Post and Pray

Post and pray has become the new mantra for the thousands of new graduates hoping to get that ever elusive job interview. Post and pray refers to the phenomenon of job seekers posting generic resume en mass to every job posting that they think they have shot at, even if they are qualified or not. Thanks to the growth of internet job boards, there is virtually no cost or effort associated with sending a resume in response to a job posting. In prehistoric times, a job seeker at least had to print out a stack of resume and physically had to drive to companies to hand them off. This expenditure of both ink and effort made job seekers think twice about applying for a job that they are under qualified and/or have no passion for. Fast forward to the internet age and the advent of emails and job boards has lead even freshly minted business students to apply for senior executive positions.

Post and pray had lead to a glut of generic resumes that have turned employers wary of wading through literally tens of thousands of resumes, you can’t blame them for not giving your template resume the time and the day. Even worst, many desperate job seekers are employing commercial resume blasting services that are even more indiscriminate about which job posting they reply to. No wonder most job seekers never hear anything back from employers, not even a rejection notice.

To stand out from the piles of generic resume, I believe it’s crucial to create a targeted resume that may be uniquely designed for a specific company that you are interested in. Yes, this would require much more effort than just filling in a few boxes and having some software spit out a generic template resume, but that is exactly the point. You want to show employers that you have put considerable consideration and effort in responding to their job posting. If you don’t show them that consideration, why should they do the same for your resume?

The willingness to go that extra mile will make allow you to stand out from the masses and for the internet age, standing out has become more important than ever. Don’t try to simply play the numbers game.