The Art of Jobseeking

Hi, They say job hunting is like going fishing in the sea. The journey might be rocky and what you find might not always be what u seek. There are plenty of job opportunities in the world, yet finding the perfect job might be easier said than done. Let me share with you a few tips I learned along the way which might make the job seeking seem less gruesome.

• Don't go broad spectrum - be systematic. Most of us inadvertently two trajectories - go all in or make calculated decisions. Nowadays, I see most job seekers applying to every single job opening that they can get their hands on and still come out with not a single interview to attend.
  
  The problem seems to be in this "all guns blazing" approach. What you really need to do is first sit down and think of what you really want to be doing in a job, what your skills are and what sort of companies give you exactly what you are looking for. If you streamline your application process, it is much clearer what you want.
  
  Imagine you apply to a company like Apple, you apply for openings for Systems Engineer, Payroll Associate and HR Recruiter. Think of what is the impression you are leaving with the company here. They will definitely wonder whether you are good at any of these roles, you come across as desperate to work with the company in any role possible. Is that what you want? Think hard.


• Refine your resume - sort out the clutter - A clean resume puts you miles ahead in the job hunt. I cannot emphasise on this hard enough. Recently I had an interview experience where the first thing the interviewer told me is that my resume stood out among the rest of the applicants. Think about it, with your resume you can create a good impression on the interviewer even before the face to face interview. Also, research on ideal placements of detail blocks in your resume. Most job portals use automation tools to look for profiles matching their boolean search. So if your resume isn't optimised for these tools, your profile will not come up in searches. For tips on a better resume you can click here to read my article for some pointers


• Connections, Connections - They matter a lot - If you are interested in working for a company, check out their LinkedIn page or go to your Facebook friends list and search there. Knowing somebody who already works in the company opens up the possibility for a major gamechanger - Referrals.
  
  Internal referrals are your best friends when it comes to getting job interviews. Companies trust the people who are referred by their own employees more than general applicants. This by itself gives you a competitive edge over others. LinkedIn is a great place to both apply for jobs and ask for referrals. We'll talk more regarding this in the next point


• Optimize your Linkedin Profile - In my opinion, LinkedIn is the most powerful tool (I know it comes across like I work for LinkedIn). The most underused sections in LinkedIn are the skills and endorsements sections.
  Adding keywords related to the kind of jobs you like and skills that match your expertise is a definite way to get noticed. Ensure that you get your colleagues to endorse your skills. The more people vouching for your skills, better your profile looks for prospective employers.
  
  Also, if you work closely with people and they have high praise for your work and skills, ask them if they can write recommendations for you in LinkedIn. You can ask for recommendations from your peers, subordinates or superiors(more the merrier)

These tips are just the tip of the iceberg (Sorry for the bad pun). You can always find better and more effective practices that work for you. Drop in your comments if you have anything I missed. I would love to hear from you. Until next time, Sriram (Signs off)