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Are you applying like crazy, but not even getting to an initial interview? With the worst of COVID behind us, the job market heating up again, and a huge influx of open positions in SaaS and customer success available, you would think landing a customer success job would be a breeze...but that's not always the case.
How do I know?
First, I'm an expert in landing and succeeding in a customer success career. I'v written eBooks on the topic, been interviewed countless times on podcasts, have spoken at Gainsight's Pulse and PulseEverywhere conferences, and even created a customer success job-hunting library of templates to help you land and succeed in customer success through my "#CustomerEverythingClub".
Second, I'm personally on the job-hunt again (if you're hiring, let me know ;)), and even I'm having trouble. Me! The self-designated queen of landing your dream customer success job.
So, I know what I’m talking about, because I’ve been where you’re at many times in my career, including today. But I’ve stumbled upon a technique that has UNDENIABLE PROOF and is *GUARANTEED to get you that initial interview.
Here’s what happened:
I applied to a position that was made for me in customer success management and operations on 3/11/22:
I received an automated thanks but no thanks on 4/27/22:
I reapplied using the technique I'll share below on 5/2/22.
I received an initial interview request 11 days later:
To get the same or similar results, follow these steps:
Go to Jobscan.co. Remember, ".co" not ".com" (I don't sell this service or work for them. It's just an amazing tool that I pay for. But if you don't want to pay, then the first scan is free, and you may be able to get a few more scans going Incognito).
Scroll down and Click "Upload Resume".
Copy/Paste your Resume into the box.
Copy/Paste the Job Description (JD) of the job that is perfect for you into the designated area.
Click "Scan"
You'll then get a “Score” showing how well-aligned your resume is to your perfect job. You'll also see list of "Hard Skills", "Soft Skills", and "Other Skills" that Jobscan found you'll need in your resume.
Add the exact keywords from all 3 Skills areas that are missing into your resume that you have experience in and apply to you.
Rescan
The last 8 years I've worked in customer success management with a heavy focus on operations, but I only got a score of 39%! And yes, that's bad. Yikes.
How could someone like me, with 8 years in customer success management get a 39%?
Because these days, Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) like Jobvite, Greenhouse, or SmartRecruiters, are used to weed out resumes before a human's eyes ever see it. And to bypass it, your keywords and phrasing need to match that JD exactly.
TIP 1: "CS Operations", "CS Ops", or "Operations" will not count toward "Customer Success Operations" (see yellow box in image above). It has to be the exact phrase.
TIP 2: And "Segment" or "Segmenting" will not count toward "Segmentation". It has to be the exact tense (see blue box in image above).
TIP 3: "Software as a Service" or "Software-as-a-Service" will not count toward "SaaS". It has to be the exact word (see green box in image above)
TIP 4: The closer you can get to the exact same number of that keyword in your resume, the better. For example, if "Account Management" is in their job description 3 times and you have that experience, then make sure "Account Management" is in your resume 3 times.
TIP 5: Having more of a keyword doesn't hurt you (see grey box in image above).
TIP 6: Hard Skills count more than Soft or Other Skills. For example, when I added 1 more "SaaS" Hard Skill to get to the required 2 in my resume, my score jumped 2% points. But adding 1 more "Communication" Soft Skill only jumped me 1% point, and Other Skills keywords only have a small impact
IMPORTANT: If you add a needed keyword like perhaps "Salesforce" (see black box in image above) but you have no experience using any Salesforce product, then don't add it! It's dishonest and if somehow you still get a job interview, you'll most likely be required to share when and how you've used it in a work scenario.
8. Rescan
When I rescanned using all the keywords that I had experience in, I received an 80% score. That's DOUBLE the "Score" of what I had originally!
9. Now, submit your updated resume for the job, then wait for that call or email inviting you to your initial interview….because it will happen**.
I did this myself, and 11 days later instead of the original "thanks but no thanks," this time I was invited for an interview!
To sum up: I applied for the exact same job twice, once with my original resume that received a thanks but no thanks. Then a second time a month or so later (they still had the job posting up) with my updated resume, and I received an invitation to a first interview.
That's PROOF POSITIVE that this technique works.
Now go get that dream job! I'm rooting for you.
Your Champion,
Dana Soza
A Few Optional Next Steps...
If you like this article or think it can help someone, please, pretty-please LIKE & RESHARE using the links below.
If you want to learn a BONUS SHORTCUT HACK on how to do this, download "Step 5 - Resume" from my "Learning Your ABCs: 10 Steps to Landing Your Dream Job in Customer Success" in my #CustomerEverythingClub .
If you're currently job-hunting and want more great job-hunting tips & tricks download Part 1 of my FREE EBOOK "How to Land and Succeed in the Customer Success Profession".
If you want All of The Above + 12 Job-Hunting Templates + a Copy of Dana's Actual Before & After Resume from this article, download "Dana Soza's 10 Steps to Landing Your Dream Customer Success Job" here.