Online Resume Distribution - 5 Questions

© David Alan Carter
All Rights Reserved

There are a lot of great resumes out there, sitting on shelves, hiding in briefcases, huddled in trunks of cars. Sadly, the best resume in the world isn’t going to snag that job interview if it doesn’t first find it’s way to the desk of a hiring official.

In a competitive job market, it makes sense to consider a good online resume distribution service. These are companies that take your existing resume and distribute it - usually via email - to selected recruiters and headhunters.

But be careful - there’s a lot of snake oil out there. So which online resume distributors ones are good? Here are 5 questions you should ask before parting with your hard-earned money.

Online Resume Distribution - How Long Have You Been In Business?

It doesn't take a lot for a company to launch itself into online resume distribution - pretty much just a website and a mailing list. But that doesn’t mean some dude with a dot com and a list of recruiters is going to serve you well. Quite the contrary. Online resume distribution is not rocket science, but to do it right requires attention to detail and a commitment to customer service. Through referrals and recommendations, the better companies will rise to the top over time. Look for online resume distribution firms with good reputations that have been tried and tested for a number of years.

Online Resume Distribution - Can I See Your Mailing List?

A reputable online resume distribution service should provide you -- free or for a small fee -- with a list of the names of recruitment firms to which your resume was distributed. Some, like the company Email My Resume, make such a list available automatically at the completion of every job, and at no additional charge. Whether free or with a small charge, having that list of names provides you with a good level of assurance that the distributor is shooting straight and playing fair. Don’t do business with a company unwilling to share this information.

Online Resume Distribution - How Much Control Do I Have?

Online resume distribution is a numbers game. The more recruiters who look over your resume, the better your chances of a connection happening. Those are still long odds, don’t kid yourself, but those odds can be improved dramatically by narrowing your focus and selecting only those recruiters who, for example, are specialists in your professional discipline.

So, it's important to pick an online resume distribution service that gives you the opportunity to select categories, disciplines and geographic areas that will improve your odds of making a match. For example, both Resume Zapper and Email My Resume give their clients their choice of targeting 3 industry/discipline selections and 3 geographic preferences. Reject those services that offer only a fixed list of ‘generalist’ recruiters with no client input to narrow down the focus.

Online Resume Distribution - How Do You Develop Your List?

There are two ways to develop a list of recruiters:

1. buy a mailing list from a list broker and slap the names into your system, or
2. build a list one name at a time from recruiters who approach you and ask to be included.

Now this is important: you only want to do business with distributors who employ the latter method. Why? Because they’re tapping recruiters who want to be contacted with resumes of qualified candidates. The last thing you want is to have your resume sent to 500 recruiters who are perturbed at getting resumes simply because their names are on some industry mailing list. All such resumes simply end up in the trash - and you've wasted your money.

Look for online resume distribution services that solicit recruiters.

Online Resume Distribution - What About Confidentiality?

Look for companies that offer "confidential delivery" or "confidential reply boxes." That means you, the client, have the option to keep your job search private. This is a handy feature if you have name recognition in the industry and would rather not broadcast the fact that you’re looking for another job. Or in the case where you’re currently employed and don’t want the boss to learn through the grapevine that you’re looking.

Finally...

Hiring an online resume distribution service to get your resume to recruiters or employers should never take the place of your own efforts to identify--and apply to--relevant job opportunities. Think of it as one more tool to use in constructing a successful job search campaign.

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Is your resume as good as it can be? If not, here's help from a former recruiter finding good Online Resume Writers.