We are no longer in the written age. We are in the show-me age: The age where we create a visual for all of our experiences. We no longer say we are at the beach. We now share a picture of our perfectly manicured toes against the backdrop of the ocean. It tells the story WAY better than “Enjoying my view this morning.”
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Humans process images 60,000 times faster than words. Images can provoke a faster emotional connection than words. The shift to visual content is permeating society for the better. Visual content allows you to communicate faster. And when you have a limited amount of time to make an impression, visual content can be the difference between phone screen and rejection pile.
The challenge is that in the job search, we are not accustomed to thinking about our work visually. We have been trained to write about our accomplishment in verbose ways. Ways in which we spin a tale full of magic keywords to be scanned by a machine in hopes of getting noticed. But, in this age of visualization, we should think about how to present our best work visually.
Think of it this way: If you had to post your latest awesome work project on Instagram, what would it look like?
For example, my resume says: “Re-inventing CRM by creating a segmented loyalty communications strategy that houses communications in the platform vs. an under-performing email program.” If I am being honest, I say to myself what does that even mean?
But, if I took a screenshot of what I came up with, you could see that it was a massive innovation in the loyalty space. My friends in sales talk about this all the time. Their resume talks about how they build relationships with customers to grow business. But what recruiters really want to see from a sales pro is: Did you beat your quota and if so, by how much. When I was selling, I once beat my sales goals by 200%. Therefore, my visual would simply say: 200% of quota. But, it doesn’t and it should.
We all make things for work that impact the business, but because we have been in the “tell me” era for so long, we are not used to framing our achievements in the “show me” way. The cool thing is that visualizing your work can do wonders for your career, even if you aren’t looking for a job.
What about annual reviews? You could use some of the tools below to create visuals for your accomplishments and then share them with your manager. Chances are, they are not thinking about all the wonderful contributions you’ve made to the company in this way. And it will be easier for them to make the case should a promotion become available. Here are a few tools for you to use to begin visualizing your accomplishments.
1. Adobe Voice
If you have an iPad, download Adobe Voice and build a movie of your accomplishments in about an hour. The tool is incredibly intuitive and you can insert images, icons, text, and then, you add a voice-over and music to your video. You can then share this link on your social channels or even share in on your resume. Voice is a wonderful storytelling tool and your career accomplishments can make for a wonderful movie.
2. CredHive
In the Hive you can store your work in the cloud and make a thumbnail of what you’ve done to help visualize it. You also can get suggestions from the tool on what kind of visual to create as well as a gallery to offer inspiration. You can create a link to your accomplishments and share them with your manager or a recruiter or your friends.
3. Haiku Deck
In Haiku Deck you can create image-rich presentations of your accomplishments. With your new Haiku deck in hand, you can post the deck to Slideshare and embed it into your LinkedIn profile. Haiku also has a strong gallery to inspire your creation. Once you’re done, you can share it with your manager or a specific recruiter to share what you’ve done that you are incredibly proud of.
Not as new, but still great tools, you can also consider SlideShare or Prezi to visualize and share your accomplishments.
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.
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