Have you ever been told you have too much experience to get the job you’d like to have? Told you’re ineligible and overqualified for a job because you have 10 years of experience when you only need three? Or simply applied for a job in which you met all of the position requirements – but never heard back?

Unfortunately, it’s not unusual for employers to reject applicants on the basis of being overqualified for a job – often employers will do this without even inviting you in for an interview.

I call this the “Goldilocks Syndrome”: In the classic children’s fairy tale, Goldilocks prefers her porridge “not too hot” and “not too cold” – but “just right.” In hiring new employees, many employers do the equivalent: They prefer to hire candidates for a job who are “not inexperienced” and who don’t have “too much experience.” They want the candidate they hire to have roughly the same amount of experience they imagined on paper when they wrote out the job description.

Fortunately, there are strategies you can use in the job search process to ensure that your application gets viewed, so that you can be seen as a potential hire – and not just as another resume in the pile. Here are four tactics you can use to apply for jobs where you exceed the general job requirements.

1. Determine what’s important to the employer.

Read the job description carefully, seeking out key words and level of experience requested for the role.

One quick way to do this is to try visualizing the key skills required for the job. Here’s our five minute secret for finding the “hot words” that can help you land your next interview.

Make sure you use these keywords in your resume summary and cover letter – and don’t aggressively market your many years of experience if the job only requires a small amount of experience.

2. Figure out how the job fits your skills and experience – and be concise in your cover letter to show a fit.

When employers write job descriptions and position summaries, they typically lead with the most important responsibilities of the job.

While many job applicants write cover letters that summarize their entire career in several paragraphs that start with “I,” an easier way to get noticed is to provide a comparison of your skills and the requirements for a job in your cover letter.

Example, “your available position as a Marketing Assistant” aligns closely with my skills and past experience.” Here is a match up:

You seek                                                           I offer

Experience with ad campaigns                  2+ years ad campaign experience, including social media campaigns

3.  Anticipate the employer’s question, “Why would you want this job?” and answer it.

If you are applying for the job because you’d like to switch industries or job functions, be clear on why you are motivated to apply for the job – and show the employer that you really want the position.

Why should you do this? Employers don’t know why you are applying for a job until you tell them. If you are obviously overqualified for the job, they may think that you would not be serious about the job – or that you are applying simply because you cannot get hired elsewhere.

If you are genuinely interested in the job, give the employer a reason why you’d like to work in the position.

Let’s say, for example, you are interested in a position as a Barista at Starbucks after years of experience as an accountant.

You might say, “for the past five years, my favorite part of the day has been my morning stops to Starbucks for a latte with a shot of espresso.” After working six 16-hour shifts in a row before April 15, I realized that I was going to Starbucks as much for the staff as for the caffeine. While I have all of your Barista equipment at home, the atmosphere you create for your customers is a unique one. I’d like to be a part of that.”

4. If you don’t get an interview – or don’t get the job offer after being interviewed. Follow up – and address the Goldilocks issue head-on.

You may even be able to get the employer to re-evaluate their decision.

A woman I know turned a rejection letter into a second interview and job offer with a thank you letter similar to this one:

Thanks for letting me know that I was not chosen for the _______________ job. I may look overqualified for the role because of my ____ years of experience in a job that only requires ______, but I was excited about the role because of the opportunity to do ___________________. I was also looking forward to the opportunity to learn more about _______________. Should you have openings in the future, I’d appreciate it if you could keep my resume on file, as I’d very much like to join your team.

(The employer called her up and asked her to come in within 48 hours.)

Note: If the job you’re applying to pays much less or is more junior, a way to tackle this is to say – that you’d be willing to start at the salary designated for the role – if there was a clear path to advancement within the company after sufficient time spent in the role!

Have you ever successfully used any of these four strategies to land a job despite being over-qualified? Or, alternatively, do you have another suggested tactic that works? Share.

You finally got that coveted interview, and you’re excited about the position and company, but now what?

Despite given the green flag to interview for the position, remember that there is a reason they call it an “interview”.  You still need to prove that the job should be yours.  The confidence you need to approach the interview is realizing that there is a reason they want you for an interview.  Your resume and skills seem promising to them, and there is a high chance that they find you the best match for the position.  Now you need to take this assumption on their part, and turn it into a concrete belief.

So how do you make this happen?

1. Be Human

The term “Interview” stands for a discussion, a meeting, a DIALOGUE.  The most important step is to have a dialogue with the employer.  People mistakenly see the interview as a one-way conversation where the employer asks the questions, and the interviewee needs to respond with the “right” answers.

Instead, it’s advantageous to realize that the employer is another person—another human who enjoys a good conversation like any other person.  When they interview a prospective candidate, they want to see that the candidate is personable and relatable.  They want to be able to envision you working in their company, interacting with their current employers, and fitting well with your co-workers.  The interview will be a bigger success if the interviewer finds that the conversation was less about answering questions and more about forming a connection between two people.  What it comes down to in the end is: If they find you likeable, they’ll want to hire you.

2. Research and Prepare

Interviews are like exams.  If you walk into an exam unprepared, the chances of failing the exam increase.  Similarly, you need to study for an interview as well.

First, do any basic research on the company.  What industry are they in?  Are there any recent press releases or news related to the company?  This may be a great talking point with the interviewer.

Next, your job is to figure out what type of interview will be conducted.  By knowing what to expect, you can refine skills suited for that interview type.

Different types of interviews:

• Behavioral Interview– This interview type gauges how you react to or “behave” in situations and will ask you for “real life” examples.
• Case Interview– This interview tests your problem-solving skills and employers want to see how you’ll rationalize and think through a problem.
• Group Interview– The group interview is designed to see how you interact with others, and your ability to make your input heard in a group setting.
• Lunch and Dinner Interview– These interviews show the employer how a candidate behaves in a social setting, and whether they can maintain their professionalism over lunch/dinner.   Mainly, these interviews gauge whether you are qualified to hold lunch or dinners with future clients.
• Public Interview– This interview is more casual, but shows the employer how you react in a public setting.
• Panel/Committee Interview– This interview type involves being interviewed by more than one interviewer.  There may or may not be other candidates simultaneously being interviewed in the same room.  This interview is designed to test your group management and group presentation skills.
• Stress Interview-The stress interview shows the employer how you react under stressful situations.   The employer will deliberately react in ways to test how you respond or recover.

After prepping for the appropriate interview type, don’t forget to find out an important piece of information—directions to the interview room!

3. Be Confident, Smile

You can’t convince the employer to be confident in your abilities if you aren’t confident in yourself.  Know that every person is different, and your own unique experiences offer something promising to their plate of candidates.  Take your strong points, and let them shine.

Hold your head up, smile, and be yourself.  Walk into that interview room confident because you have exactly what it takes to make that job yours. 

1. When invited to interview, ask for details:

2. Print out and bring extra copies of your resume – and review the job description.

3. Anticipate the questions you’ll be asked.

4. Be prepared to be as interested as you are interesting.

5. Practice your best poker face – and prepare to address any lemons in your background.

This is not just a correct phone number, but the best number for a potential employer to call. Make sure you think it through.

If they can’t see me, why should I worry?

***

You tweaked your resume, wrote a cover letter expressing your interests and qualifications, and applied to those jobs.  One day, you’re scrolling through your emails or listening to your voicemail (or checking your StartWire application updates!) and find, you’ve received a request to a phone interview!

Pause here and think: what does the phone interview really mean?  How is the phone interview different from the in-person interview?

For many, the phone interview seems less formal because they’re not physically meeting the employer.  Instead, the phone interview can be done in the comfort of a room or a space which they’re familiar with.  You might choose to forgo that suit jacket and pants that you’d wear if you were dressed to impress the interviewer.  You don’t even really need to do any personal grooming because… no one will see how you look!

Don’t get too comfortable.  It’s important to realize, you should treat the phone interview exactly as you would an in-person interview!

Why?

Employers offer the phone interview as a means to determine which candidates are worth the resources for an in-person interview, but it also means that the employers are looking at you and are interested in your potential to be their next hire.  Know that if you’ve been offered a phone interview, you’re considered a top-candidate, worthy of conversing with to gauge your fit to the position.

You need to take this just as seriously as if you were sitting in an office, meeting the hiring manager face-to-face.  If you drop the ball now, you can be cut from the short list you worked so hard to get on, and not be given that coveted in-person interview. 

Shine on the phone, and you’ll walk into your interview as a top prospect.

This is the third and final installment in our series of posts on how to keep your resume from falling into oblivion. This series was sparked by a Wall Street Journal infographic that says 25 out of 100 resumes submitted for any job applied to online are read.

What happens to the remaining 75 applications? They remain in the application folder online and aren’t opened because the key words and information in the resumes do not match the job requirements in the applicant tracking system used by the company where you’ve applied.

Most companies use applicant tracking systems — known as ATS for short — to help track applications, keep information on candidates, and share applications with hiring decision makers and interviewers. These ATS systems make the job search process more efficient for employers. They come loaded with features designed to save them time and — as mentioned above — one of these features is the ability for employers to specify key words and experience that is relevant for the job.

If you’re an employer, the ATS makes life easy for you. Because applications are ranked by relevance of keywords, you can review those applications that appear to be most in line with the job first.

If you’re a job seeker, the ATS can make your job search more complicated.  If you don’t have the right words and summary in your resume, you can get overlooked—even if you are actually the most qualified candidate to apply for the position.

Fortunately, there are easy steps you can take to control the situation. Here is a five minute trick to make sure your resume gets read.

1. Find the key words you need to include in your resume.

To do this, copy the job description from the site where you found the job listing. (Note: StartWire has a slew of jobs listed on the site.)

Here’s a listing for a Production Manager job at MTV. We’re using this for a DEMO.

2. Paste the job description into a free tag cloud generator such as TagCrowd.

(Wordle and ToCloud also have this service.)

The results will highlight the keywords that are important for the job description.

3. Modify your resume to include the highlighted keywords.

Do you have a minimum of 70% of the qualifications listed in the job description?

Does your experience match the keywords that are prominent in the tag cloud?

If the answer is yes and yes, add a bulleted summary to start your resume that highlights your fit for the job.

Note: This exercise will not help you if your experience doesn’t line up with the job description. We recommend you apply for jobs that align well with your skills and experience.

Example of a resume summary:

Five years of production experience including multi-camera work and video editing. (Start by summarizing how many years of experience you have.)

Financial management experience with budgeting, process mapping, and forecasting experience. (Next, emphasize a skill you have that is relevant to the job. Here we focus on budgeting and management since they are prominent in our graphic.)

Strong technical skills with demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with staff and equipment vendors across production life cycle from proposals and pilots to live events and final cuts. (Finish up with a summary that directly relates to the subject matter of the job.)

Result: You’ve got a resume summary that shows both the applicant tracking system — and the hiring manager — your fit for the job. This should exponentially increase your chances of landing a job interview!

As you’ve probably noticed, we believe in straight talk for the job search. And we’re fighting back after the recent Wall Street Journal article on “Your Resume versus Oblivion.”

It pains us to think that only 25 out of every 100 applications for a job are only looked at — and frustrates us that the rest are overlooked because the resume doesn’t have the right keywords or phrases that show that the application is a fit for the job.

We don’t like those odds. But, as we noted last week — it helps even to know when you aren’t in the running for a job. Because then you can do something about it.

And there’s a lot you can do about it — and make your way onto an interview list. Here are three essential steps you can take.

1. Apply early.  We can’t stress this enough. It’s really important to apply within the first seven days that a job listing comes out. If you apply later, your application may not even get looked at.Why: Because most people who hire need to hire because they have more work then they can get to right now. And when they do their first review of applications, they typically make a short list of eight or fewer people who could do the job. These are the names that make the first interview list.And sometimes the people who hire — or their recruiters — only take a second look at applications if the people on the short list don’t work out. So it’s important to be early.How important? Out of a StartWiresurvey of 6400 hires in 2010, approximately 50% applied for the job they landed within one week of the job posting.Tip: You’ll get a job alert for any search you save in StartWire — just tell us what you’re looking for and we can send you the leads.
2. Make yourself real. Even if you’ve got a great resume and the best cover letter ever, you are only a name in a stack of applications until you get heard.Don’t be afraid to find a connection to the company and follow-up. Referrals are the #1 way most employers prefer to hire people they don’t know. Use LinkedIn and other tools to find any contacts you have that are associated with the place you want to work. (Tip: Connect your LinkedIn and Facebook accounts to StartWireand you’ll see this information when you look at job listings, too.)When you follow-up, you may want to put this advice in practice. Here are tips we received recently from folks at the Emily Post Institute:
   • Open your message by letting people know how you know them.
   • Provide information on your interests — and why you are contacting them. (e.g. “I’ve just applied to work at a great company, _______, and I understand your friend Sam works there as a _________. I was wondering if you might be able to put us in touch?”)
   • Offer your assistance as well. “I hope things are going well at _______. If I may be able to help you in anyway, please let me know.”
   • Provide your contact information, and say thank you again. (The Emily Post folks say the second thank you is critical!)If you can get an introduction, that’s great. But don’t expect a referral to do all the work for you. Offer to send a copy of your application materials if they are interested in seeing them — and continue to apply through official channels.(Here’s a tip not often mentioned: You can’t be hired at most companies unless you’ve at least submitted an application through official channels. This is because they can’t count you as an applicant otherwise.)
3. Don’t be afraid to follow-up. Many postings may say “no calls.” But the truth is, many people will talk to you if you do call — and it can help you stand out in the applicant pool. After all, people who advertise for help — need help. And if you’re following up, it shows that you are ready and willing to help.The worst thing that can happen is for someone to say the job’s been filled — which leaves you in a position to move on. The best thing, “I was going to go over applications later in the day, but since you’re calling — could you come in for an interview instead?”Again, showing that you’re interested and following up — shows that you are genuinely interested in the job. And if you add in a sentence or two that ties what the employer needs to the job, you can easily be that candidate that gets invited to come in.

Next Tuesday: The five minute trick to finding the right keywords to use in your resume when you apply for THAT job…And how to make them pop in your resume. Stay tuned!

Interviews can be daunting—especially when considering the time value of money.  The time spent in interviewing might mean another lost opportunity elsewhere.  Therefore, how can you make sure to win in your time investment?  How can you make your interviews be a valuable and useful investment to your future?

There are five defining moments in an interview that can “make it or break it”:

1. The Entrance.  First impressions are vital. How should you make your first impression?
2. The Conversation.  Have a conversation, not an interrogation.
3. The Value Proposition.  What should make them hire you over another?
4. The Questions.
5. The End of an Interview.  It’s not enough just to say, thanks for your time!

In this article, Mark Babbit does an engaging job detailing these five defining moments in:  “The Five Defining Moments of Every Job Interview”.

To top off the year, we posted our exclusive 12 Career Tips for 12 list, highlights from StartWire interviews with recruiters and talent acquisition pros.

You can find the advice here. But we also know it’s one thing to read advice – and it’s another thing to actually put it into action. (Classic example: Spending more time reading about how to lose weight than exercising.) Maybe you know what we mean here…

So here are our tips – paired with action strategies designed to help you to jump start your search.

Get social. Engaging with recruiters online can help you get hired.

Get online. If you engage with organizations today on social media, you will get a little bit of a bump. You will receive extra attention. All of those avenues of social media engagement can help. This is a new world for employers so we are being extraordinarily careful to engage a little bit better, and to give more feedback.

Stacy Van Meter
Senior Manager of Social Marketing/Employment Brand for Deluxe.

How to do it: Two strategies that will take you under ten minutes:

1. Like the organization you want to work for on Facebook. (Make sure you have a professional profile.) Post a comment about company news or share a related item on the organization’s Facebook wall. If you see a great job, share it — as one recruiter recently told me, “when you share a job that’s different from the one you’re applying to — and tell us what you’ve applied to — you are helping us with our work before you even get started!”
    
2. Follow the company on Twitter and send an @reply message via Twitter expressing interest in learning more about jobs. Be specific — if you’ve already applied for a job — say where you’ve applied. (New to Twitter? An @reply is like a postcard — anyone can see it, and a quick message can be an easy way to open doors with potential networking conversations.)

Find a way to get introduced to someone inside the company.

Over 30% of our hires come from referrals. The biggest advantage you can have is when people know you. Get someone inside the company to advocate for you. Find the job, than find someone who can vouch for you, and apply for it. By the time the job is posted, it is almost too late. Hiring success often comes from someone you know.
Adam Eisenstein
Recruiter for McGraw Hill

How to do it: Connect your LinkedIn or Facebook account on StartWire and see who you know at any job listed on the site or for companies that you’ve already applied to. StartWire’s “Get Referral” and recommendations features provide a quick way that you can get in touch.
 

Get a referral.

On average, one of out every 33 candidates is going to get hired from an online source—such as a job board or a career site. If you are referred, your odds go up to one  in four. Those are better odds.

Shanil Kaderali
Manager of Talent Programs at WellPoint
 
How to do it: Apply to places where you can get a referral as much as other jobs.
 

Be accessible. Tell people how they can find you.

Don’t forget to share your contact information. Put your phone number and email in every single communication that you send to a recruiter. If you save time so I don’t have to look for your information, it makes it much easier for me to give you a call back.
 
Rebecca Warren
Recruiting Manager at General Mills

How to do it: Include your email and phone number in a signature line of your email and always give the position number when you follow-up so employers can easily find your information. Another quick path to success? Name your resume with your first and last name — and include the job you’re applying to. When you can be a fast find on the computer, it’s easier to stay top-of-mind.
 

Wear your enthusiasm on your sleeve.

Editor’s Note: This is something we heard over and over — from virtually every company we have talked to. It’s important to share you care about what the company does and the type of work you want to do.
 
If you want to win the job, you need to portray that you are passionate. Then the natural or optimistic assumption is “this person is going to work extremely hard.”  Show that there are things you work really hard at – and I would do this at your company.
 
Alex Moazed
CEO at Applico LLC

How to do it: Research the company where you’ve applied and show that you are familiar with the culture. Want an easy back door entrance? Track your application in StartWire and click on the “details” view of any job for instant access to employee reviews from Glassdoor.com

Don’t take yourself out of the running for a job by not applying. Let them decide if you’re qualified.

People assume that they aren’t going to get into Google. The reputation is such that it is very hard to get into Google. And so some people don’t even try.

Jeff Moore
Lead Engineering Recruiter for Google

How to do it: Apply for any job that you meet 70% of the applications for…and apply early. StartWire research shows that 50% of successful job seekers apply for a job within one week of the job listing.
 

Get to know the whole company – not just the job you’re applying for.

I always say a career is like a puzzle; you have to look at the whole picture. Whether you are looking to go into finance, marketing, product design or sales, be open minded and take into account the whole experience – think about what it is you can take away from a particular role. Understand the many pieces of the company and be willing to learn about new things that might be the right fit for you. You’re not going to know enough unless you are open and aggressive learner.
Nancy Hickey
Senior Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer for Steelcase Inc.

How to do it: When you get invited to a group interview, ask the participants how they work together and interact on a daily basis. One of my favorite questions: If I was hired for this job, what would my first priority be — and how would I work with each of you to get that done?

Don’t give up if the phone doesn’t ring.
 

When a job seeker applies for any job they should remember that being qualified doesn’t necessarily mean the same thing as being the most qualified.  So the assumption by a job seeker that they are entitled to an interview just because they meet the qualifications is a tough thing to swallow at any level.  

It’s why connecting outside of the application process is so important for both job seekers and recruiters.  It’s why having a visible and living profile that showcases your expertise and engagement with industry peers is much more powerful than is sometimes thought.

Chris Hoyt
Talent Engagement & Marketing Leader at PepsiCo

How to do it: Try this experiment. Follow-up on all of your applications with a referral — or direct outreach to the company via a social network. Chances are good you’ll get a higher follow up rate.
 

If at first you don’t get hired, try, try again.
 

Understand that whenever you are applying to an organization that is highly desirable, people tend to get discouraged if they don’t get the first job they go for. We may get 400 or 500 applicants for one job. There could be 10 top people in the field. If you are passionate about the organization continue to look at the organization.
The first time I applied for a recruiter job with Taylor Made – I came in third. Then four years later, I’m leading global recruiting.

Steve Bonomo
Head of Global Talent Acquisition for Adidas

How to do it: Don’t give up on a company because you didn’t get hired the first time out. Don’t be afraid to apply for another position, apply for other jobs of interest as well.
 

Be humble.
 

Occasionally, people aren’t humble enough. People say “I meet all the criteria for the job.” A lot of candidates have come in from our process and people have walked away saying “That’s the smartest person we’ve interviewed for this job but they come out of the interview saying ‘let’s not hire them.’ We like to see people who feel like they have something to learn from us, too.  I’m not going to ask you to rewire yourself.  You want people who can sell themselves, but people who can be themselves, too.

Miles Parroco
Director of Recruiting, Eventbrite

How to do it: Again, It’s important to show what you want to learn from a job just as much as you share your accomplishments. Show you are human…and why people should want to work with you, too.

Demonstrate you’re a team player with “humble confidence.”

We look for individuals who have a collaborative style and what we call a “humble confidence.” Can you listen to and build on the ideas of others yet respectfully advocate for your own ideas, too?
Julie Motta
Senior Manager of Talent Acquisition for Whirlpool Corporation

How to do it: When you talk about details, be concrete and avoid adjectives: “The event I organized was attended by 500, an increase of 200 over the year before” says more than “I did way better than last year’s organizer in getting people to come to the event.”

Don’t be afraid to say what you don’t know — and what you hope to learn from a new job. Remember, most employers value employees who can follow instructions as much as they do leadership.

Ask for the job.
 

Research each company you want to work for.   If you are socially connected (personally or professionally via social media) with someone from the company, if appropriate, query those associates about the culture.    Ask related questions about the job and the company.  

Interviewing is getting to know one another.  During the interview process, instead of answering questions with one word, tell a story about how you positively responded to a situation.  Before you leave the interview, ask what the next steps are in the process.  In the best-case scenario: Ask for the job.

Wanda Callahan,
Director of Recruiting, Harris Interactive

How to do it:  Don’t be afraid to show your sincere interest in an opportunity, and ask how you can follow-up. If you don’t hear back, pick up the phone and follow-up. Once hired, how you follow-up on activities for the job will be important — so why not demonstrate that you have these qualities in advance!