Don't Send a Resume: And Other Contrarian Rules to Help Land a Great Job (Hardcover)

by Jeffrey J. Fox (Author) "A resume with a "for everyman" cover letter is junk mail..." (more)
Key Phrases: boomerang letter, precall planning, impact letter, Harvard Business School (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
You've read the how-to-figure-out-what-you-really-want-to-do books and completed their soul-searching assignments. You've prepared a resume worthy of the world's top performer in your field, and you've printed it on discreetly fabulous paper. And you've sent it to the (select, of course) few hundred employers you'd like to work for... and still you're looking for that great job. No wonder, then, that a book with the title Don't Send a Resume has grabbed your attention.

Jeffrey Fox is the ultimate marketer, consumed with and successful at ensuring his product stands out and is snatched up--and in this case, that product is you. Don't Send a Resume is his tip-laden guide on how to make yourself visible, desirable, and ultimately invaluable to your next employer. Dismissing the well-worn routes of sending unsolicited resumes and contacting personnel departments, Fox concentrates on what will turn job-seekers into super salespeople. While occasionally just spiced-up commonsense, his advice is simple, direct, and often ingenious, supported by details and made colorful by the odd illustration. Understand the jargon of job seeking and translate that jargon into meaningful marketing clues. Determine how the job you want creates value for the company and "dollarize" yourself accordingly. Look for a job in the unorthodox places that other job-seekers overlook. Write "boomerang" letters in response to job ads. Don't expect employers to care about your job objective or what you like to do; they only care about what they need. Don't talk and tell in an interview; answer, ask, listen, and sell. Whatever you do, don't order sauce-splashing food in a lunch interview, however tempting the dish. Oh, and don't forget to ask for the job. --S. Ketchum

From Publishers Weekly
The old rules--such as relying on classified ads and just one resume--no longer work, according to marketing consultant Fox (How to Become a Rainmaker). Instead, people must target companies and connect with executives, not HR staff, he says. Fox discourages readers from endlessly submitting resumes, since the best results come from contacts and new leads. While his advice is familiar, he offers enough new strategies to make this book worthwhile. Agent, Doris S. Michaels.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 172 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1 edition (May 23, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786865962
• ISBN-13: 978-0786865963
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #313,866 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Marketing Principles Applied to Job Searches, May 7, 2001

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "a Practical Optimi... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

Mr. Fox challenges the conventional wisdom in useful ways in this provocative set of 44 mini essays on getting a terrific job. He argues that you should think of getting a job as "marketing and selling of yourself." He provides the primary metaphor to marketing, and gives you an outline of what to do. He encourages you to get even more ideas by reading books about marketing, having made the translation to this environment and issue. The material is clear and easy-to-execute, and following this advice will probably increase your chances of getting the best job you are qualified to do.

Mr. Fox isn't against resumes, he just wants to change the way they are used. Rather than lead with a general purpose resume, he wants you to customize a resume for each opportunity after having met someone in the company. "You are a product." "You are not a robot, but you will be purchsed as if you were a robotic assembly machine." As such, he wants you to fit the specifications precisely, in a way that you cannot do until you have more information.

His basic blueprint for getting a job entails these steps:

(1) target organizations for their fit with your talents and interests, and their geographical proximity to where you want to live

(2) research those organizations

(3) send a custom impact letter to the highest level person who can hire you to get an interview (you can use ads to give you an idea of what they are looking for)

(4) plan the interview

(5) estimate the economic value of what you can do for the organization

(6) bring helpful ideas to the interview

(7) conduct an analysis of what the organization needs during the interview

(8) write and send that individualized resume

(9) Follow-up with a thank you letter within a day with some new idea in it

(10) Plan any subsequent interviews to reflect what you've learned.

He encourages you to stand out, even if that means being a litle outrageous. He tells stories about getting a creative job in an advertising agency by sending a fish as a message and a wind-up toy to get into business school.

He also suggests looking for jobs where others don't look -- with venture capitalists, small companies, in China and Cuba, accountants and lawyers who handle family companies, bankruptcy trustees and lawyers, and commercial loan officers.

I thought the advice was generally pretty good. The boldness advice should be tempered to match the type of organization and work you want to do. You don't want to seem out of character for what that person likes. Also, the economic benefits of your working with the company should be conservatively stated in the context of how that companies values such benefits. That point wasn't made clear.

After you finish reading this book, I also suggest that you think about whether you should start-up a new organization with a team of people who have complementary skills. That's another place where most people don't look.

Add the most value you can to the lives of others . . . and to yourself!

85 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars RIGHT ON THE MARK!, May 11, 2001

By	Sandra D. Peters "Seagull Books" (Prince Edward Island, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Jeffrey J. Fox is accurate, full of wisdom and absolutely correct when he advises not to send resumes and other unauthorized material in searching for employment. Some people send them unsolicited and "willy-nilly" everywhere and anywhere, and then wonder why they do not receive a response. Save money on the fancy paper, printing and binding costs and spend your time reading this book. Some companies literally receive hundreds of resumes each week, and a good majority eventually work their way into file #13, better known as the trash can.

From years of management experience and having written extensive training material on the topic, I can tell you that no employer is going to be impressed by a resume that tells the reader why YOU need a job, and to be very blunt and honest, most employers do not care why. An employer wants to know what you can do for the company, not what the company can do for you. What exceptional knowledge, experience, training, marketing skills, sales ability, customer service skills, client base, ideas, productivity, etc. can you bring to the company that is more impressive than the other thousand and one applications sitting on the desk? The employer wants to know how the company is going to benefit if they hire you over everyone else, and what specific strategic plan you have in mind that will help the company grow to its full potential and increase productivity, motivation and profits. Are you a team player and can you also work well independently? Can you take direction and constructive criticism? As for a job interview, it is an opportunity to listen, learn and sell - to convince the employer why you are the best person for the job. You also want to pay close attention to your manners and social skills. It is a known fact that when it comes to hiring management personnel, many decisions are made in a social setting, i.e., over dinner, on a golf course, etc. If etiquette is not one of your foremost subjects, it is time to hone up on social graces and conversational skills.

Employers already know you need the job or you would not be applying; they know you need to put food on the table, a place to live and that you have debts to pay - we all do! An employer well trained in business management will hire those they feel can best do the job, and that does not necessarily mean those most in need. Employers are not in business to be social assistance providers, they are in business to make a profit or their company will not survive.

For those who constantly find themselves sending resumes with little or not response, I strongly suggest you read this book. It is true, factual, accurate and right on the mark! Believe me, this author is a top-notch pro! After reading, "Don't Send a Resume", you may change your entire approach on how you search and apply for employment and conduct yourself during interviews. This book is a great opportunity to learn from past mistakes, and it could open new doors to your future.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Landed a Job in 8 Days Using this Book, September 10, 2001

By A Customer

Since I was moving into an entirely different field, I was concerned that my lack of direct experience would cause my resume to get overlooked. After reading this book I realized it didn't matter--I wasn't going to send them a typical resume. Instead I made up my mind to follow the steps of the book and land a job in this field.

I sent out 3 resu-letters and immediately got a phone call for an interview with one company. Several days later I had the interview, which I prepared for using Fox's interview "sales" techniques. The interviewer seemed very impressed with both my anwers and my prepared questions. At the end of the interview I was offered the job.

Of course not everyone is going to have such immediate results, and I feel fortunate to have had such good results so quickly, but the ideas expressed in this book are direct, powerful, and clear. By the time I had finished reading the book I felt confident that I was going to land a job in my new field soon--I just didn't realize how soon.