Many of the job postings I see say things like, "FILL OUT OUR ONLINE APPLICATION. DON'T SEND A PAPER RESUME UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. IT WON'T BE READ. BESIDES - REALLY, REALLY BAD THINGS MIGHT HAPPEN IF YOU SEND US A RESUME. WE MEAN IT."
So naturally when my wife was looking for a job earlier this year, I thought that a good way to differentiate herself from the herd would be to send off a bunch of hardcopy resumes with cover letters. We sent off about 90 of them to local districts and schools, and within 72 hours, she received several phone calls. Some were just to say that they had received the material. But she also got two interviews out of the deal. Not a bad return on investment, and so much for all the dire warnings about sending resumes in the mail, right?
So when my turn came, I did the same thing. I put almost 100 resumes and cover letters in the mail, and I waited. And waited. And waited.
Only one district responded in any way, and that was to send me an automatically generated card that told me to visit their website if I was interested in employment. That was about 3 months ago.
I suppose the morals of the story are these: 1) don't be afraid to break away from the herd, 2) results may vary, so brace yourself for a long battle.
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