and the context is key. The preceding sentence is “To anyone who has sent out large quantities of résumés without any response or interviews”.
I stand by this statement. If you are a properly qualified individual, sending resumes in the manner in which I describe, you won’t be able to send it out hundreds of times without a response. It simply won’t happen. There aren’t enough cases of phantom jobs, ageism, other discrimination, nepotism, etc. to account for someone sending out 100 resumes with no response.
I hope things work out for you and you get the answers you seek. Accept offers of help where you can get them.
Dave,
I’m afraid you are missing the point. I have sent out numerous job applications with no answer. I am not suggesting these are phantom jobs, or that any other underhanded powers are at play. If you read my first post, I clearly ask what am I doing wrong? Once again I’ll spell it out. The cover letter and resume that has been working effectively in the past, no longer seems to be attracting interest to the same degree. I have engaged with recruiters and head hunters who have reviewed these documents and have assured me my approach and applications are spot on. The market is depressed, manufacturing is extremely weak, people are retiring later, new jobs seekers are accepting temporary positions at much lower pay. A perfect storm if you will that makes job hunting extremely difficult. If I were the only person I knew in this difficulty and I hadn’t questioned my application methodology and sought out professional assistance from those that do the hiring and firing, then I’d say your commentary has complete credibility. However, you either seem to miss a very basic point, or choose to ignore what I am saying. I realise resume writing is big business and the are many, including yourself in the business of offering advice (some of which is excellent). Again, you need to provide a balanced commentary and not just tell people that it’s not the economy, it’s you. People are hurting out there and their self-esteem is at and all time low. Affording the blame to people who have not been able to find work without qualifying your statements is irresponsible. I find it bemusing that you yourself are capable of offering advice and critique, yet you clearly are not capable of accepting critique of your article. Don’t take it personally Dave. Most of your advice is very good. Just keep it balanced in the future. Best of luck with your resume business.
Kind regards,
Paul
Paul – No worries, and I don’t take it personally. I only started my resume business this year (2+ years after I published this article) because I was seeing candidates spending hundreds of dollars (US) on poor resumes and getting horrible advice from recruiters. Recruiters are telling candidates what they want to hear (“your resume is fine, it’s the companies and recruiters that are at fault”) and not what they sometimes need to hear. My advice is direct and isn’t always popular for that reason, as you can find on the comments of my articles in places like Lifehacker.
As for recruiters and hiring professionals telling you your approach is good, you should keep in mind as to how easy it is to get into the recruiting industry (I’m a recruiter, I know). The level of professionalism in the field is incredibly low due to several factors: the lack of barriers to entry (a phone and a computer), the high compensation, and the low costs to hire recruiters (their pay is based on performance). You may find 100 recruiters who might tell you your resume and cover letter are great before finding the one that actually knows what he/she is talking about. The recruiting industry is littered with hacks. Perhaps you are working with great recruiters who know what they are talking about, but just keep in mind that the advice of recruiters is not a homogenous product.
My resume business is <10% of my earnings, but I do enjoy being able to help people for a fair price. I'm sorry that you didn't find this article applied to your situation, and I have no interest in blaming job seekers. I simply find that when I hear anecdotes of candidates applying to hundreds of jobs without a reply, there is usually something that can be changed to improve the results.
Good luck in the job search, and my offer to look at your resume free of charge still applies.