So you submitted your resume for the 'perfect job' and now you are waiting and wondering why you didn't get a call. The job boards are a great way to find jobs, but they are also one of the most inefficient ways to get noticed as you are competing with hundreds of other people who saw the same ad. In fact, your resume is probably sitting in a pile of over 500 resumes in the HR department. Here's a great tip to move your resume from the HR pile to the decision maker's desk.

First you need to determine who the hiring manager and key influencers are. There are a variety of techniques to do this and with a little effort, it isn't hard to do. Alternatively, if you cannot determine the decision maker, you can call the senior HR person in the firm.

Once you have their name and phone number give them a call and say something like:

"Someone told me you might be interested in someone with my background and credentials. I have (insert your 2-sentence pitch), and I have just a few questions for you."

Then ask them some questions that show you've done some homework on their company. This is important. Go to their web site, check out their recent press releases and show that you know something about them.

It's important to start a conversation with them so be friendly, personable and down to earth. The point here is to build some rapport.

At some point they will ask you for your resume at which point you have now put yourself at the top of the decision maker's pile and skipped the HR screeners.

So in summary, you:

1. Get the name and number of the decision maker.

2. Create a 20-second summary of who you are and what you've done.

3. Research the company and get a feeling for what some of the challenges someone in this position would face.

4. Call them and get into a conversation. Build rapport and impress them with your knowledge of the company and your job experience.

5. Make sure they get the resume by sending it by email as well as regular mail.

Lastly, and very important, ask politely if they would mind if you checked back in a week to see how their search was progressing. Use this trick and it can make all the difference between being another piece of paper in a pile and getting a call for an interview.

Don Goodman is President of About Jobs http://www.GotTheJob.com a full service career management firm that assists people to secure jobs. He is a nationally recognized Career Coach and Resume Writer and graduate of the Wharton School of Business and Stanford University's Executive Program. Don has helped thousands of people secure their next job. Read his blog at http://www.GotTheJob.com/blog or contact him at 800-909-0109