Boost Your Interview Results By Demonstrating Your Value
Most of the resumes I see focus on what people do on a daily basis. The results is a boring list of duties and responsibilities that’s unlikely to inspire anyone to call them. .
Employers want to know what you can do for them. The best way to show your value is to focus on what you’ve done for your current and previous employer. They want to know about the positive impact you’ve made
The same is true for interviews. Employers don’t want to hear about your duties and responsibilities, what you do every day. They want to hear about your achievements.
Maybe you didn’t directly generate revenue, but maybe you saved the account by providing extra service. Perhaps you redesigned a process so it takes 2 days a month instead of 5 freeing staff to take on other duties. Maybe you leveraged your business relationships to build a promising pipeline.
Are You Wasting Your LinkedIn Profile’s Potential?
If you are looking for a new job having a robust LinkedIn profile is essential. Full stop. Sadly, most don’t use LinkedIn to their best advantage.
It’s not just the barely completed “skeleton” profiles still displaying LinkedIn’s generic blue background that make career professionals cringe. It’s the misguided things people do deliberately.
#1 Quotes in the Headline
A lot of people seem to think that having an inspirational quote as their headline will somehow help them. It won’t for a few reasons. First, recruiters search LinkedIn based on jobs, skills, etc. and it’s unlikely inspirational quotes include “skill” words like “performance improvement “ or “business development.”
Second, recruiters want to know if you’re qualified for the job they are trying to fill. If you do come up in a recruiter’s search but your headline doesn’t indicate your qualifications, they may go on to the next profile in their search.
If you feel a quote expresses your philosophy, management style, etc. by all means use it in the Summary section.
7 Ways To Increase Your Chances Of Getting A New Job
Most of us wouldn’t buy a home or a car or even a new phone without some planning. Before a large purchase we’d check our credit report and research prices. Depending on the purchase, we might read reviews of realtors or retailers. We want to be prepared when we find the perfect whatever.
Yet, many people jump into a job search, a process that could change their life, with no preparation.
They see a few interesting job posts and decide it’s time for a change.
Often, they don’t have their resume or LinkedIn profile recruiter ready. They haven’t researched the salary range for the position they seek. They may not even have a clear understanding of what they want in a new position.
Big mistake.
A job search requires as much preparation as any other big move. Here are 7 steps you need to take before you begin your job search.
How To Create Stories That Sell You To Employers
Most of the resumes I see focus on what people do on a daily basis. The result is a boring list of duties and responsibilities that’s unlikely to inspire anyone to call them. Employers want to know what you can do for them.
The best way to show your value is to focus on what you’ve done for your current and previous employers. The impact you’ve made. The same is true for interviews. Employers don’t want to hear about what you do every day. They want to hear about your achievements in terms of the impact you’ve made.
Prepare for your interviews with stories that illustrate your value. Like all stories, there should be a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Don’t Rely On Job Boards To Find A Job (Do This Instead)
Job boards are not the holy grail. Yes, applying online should be part of your job search strategy. The operative word being “part.”
One of the biggest mistakes job seekers make is relying on online job postings to find a job.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of spending your day at the computer responding to job postings. It doesn’t take a lot of effort. You can do it at home wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt while watching TV.
At the end of the day, knowing you’ve applied to 30 jobs, gives you a sense of accomplishment. But, it’s a false sense of accomplishment.
The truth is, focusing on job boards isn’t the best use of your time.
It’s more effective to take a strategic, multipronged approach.
Target Employers
At the beginning of your job search make a list of 10 or so companies you’d like to work for. These are your Target Employers. Contact people in your network to see who can connect you with someone who works there. If the employee you connect with can get your resume in front of the hiring manager for your target position even better.
Set up Google alerts for each employer, that way you’ll be notified whenever they are in the news. Review the career section or job postings on their corporate websites, at least once a week.
As a former recruiter, I can say that almost every job I was trying to fill was listed on the company’s site. The only exceptions were “confidential” searches, generally when someone didn’t know they were being replaced.
How To Write A Compelling Cover Letter – And Why You Need One
Today, there’s a lot of debate as to whether it’s worth it to submit a cover letter with your resume. Some recruiters and hiring managers say they never read cover letters. Others say a candidate’s cover letter can mean the difference between being contacted for an interview and not.
So when you submit your resume sending a cover letter may or may not make a difference.
But in a competitive job market do you really want to take a chance?
Probably not.
Recruiters who say they never read cover letters say that a good resume should stand on its own. That a cover letter is redundant. However, a compelling cover letter can convince recruiters who do read them that you are a viable candidate.
How To Get A Response To Your Email
There are mixed opinions about cover letters. Some recruiters say a solid cover letter can move them to contact a candidate. Others say they never read cover letters.
Since you don’t know what a recruiter might do, the best bet is to always send one.
Thank you notes are different. The majority (80%) of hiring managers say a candidate’s thank you note is helpful with 22% saying very helpful and 58% saying somewhat helpful according to a 2017 survey by Accountemps.
So, it seems that sending thank you notes is a must. Despite that HR managers report that only 24% of candidates send them.
Just as with a resume, content is KING in your cover letters and thank you notes. You need to demonstrate your value as it relates to the employer. In essence, what you can do for them.
But it’s important to pay attention to the little things too.
How To Use LinkedIn To Increase Your Opportunities
Whether you’re actively looking for a new job or just want to keep your options open, LinkedIn has a lot to offer. Of course, you need to have a robust LinkedIn profile. Today, LinkedIn is like Google for people, without an optimized profile it’s unlikely you’ll be seen in a recruiter’s search.
But creating a compelling LinkedIn profile is only the beginning. Over the last few years, LinkedIn has added several functions that can help you move forward in your job search.
Here are 4 ways to up your chances of finding a job through LinkedIn.
Tell Recruiters Your Looking
If you’re actively looking or even open to new opportunities, LinkedIn lets you tell recruiters you’re looking for free. It only takes a few minutes to go into your Settings & Privacy and set up your Job Seeking Preferences.
Once you click on Manage Job Alerts, LinkedIn allows you to edit your Career Interests. In Career Interests, you’ll have the opportunity to select Job titles you’re considering, types of jobs you’re open to, the size of the company you’d like to work for, and more. LinkedIn notes that while they can’t guarantee your employer won’t find out, they “take steps to keep Recruiter users who work at your company, as well as related companies, from seeing the career interests that you share.”
How To Increase Your Chances That Recruiters Will Contact You
If you’ve been looking for a new job for more than 5 minutes, you’ve heard that you need to target employers. Most often, the advice is to develop a list of target employers, i.e. the employers you would most like to work for. Then, find a way to network your way in.
This strategy is recommended for a few reasons.
First, the best way to hear about jobs is by regularly checking the career section of your target’s website and/or knowing someone who works there. As a former recruiter, I can say that the only reason that businesses don’t post open positions is when the person doesn’t know they are being replaced.
Second, a resume given directly to someone at a company is more effective than responding to an ad on a job board. This can also be incredibly helpful if done after you respond to an online ad.
FYI, if a recruiter contacts you about an open position where you have a connection be sure to mention it. They may ask you to reach out to your connection to help grease the wheels.
How Not To Look Old When You’re Looking For A Job
Job seekers begin to worry about age discrimination as early as their mid-forties. Serious concerns begin around 55. And the truth is, age discrimination or ageism is out there.
There are a lot of reasons, not related to skills, that people don’t get hired. They may be considered too young or, in some cases, the wrong gender.
They may not get the job because, subconsciously, they remind the interviewer of a former boss they despised.
Conscious and unconscious biases exist.
While you can’t control them, you don’t have to feed into them either.
If you’re concerned about age discrimination, do what you can to not look old and outdated during your job search.