By CAREEREALISM-Approved Expert, Ilona Vanderwoude
In Part 1 of Make Your Resume Stand Out in Today’s Job Market, I talked about the resume itself and the 3 key components your resume needs to capture a decision maker’s attention.
Just to recap, these 3 factors were…making sure your resume:
1 – Is branded.
2 – Is focused.
3 – Provides proof of your brand and statements by using quantifiable achievements and context.
In Part 2 of this article, we’re going to look at ways to actually get your resume into the hands of hiring managers.
After all, you could have put together a highly powerful resume, but if you use ineffective job search methods, it simply won’t get noticed.
Job searching has undergone some drastic “nip and tuck” the past few years.
It’s not just the economy that makes for a more competitive landscape. These days, your resume may not be the first thing a company sees from you. With the proliferation of social and business networking sites, it may be your online profile(s).
So you need to know how to craft your resume, but you also need to know how to market it, and market yourself. In the end, isn’t it about companies showing an interest in you, whether it’s through your resume or another medium?
The majority of employers will Google you during the hiring process. They may even find you online to begin with, or be referred to you by someone who’s seen your profile online.
The good news is you can be in the driver’s seat by going after the hidden job market and using social networking. You definitely don’t want to passively apply to positions you see posted online. This has an average 2% “success” rate.
To be truly successful in today’s competitive job market, you need to use a combination of offline and online networking.
It’s still great to network in person and sometimes sending a hard copy of your resume will make you stand out in a time where email has become the norm. (Gen Y: that’s what those little square pieces of paper – stamps – are for.)
All kidding aside, whatever you do, you always want to establish a connection or even a relationship. Even if it’s through one of your contacts. If you can have your resume handed over to a decision maker by a key contact within your target company; great! That would be ideal.
When going the online route, the emphasis should be on positioning yourself as an expert in your field vs. asking your network for a job. Social networking is perfect for this!
You do this by commenting on other people’s blogs that are relevant to your field, by having your own blog and web site – yes, a web site! – and by answering questions online, engaging in groups discussions, and posting articles about your expertise.
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You also want to identify hiring managers – not HR! – at the companies you’re interested in online so you can approach and target them with your messages.
After a while, you’ll be seen as an expert and a resource. Next, people may even approach you and refer you without you having to ask because you’ve created relationships within your network and provided value to others.
It’s crucial to avoid the mistake of asking people in your network for a job. It’s needy and most people don’t have jobs to hand out. This means: end of conversation. It’s perfectly fine to ask for leads for informational interviews though.
With these strategies, you can work the hidden job market more easily as well. What this means is you are going to find out about a company’s hiring needs well before they’re ever advertised or posted.
But beware…when profiling yourself online, you need to know your own brand. Otherwise, you won’t stand out or you may even send out the wrong message about yourself.
For tips on how to brand yourself, please refer back to Part 1 of this article.
Combining the strategies from Part 1 and Part 2 will give you a very big competitive edge.
Readers, I’d love to hear your experiences with these strategies. Have you been able to carve out a niche for yourself online? Have you found a great way to get noticed? Which aspects of the job search do you find most challenging?
Did you enjoy this article? Read more articles by this expert here.Ilona (“rhymes with Fiona”) Vanderwoude’s passion is helping modern-day “Renaissance Personalities” – those with highly diverse skills and interests – create exciting lives and careers. As a Career Designer, she guides her clients in crafting unusual life and career plans, helps them fit a million passions into one lifetime, and provides the tactical support to actually make it happen. Ilona founded CareerBranches in 2001, is a nationally published author, and holds elite resume-writing and coaching credentials (she’s one of 28 Master Resume Writers worldwide).The bottom line is that she shows her clients how to branch out and live the life they didn’t think was possible for them. Connect with Ilona via LinkedIn or follow her on Twitter.The photo for this article is provided by Shutterstock.
Bigstock
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
BigstockMake 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
BigstockAre 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.
Let's start with resumes!
Every resume should be tailored to the position in order for it to stand out to recruiters and hiring managers. It may seem like a lot of work, but it's actually less work than submitting the same resume over and over again and never hearing back.
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
BigstockYour 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.
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