Resume Distribution Myth or Marvel

Resume distribution as a service has exploded in volume over the last few years due to the efficiencies created by technology and the Internet. On the surface it is a very attractive service for a job seeker.  Have your Resume & Cover letter emailed to hundreds or thousands of recruiters & search firms priced anywhere from $49.00 to $500.00.  It is not a new service, for over 50 years resume distribution existed based on the printing and mailing of resumes & cover letters directly to companies & search Firms.  This is still a significant business today, it is a much more expensive option and it has been significantly impacted by fax and email distribution. 

Question:  Why do the prices for resume distribution service have such a wide range? 

Answer: If the means of delivery (e.g. email, fax, us mail) are the same then the quality and validity of the data/contacts is usually the key differentiating factor in the cost of the service, thus the higher the quality of the data the more it generally costs per contact, the more it costs them, the more it will cost you the customer. 

When you examine any type of database marketing/direct marketing effort (thats what resume distribution is) you will find that there are three critical factors that determine the costs & success of a campaign.

1.       Quality of the target prospects data

2.       Means of delivery

3.       Effectiveness of the message

Quality of the target prospects data:  This component is the key to your success, you can have the greatest Cover letter followed by a superior resume, it will amount to nothing if you distribute it the wrong people.  Think about this, if you sold beef for a living (yes, thats actually a job) and you spent a lot of time and money creating this incredible coupon/advertisement, but then, when it comes time to distribute it, you go with the cheapest company to distribute it to the largest audience for the least amount of money, rather than the company whos more expensive database of prospects is a perfect match for your target market.  Would you expect good results?  Is that money well spent? You are a fool if you think so!  What if the list of people whom your coupon/advertisement for beef was delivered to was a list of vegetarians?  Do you think you would have a good return on that investment?  What if it was delivered to just a large group of recipients with no key information about who they are, what their likes & dislikes are, without any relevant pieces of information available about the prospects which would identify them and lead you to believe that they should be targeted for your product.  Is that much better?  Or, would it make sense to go with a firm whose data clearly identifies a match for your target market, a list of people who eat beef at least 4 time a week and have indicated that they are looking for savings on beef products.  I think the point has been made, dont waste your money; make sure you are targeting your distribution to the right people.

Means of delivery: Email, Fax or US mail.  Email is by far the cheapest method of delivery, however, it hasnt proven to be as effective as the Hard copy (fax & mail) methods.  Fax distribution is more expensive than email, but much less than US Mail.  Usually, both Hard Copy methods generate more results and provide a greater differentiator than email.

When talking about email distribution it solely depends on the quality of their database, email distribution sometimes provides an un-targeted broadcast of your resume to any recruiters (and sometimes solicitors) willing to accept it.  The low costs to send are sometimes too tempting for most job seekers to pass up.  Keep in mind that due to the massive inflow of these resumes, you can assume that most of the emailed resumes go into a large database and are only seen if a matching search is performed on that database.  Generally, few, if any, of the thousands will be read by a recruiter from whom you might actually benefit.  Email resume distribution may accomplish the goal of getting you into the recruiters'' resume databases.  Your end goal, however, is not merely to get into the database of recruiters.  That goal alone would require a subsequent resume database keyword search by the recruiter using precisely matched terms to retrieve your file before a recruiter could notice you enough to warrant follow-up communication.  The odds do not support insertion into a resume database via email as a primary or solo means to your goal of being seen by the right recruiters.  When you send a fax, it ensures distinctive handling on receipt.  A Hard Copy delivery method creates & guarantees attention by delivering a physical copy in the recruiter''s hands and provided in a format they are familiar with.

 Effectiveness of the message: The message consists of your resume & cover letter; make sure that you have confidence in what you are sending before you distribute it!  With regards to resume distribution, you are responsible for the quality of the message/resume thus; there are no differentiating factors to be compared between distribution service providers.

 Key Points:

1. Be sure to identify the quality of the data
2. Be smart, if it costs you a little more money, but you are more confident about the quality of the recipients, spend the extra money, because a bad distribution list will be a complete waste of money.
3. If you can afford it, consider the hard copy delivery method, you will stand out by generating more attention and you will get more results.  You can always follow it up with an email distribution.

Who & What to look for when shopping for resume distribution service providers

Email: There are literally thousands of them on the web.  Look for affiliations with top data providers, look for credibility with the companys owners/managers, look for the ability to target your distribution (by Industry, position, salary level, location), ability to make additions & deletions, ability to see the companies you will be distributing your resume to and look to receive confirmations of delivery. 

Fax: There are not as many of these firms around.  Look for all of the same things as you would for email.  Make sure your provider has a solid history and strong partners.  Typical price for a quality fax service provider is $1.25 to $1.75 per delivered fax (includes the faxing fees & data/contacts costs).

Mail: There are a number of firms who will do resume mailings, check for the same criteria as you would for email & fax.  Make sure your provider has a solid history, check the Better Business Bureau for complaints.  Also, you want to choose the firm who will prepare all of the mailings for you and then send them all to you in a box (preaddressed & stamped) to be brought to the post office and mailed.  This way you can make sure you are sending out the quantity you are paying for.  Also, spot-check some of the envelopes; you want to make sure of the paper & printing quality.  If you find a number of bad ones, then immediately call the company and demand that they redo the printing for you.  If they refuse, tell them that you are going to make it a mission of yours to spread the word of the shoddy quality and horrendous service provided by their firm, tell them that your first calls are going to be the Better Business Bureau & Chamber of Commerce.  Also remind them that you have a lot of spare time to spend on this vendetta due to the fact that you are unemployed. 

Top Providers:

Fax Distribution:

WWW.FaxResume.com/distribution 

Email Distribution:

1 in Distribution  One of the first and still one of the best

Blast My Resume  Wesley W. Williams is the man behind the idea. He has extensive experience as an executive recruiter and most recently was employed with www.CareerBuilder.com where he helped major corporations develop and implement interactive recruiting strategies. At CareerBuilder is where Mr. Williams formed the idea that became BLASTmyResume.com. As he worked with some of the top employers in the world he realized the number of good jobs that went unadvertised. Those jobs that were advertised were often spread out all over the internet and job seekers were required to go to multiple job boards to find that dream job. Mr. Williams thought there needed to be a way to get a resume to every recruiter, regardless of whether they did or did not advertise. His thoughts turned into an idea, a site that would unlock the doors to the jobs that do not get advertised and would create MAXIMUM exposure for a job seekers resume. The site became BLASTmyResume.com! Now, candidates can proactively market their resume to 1000s of recruiters, headhunters, and direct hiring corporations with one click!

Recruiter Contacts & Your Missing Link  This group has been around for a long while. They have partnerships with hundreds of job boards. Their data is top caliber and is the same data used by 90% of the major outplacement firms. This is one of my personal favorites!

Resume Zapper  Popular email Distribution Service. E-Mail your Resume and Cover Letter to 1000''s of Headhunters!

Executive Agent  This top rated service is provided by Kennedy Information, one of the most respected reserch firms covering the Executive Search Industry.