Before we start to review and critique a resume, we always ask the job seeker how many resumes they have sent out and how many interviews they have received. I am always amazed when I see answers to the effect I've sent out over two hundred over the past three months and I've only received three calls. Those calls were from recruiters who were just fishing to see if I was interested in positions that call for a step down the career ladder rather than up. I am not amazed at the ratio of number of resumes sent to number of calls received; rather, I'm amazed that the job seeker has wasted three months using a resume that doesn't work!
These days, average hire cycle is about 7 weeks. From the time the position comes open until the final employee selection is made is about 50 days. That's the average, but it varies from three weeks to three months. The variation is usually dependent on salary level and scope of the position. A local manager is a shorter hire than a national sales executive.
That is a nice bit of trivial employment information, but the hire cycle isn't what the job seeker should be gauging. He should be looking at the time between submission of the resume and the first call. A week is the maximum time that span should be. If a call or email hasn't been received within a week, there is something wrong. It might be the resume. It might be the advertisement was a dummy advertisement (the position is already filled but they had to advertise it anyway). It might be the hiring manager had a family emergency arise (hey, it happens). If you haven't heard from the employer within a week of sending the resume, follow up with an email. It's possible that your email with your resume was sidetracked to a spam folder or it was corrupted and couldn't be opened. Follow up is perfectly acceptable as long as it's done well and politely.
The best scenario is for a job seeker to enter into the search armed with a great resume and within three weeks be involved at some stage in the interview process with multiple employers. By the end of the average seven weeks, he may have turned down an offer, be considering two others, and have two or three still in the development stage. Imagine that - having three or four OFFERS to choose from rather than still be waiting for the first phone call at the end of seven weeks.
If you aren't receiving phone calls, there is something wrong with your job search methods. The first culprit to evaluate is the resume since it's sole purpose is to win the interview. If the resume isn't working within three weeks, waiting longer and sending out more is not going to solve the problem. Do something! Send us your resume for a free critique. Look critically at your job search methods. Are you doing enough to market yourself or are you being passive in your approach? Waiting and waiting and waiting achieves nothing but wasted time. And time is money. For every week you waste, you lose money that could have been gained in higher salary or better benefits in the new job that is waiting for you.