The follow-up resume tape

During one of my first job hunting experiences I got a call from a News Director who was very interested in me. He called, and we talked on the phone for about thirty minutes. I kept waiting for him to tell me he was going to fly me in for an interview. Instead, he asked me for the last five packages I'd done. "I thought you liked the ones I sent you," I said. "I do," he said, "but I want to make sure you put out that kind of effort every day."

So I dubbed off my last five packages, sent them, and eventually got the job.

Asking for a follow-up tape is a common practice among managers. So if you've put together a great resume tape, don't think you're "done." You have to keep putting out resume tape quality work every day.

As a manager I remember one of the first people we hired had a great tape, and I ended up kicking myself for not asking for a second tape. Turned out the first tape was bogus, and that person couldn't remotely duplicate the quality on the resume tape.

So, two things: don't be surprised if you're asked for a second tape, and make sure you're still knocking out great stuff even after you mail out your tapes. As long as your daily packages are in the same quality ballpark as your resume tape pieces, you'll be okay.