So did you finally finish your resume? It probably took hours to do a first draft then an edited version trimming the document to two pages. Then, if you heeded the advice of outplacement consultants to make sure your resume was error-free, you probably took a bit more time to proofread it. The question is: Have you invested as much time preparing for your "live" conversations with interested employers? If you're like a lot of people, you haven't --- and that can undermine all the work you put into creating a great resume.
"Hiring managers are often left a bit disenchanted with candidates after interviewing them," said Paul McDonald, senior executive director of global recruiting and staffing firm Robert Half International (RHI). "Keep in mind, people can review and revise their resumes endlessly before submitting them to employers but too often, they don't spend time doing mock interviews or rehearsing their responses to likely questions when preparing for job interviews."
That, according to McDonald, is a big mistake. "A good resume can get people interviews but it's interview performance that gets people job offers," he said.