This post was written by Sandy Demarest, a career coach, on behalf of the Happy Grad Project.
"People skills" and "communication skills" top the list of common responses recent grads give when asked, "What skills will you bring to this position?" Having just graduated college, you likely find yourself receiving ample career advice from friends, parents, relatives, and even strangers on a daily basis. "Make sure you have a strong resume; Know how to present yourself in an interview; Go to networking events; Use LinkedIn."
Related:5 Transferable Skills Job Seekers Need
While these are all helpful words of wisdom, one extremely important job search strategy must not be ignored: Identify your skills and clearly articulate to potential employers how your particular skill-set will be a valuable asset for the position and the company.
Good people skills and strong communication skills are a start, but more specific skills with relevant examples will paint a much clearer picture to potential employers.
Young people often struggle in identifying strong and applicable skills for the workplace. You can translate your life and college experiences into skills.
Think of past extracurricular and volunteer activities. What did they entail? If you worked in retail during your high school or college years, you likely served customers and often resolved conflict to keep your customers happy. Tell a potential employer or networking contacts how you have used any particular skills in one of your own experiences and then articulate how they might transfer to their company or organization.
First-time career planners who have targeted their skills will have more focus, confidence, and a stronger chance of beating out more qualified (on paper) candidates. So, instead of responding that you possess strong organizational skills, take it one step further: specify that you can organize, coordinate, and manage projects. Back this up by articulating that you created and organized monthly volunteer events at a local non-profit that had 200 participants.
Coming up with skills is simple. Write down your success stories from jobs, internships, class projects, extracurricular activities, and then identify the skills that you used in these cases. From now on, you will be marketing yourself based on your own experiences and the skills they required. Now is the time to develop a strong skill language and PRACTICE articulating it.
As you prepare for the launch of your career, think about a work experience, school project, internship, or volunteer project that you enjoyed and were proud of. Write about this experience in detail and then you can pull out the skills you used in this activity. You are now identifying your skills and creating success stories—the two key ingredients in targeting self-promotion needed in your job search.
The added bonus is that this is the start of YOUR BRAND: that clear message that you articulate everywhere you go that will lead you to people and connect you to your first career-focused job! In addition, continue to develop your skills, and build your brand as this will be helpful in advancing your career in the coming years.
Skill identification and success stories will make your resume shine, your interview memorable and networking events less scary than you anticipated. Let’s face it: the transition from college to career is not always easy, but taking the time to develop your brand with focused skills will bring you more success in today’s job market. Employers expect you to be marketable on Day One. Honing in on your skill-set and understanding your value will help you face this challenge head on.
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The leaves are changing, the kids are back in school, and that familiar chill is in the air. You think it's the perfect time to look for a job, and it is! But are your job search fears preventing you from making that leap?
It's not uncommon to feel lost when embarking on your job search journey. After all, school teaches us everything except how to get a job. What should you put on your resume? What questions should you ask in an interview? How can you stand out in the hiring process when there's so much competition?
Are you feeling spooked yet?
Believe it or not, there's no need to be afraid of the job search process! You can land your dream job with the right tools and strategy. You can find a job that won't give you nightmares. Here are three spooky secrets every job seeker should know as they look for a job this fall.
1. An Effective Job Search Starts With An Interview Bucket List
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Despite your fears, you've decided to take the plunge and look for a new job. You might be asking yourself, "Where do I start?" The answer is simple: start by creating an interview bucket list.
An interview bucket list is a list of 10-20 companies you'd love to work for. Are you passionate about a company's products or services? Do you feel connected to its mission? Can you relate to its values and beliefs as an organization? If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, that company probably belongs on your interview bucket list.
Once you create an interview bucket list, you'll be able to conduct a targeted job search, one with direction and a foundation upon which everything else will be built. An interview bucket list helps you focus your job search and networking strategies on the right opportunities, making it easier to get your foot in the door at one of your dream companies.
2. Your Job Application Needs To Disrupt Hiring Managers
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In order to stand out in the hiring process, you need to disrupt recruiters and hiring managers. You accomplish this by doing two things: optimizing your resume and writing a disruptive cover letter.
A well-optimized resume includes keywords from the job description. This ensures your resume gets past the ATS and into the hands of the hiring manager. Once it's in front of the hiring manager, it needs to grab and keep their attention. Quantifying your work experience—adding numbers to your bullet points—will make you stand out from other applicants. Hiring managers will want to know more about you and your accomplishments, and that's how you land a phone interview.
Before that, though, a hiring manager will read your cover letter. To disrupt them, you need to write a disruptive cover letter (obviously!). A disruptive cover letter gives you the opportunity to tell a story about why you feel connected to the company you're applying for. It's that storytelling aspect that will stand out to hiring managers and compel them to pick up the phone and give you a call.
3. Employers Hire You Based On 3 Things
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You can't get hired unless you know what employers are assessing you on in the interview process. While your skills and expertise matter, companies actually hire for three things: personality, aptitude, and experience (in that order).
Most job seekers don't realize how important it is to demonstrate their personality, aptitude, and experience in an interview. You could have the right experience for a job, but if the hiring manager doesn't think your personality is a good fit for the company culture, you probably won't get a job offer.
Make sure you demonstrate your soft skills and learn how to answer behavioral interview questions to prove you're the best candidate for the job you're applying for, not just the most qualified.
Want To Learn More Job Search Secrets?
As you look for a job this fall, it might be helpful to know some more spooky secrets so you can get over your job search fears and finally take control of your career.
We know the job search process can be scary. However, it's important to get clear on what you want to do next and focus on conducting a strategic job search, or what we refer to at Work It DAILY as job shopping. This is the only way to effectively market yourself to employers. If they can't see exactly where and how you add value, then that's going to decrease your chances of landing the job.
The competition is fierce, and there are a lot of factors that are out of your control. But the one factor you can control is your job search strategy, the tools and tactics you use to land a job.
If you want to learn the secrets to conducting a strategic job search, sign up for our Job Search Bootcamp, a two-hour, on-demand video workshop that comes with a free workbook.
In this video workshop, you'll learn:
- How to use backchanneling to get directly to hiring managers.
- The secret to using a connection story to stand out against the competition.
- How social media can be your secret weapon to get job interviews.
- The resume format that is getting job seekers more job interviews.
- And, a lot more hacks for job search success!
Let us show you the secrets to getting a new, better-paying job you actually love. Sign up for our Job Search Bootcamp today.
Are you ready to land the job of your dreams (and leave the job of your nightmares)?
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