You’re on the job hunt and you’ve finally found a job posting that is *perfect* for you. Immediately, you start to compose an email to the hiring manager with your cover letter and resume attached.
Stop.
Related: 14 Ways To Research Company Culture
Before anyone purchases a house, there is usually an inspection that takes place to make sure there aren’t any issues. A house is a major investment, and so is your career. Make sure to do your ‘due diligence’ and research the company, and the position, before you apply. Here are some steps to complete your ‘due diligence’.
You don’t want to apply and accept a job position that you think is one thing, but it ends up being completely different. Here’s how to make sure a job is a match BEFORE you apply:
Step 1: Figure out what the company culture is like.
Open a new tab and go to the company’s website. Poke around and see if you can find an ‘about us’ section/tab and read up. This is one of the easiest ways to see what the company culture is like.
“When you research a prospective employer it is very important that you get a sense of the company culture and work environment then give some thought to whether you would be happy, given what you find,” said career expert and author Mary Sherwood Sevinsky If you wouldn't, chances are you wouldn't be successful working there!”
According to a Millennial Branding Study, 43% of Human Resource professionals said that ‘cultural fit’ was the most determining factor when making a new hire.
By researching the company culture before submitting your cover letter and resume, and realizing from your research that you’re not going to mesh well with the company culture, you can save yourself and the HR department a lot of time.
Step 2: Find out what the company’s mission statement is.
A mission statement is defined as:
A formal summary of the aims and values of a company, organization, or individual.
A good mission statement should give you a very clear idea of how the company runs, and what they expect of employees.
Once you’ve read and digested the mission statement, make sure it aligns with your values, work ethic, and goals. If the mission statement doesn’t match your personal values, work ethic, and goals, then you’ll want to rethink sending in that cover letter and resume.
“Knowing what you want to achieve in your job is the first step in building a career. Setting goals on what you aspire to and the type of work and projects you want to be involved in helps you focus your work and deliver on the things that make you proud,” wrote career expert Tracey Parsons in her article 11 Signs A Job Isn’t Right For You. “When these goals for your career are not aligned with the company, you, my friend, are in the wrong job. Your goals as a professional and what you hope to achieve should align with the company goals.”
By taking time to carefully evaluate the mission statement and compare it to your values, work ethic and goals, you’ll be much less likely to wind up in the wrong job.
Step 3: Head to LinkedIn.
Open up your LinkedIn page and see if you have a connection with anyone who already works at the company you’re interested in.
If you have a connection with someone, fantastic. Give that connection a call, or shoot them an email and ask them about the company and what they like or don’t like about it. To learn more about building a strong network on LinkedIn, check out this article, "How To Develop A Strong Network On LinkedIn"
If you don’t have a connection with someone from this company, no big deal.
Search LinkedIn for the company you’re looking to apply to. See if they post regularly, and read the posts if they do. This will give you insight into the company to help see if it’s the right fit for you.
Hopefully, these three steps will help you determine if the job is right for you and confidently send in your cover letter and resume!
Sarah Lynch is an intern for CAREEREALISM Media. She is a senior Mass Communications Major with a minor in Public Relations at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. Connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.