New technologies have made it easy to apply for jobs with the click of a mouse, overwhelming employers with far more candidates than they can handle. As a result, old methods of job searching don’t work, and sending hundreds of job applications can be a recipe for frustration.
New technologies have made it easy to apply for jobs with the click of a mouse, overwhelming employers with far more candidates than they can handle. As a result, old methods of job searching don’t work, and sending hundreds of job applications can be a recipe for frustration.
Start with your company. According to research, internal candidates are 5 times more likely to get a job than external candidates with a recommendation, and 41 times more likely than external candidates without a recommendation. To get ahead of the competition, find out about vacancies at your company before they are published on the website. To do this, you can invite colleagues who are engaged in this work to coffee and ask them to notify you in advance of the appearance of new vacancies, writes Business Insider.
Make a list of your dream companies. Send as many resumes as possible - this scheme currently does not work for specialists with two years of experience or more. It is better to think about the companies where you really want to work and direct your energy and time to searching/monitoring vacancies in them.
It’s best to keep your list of companies short. Matt Taghe, a recruiter turned career consultant, advises his clients to aim for a surprisingly short list of no more than five dream employers. “It takes a lot of time to properly research a company,” he says. “The more companies you dream of, the lower the quality of the research.”
Don’t be afraid to cold call. Look at the companies on your list and identify the managers who lead the teams you’re hoping to join. Even if they don’t have any openings, email the managers and ask for a quick chat. The goal is to learn about their team and build a relationship.
Enlist the help of everyone you know. This could be former colleagues and friends, neighbors and classmates, even an acquaintance with whom you walk your dogs in the park.
Maintain an active presence on the platform. Recruiters and hiring managers rely on LinkedIn to both find and evaluate candidates. Post and comment on posts — this shows that you are interested in your career and are ready to respond to recruiters' inquiries in a timely manner. It is also recommended to purchase a Premium Career subscription, which gives you the ability to send more messages, which will help you build a larger network of contacts.
Follow companies on your dream list. Recruiters often filter out people who are already following a company, so this is an easy way to make sure you get on their radar. “We want to see who is truly motivated and interested in working for our company,” says Jenny Diani, senior director of global technical recruiting at Autodesk.
Optimize your profile with 4 simple steps. 1. List your skills. 2. Fill out your “About” section.
3. Take a good photo. 4. Hide your age. Age discrimination is bad, but it's real. If you're over 40, don't include your college graduation year.
Use “Open to Work.” Not only do recruiters not mind #opentowork, some even prefer candidates who use it. So turn it on — and then write about it. Do: Be clear about the role you’re looking for; highlight your skills and key achievements; be positive. Don’t: Put down your previous employer or colleagues; bring up your fear of losing your home.
Hire a professional resume writer. But be careful, there are many scammers among these experts, so it's best to Google them to make sure the person is real and knows what they're talking about.
Tailor your resume to each job. Companies are increasingly using AI to evaluate candidates based on how well their resume matches the job description. And recruiters often prioritize resumes by filtering them by keywords from the job posting. So make sure you use the same keywords in your resume and list accomplishments that demonstrate that you’ve already done what the company is looking for.
Use online tools to help you tailor your resume to specific jobs. For example, Teal can compare your resume to job listings and suggest new bullet points to make them more relevant.
Don't highlight keywords in white. For some reason, there's a popular idea online that you can fool candidate tracking systems by adding additional keywords to your resume in white text that are only visible to the candidate tracking software. Obviously, there's a slim chance that this will work. But some recruiters do check for "white text" and then reject you as a dishonest candidate. If you think the keyword is important, use black text.
Be careful with boss insults. Don't emphasize your management skills on your resume, as recruiters may think you're not afraid to get your hands dirty in a lower-level role. Instead, emphasize your contributions to the company as an individual, even when you were in a leadership role.
Skip the cover letter. Nobody reads it. For companies that require one, send something generic, but don't spend too much time customizing it. The resume is a much more important document.
Apply as soon as possible. Many candidate tracking systems present applicants in the order they apply. Once enough applicants have applied, which usually takes a few days, the position is closed. Tip: Set up job alerts for your dream companies on LinkedIn to get notified when a new listing is available.
Send a DM or email introducing yourself to the hiring manager or recruiter. Show that you’re taking the initiative. 9 times out of 10, the manager will be interested enough to click on your LinkedIn profile — and if they like what they see, they’ll pick you out from the other candidates.
Do everything you can to get a recommendation. A candidate with a recommendation is 9 times more likely to be hired than a candidate without one.
Research the companies you want to work for. There was a time when senior professionals could focus their interviews solely on charisma. Not anymore. “Now you’re expected to have done a lot of research,” says Frank Burgoyne, an interview coach for seasoned professionals. “And that goes beyond the company website.” Read every article about the company, watch YouTube. Be prepared to show that you already understand the problems the company is facing and why you’re uniquely qualified to solve them.
Apply for several "possible" jobs before your dream job.
Think of them as a pre-season warm-up. “You’ll get this interview practice in a safer, less risky environment than your one-time opportunity at Google,” says Teig, a career counselor.
Call ChatGPT for help. Give it the job description, your resume, and your interviewer's job title, and ask it to give you some sample questions to answer. You can even ask it to comment on your answers, but don't quote its suggestions verbatim. Recruiters can see when you're spouting off formulaic answers.
Use the STAR method. If an interview question begins with the phrase “tell me about your time,” your answer should be structured in four stages: situation, task, action, result.
Don't answer "What is your biggest weakness?" with "I'm a perfectionist."
Instead, talk about what was once a weakness and then explain how you overcame it.
Send a thank-you email after every interview.
And not a generic "thanks for yesterday's interview." Mention something specific from the conversation that impressed you, or an additional thought you had about what they asked you. Bonus points if you can tie it to the contribution you hope to make.
Collect your failures. Got rejected? Take it as another networking opportunity. Send interviewers a request on LinkedIn. And ask the recruiter if you can reach out in a couple of months to see if there are any more openings.
