Posted by The problem with job search advice is that there is so much out there that you don’t have to spend more than four seconds Googling to find some good advice.
But at the same time, there’s so much out there, some of it goes against other advice, that it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. Which is the last thing you want when you’re looking for good advice in the first place.
Here are 6 solid job search tips that will help you improve the process and approach:
1. Make yourself a perfectly obvious fit.
When you do your job search online, your resume may first be looked at by an applicant tracking system (ATS). If you pass this first test, a person will look at your resume. Most of the time, a lower-level HR person or recruiter is the first person to look at your resume. This person may or may not know everything there is to know about the job you’re looking for.
So, you should make it easy for both the computer and the person to quickly connect their “Here’s what we’re looking for.”
Look over the job description and any other information you have about the job. Are you using the exact words and sentences used in the job description? Are you showing off your skills in the most critical areas for this job? Use them.
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2. Don’t just apply for jobs online during your job search.
Do you want to keep looking for a job forever? So, keep sending in online forms. Do you want to make the process go faster? Don’t stop once you’ve sent in your online application for that job. Start looking for people who work there and make friends with them. Set up informational conversations with people who might become your peers. Talk to someone inside the company and ask them a few questions. Get the attention of the people who can help you get an interview.
If you make friends with people who work inside the places you want to work, you will stand out immediately. Before going through the pile of resumes that come through the ATS, people who make decisions talk to people who come highly recommended or have been recommended by someone they know.
3. Remember that your resume (and LinkedIn profile) is not permanent.
Your new resume is beautiful. Your LinkedIn page is absolutely stunning. But if they don’t make you look like a direct fit for a job you want, don’t be afraid to change the wording, switch around key terms, and add and remove bullet points. Neither your resume nor your LinkedIn page is a tattoo. Treat them like living, breathing papers as you look for a job and throughout your career.
If you’re trying to find a job without anyone knowing, turn off your activity broadcasts in your privacy and settings when you change your LinkedIn page. If your present boss or coworkers are connected to you on LinkedIn, they may wonder why you often change jobs.
4. Know that you can’t make anyone hire you by making them bored.
Don’t get me wrong—you must come across as polished, intelligent, and professional during your job search. But a lot of people read this as Must. Be. Boring.
Nope! Very few people get jobs because they had perfect white space on their cover letters, remembered the “right” interview questions, or filled their resumes with safe, common phrases (i.e., clichés). Trying to be right will make you seem fake and rehearsed. Instead, give yourself the freedom to be both polished and charming. Candidates who are easy to remember and likeable are almost always the ones who make it to the end.
5. You almost don’t exist if you’re not on LinkedIn.
This is not an understatement since more than 90% of employers use LinkedIn as their primary search tool. If you’re a worker, you should not only be on LinkedIn, but you should also make the most of it. Don’t believe me? Here’s how to think about it — If a manager goes on LinkedIn tomorrow morning looking for someone in your area who is good at what you do, and you’re not there? Who do you think they’re going to find and talk to? Yes, the name of that person is “not you.”
If you learn how to use only one social media tool to find a job, it should be LinkedIn. It’s the best tool today for career and job networking, finding people who work at companies of interest, and putting yourself where a recruiter with a suitable job opening can find you.
6. Saying ‘thank you’ is important.
If two candidates were up against one another with the same skills. And both wanted the job just as much. But within two hours of leaving each interviewer’s office, one candidate sent a thoughtful thank you note. But nothing came from the other candidate.
Guess which candidate would get the job? Yes, the candidate who sent a thoughtful thank you note. It helped the candidate get the job, especially since the other top candidate didn’t send anything.
When you return to your computer after the interview, write original, sincere thank-you notes. How fast you send the messages and how sincere they are will make a difference.
And finally, remember that the interviewer cares much more about what you can do for them than what you want. Once you show them what you’re worth, they’ll care a lot about what you want. But during the interview, you have to show why it would be good for the business to hire you.
Now, get out there and show your job search who’s in charge. Find your dream job on Jobstore.com, download our free mobile app today.
Anisa is a writer who focuses on career and lifestyle topics in an effort to motivate both job searchers and employers towards greater fulfillment in their professional lives.
Reach me at anisa@jobstore.com.