Lauren recently gave a talk to postdocs at Harvard Medical School on “The Talent Code: Understanding How Companies Assess Potential”. About 150 postdocs registered to attend. The talk Lauren gave covered insight into what organizations look for in candidates as they review resumes, search LinkedIn to identify people who may be a fit for a role, and interview candidates. Lauren levered her >15 years of recruiting experience to help the audience have a better idea for how to stand out. In the presentation, Lauren discussed the importance of showing hard as well as soft skills in the resume, cover letter and during interview discussions so that the people interviewing you can see your well rounded background.
During the talk, Lauren received many questions about job searching, applications, cover letters, resumes, references and more. We thought it would be useful to mention a few of these, including the ones below, in this podcast since many of our listeners may have similar questions as the audience.
In this episode, we will cover resumes and cover letters and a few other points including these below. We hope you enjoy listening.
Do you think resumes should have a short summary statement at the start?
What is a normal page length for a resume?
Advice for how to include relevant information on your resume in the space allocated for a “normal resume length”
Advice for how much space to allocate for each of your roles in your resume
Advice for how to prioritize what bullets to add to your experiences
Advice for how much time you should spend optimizing a resume
What is the window for applying for a role before is late?
Is it necessary or preferable to separate skills into Soft and Technical?
Is it worth highlighting soft skills even if the job description does not ask for much of them?
We provide a few insights for resumes for specific roles such as medical affairs / medical science liaison roles and consulting.
How to detach your resume from your cover letter and not have your cover letter just sound exactly like your resume.
How formal should the cover letter be as far as writing style/language.
If the position you're applying for doesn't accept cover letters, how do you include one?
Lauren Celano, CEO of Propel Careers and Jim Gould, the Director for Postdoctoral Affairs at Harvard Medical School, launched this podcast as a way for us to share our advice, insights, and reflections to help others navigate their careers.
As we develop new episodes, this podcast will provide insights regarding career advice to help listeners navigate career choices and become more confident in their decisions. We look forward to busting myths and providing real life, timely, and accurate advice. Jim and Lauren work heavily with Ph.D. trained scientists, but the advice we provide can be applicable to other audiences. We hope you enjoy listening!