GET NOTICED: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO FINDING YOUR NEXT JOB

Transcription

1 GET NOTICED: A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO FINDING YOUR NEXT JOB

2 Number of Open US Jobs (millions) One of the most common questions we hear at Hire Velocity is how an individual should go about finding a job. Most often, the people asking this question are looking for more than just a place to punch a clock. They want a job that will fulfill their professional aspirations, offer room for career growth and personal development, and pay a desirable salary. Clearly, these types of jobs aren t just sitting around waiting to be snapped up, and finding one will require some intense effort. However, intense effort should not be a discouragement. Rewarding positions are out there for those who are willing to put in the time and effort needed to land the dream job. The War for Talent and What That Means for You The recovery of the job market has sparked a war for talent that spans all levels of skill and ability. Employers of various sizes in nearly every industry are competing for top talent to fill openings. At the beginning of 2015, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 5.1 million job openings in the U.S.: Jan '05 Jan '07 Jan '09 Jan '11 Jan '13 Jan '15 Source: What this means for you is that if you put in the effort needed to sell yourself as a job candidate, your next job is out there. Don t get discouraged!

3 Get Ready to Find Your Dream Job Before you begin your job search, start by assessing your current situation. The answers to these questions will tell you whether you are willing to devote the necessary time and effort to the job search process and will help you develop your plan of action. What have you done already? Have you taken any initial steps in the job search process? If so, write them out. This will be the start of an organizational system you can use to keep track of progress. You can use an Excel spreadsheet, a CRM solution, project management software, a calendar, or even a paper checklist, but it is vital that you remain organized throughout the job search process. Track each activity including applications, resume submissions, contacts and responses, networking activity, follow-ups, meetings, and interviews. If you don t know what you have already done, you won t know what to do next. Are you currently employed or unemployed? Your current employment status will determine the approach you take to your job search. Are you currently employed and looking for a better opportunity or are you currently out of work? If you are currently employed, you will need to be discreet about how public you make your job search activity. Posting public status updates on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter about looking for a new job won t go over well with your current employer. On the other hand, if you are currently out of work, you will want to get the word about your job search out to everyone you know. The more you network, the more opportunities you will have to connect with the person who can introduce you to your next employer. How Do You Decide What Steps to Take Next? Executives who offer job search advice on a regular basis often feel a measure of frustration with people who don t act on the advice they receive. If you ask for advice from a professional

4 mentor, take that advice and act on it! Once you have implemented the suggestions you have received, follow up with your mentor about what steps you took and how you leveraged his or her advice. Caveat: If you are currently employed, don t quit your job to begin a job search! This is one of the greatest mistakes you can make. Never choose to be unemployed. Once you have quit your job, finding another desirable position will be much harder. Employers will want to know why you are not working and may question whether you have been fired or whether negative circumstances at work caused you to resign. Search firms may be hesitant to work with you, particularly if you are looking for an executive level position, since their clients want successful candidates who are delivering top performance to a current employer. Also, you will have no leverage when it comes time to discuss compensation packages and may even be asked to start out in a temporary capacity so they can see how you perform. That s not to say you can t find a good position if you are unemployed through no fault of your own; however, if you have the option, it s better to conduct your job search while still employed. Countdown to Your Next Position Now that you have taken mental stock of what you ve done and what you still need to do, it s time to get serious about your job search. If you follow each of these step-by-step guidelines, you will greatly increase your chances of finding the job you want more quickly. Take a Personal Assessment Begin with an assessment of your job skills, credentials, and experiences. What do you have to offer an employer, and how can you present those assets in an attractive way? Next, take the time to write out a list of long-term career goals. Where do you want to be a year from now? Five years? Ten years? What kind of position should you look for today to achieve those goals? Finally, tailor your resume to highlight the strengths that will be most attractive to the industry you hope to enter.

5 If you are considering a job in several different industries, create a different version of your resume for each one, highlighting the skills and experiences most relevant to that industry. The goal here is not to manipulate or deceive; rather, you are seeking to put your best foot forward by showcasing the job skills you have that will most benefit the employer. Create a Plan If you have already done a thorough analysis of your accomplishments and goals, you ll be well on your way to completing this step. As you think through your job search plan, consider the major things you need to do in order to successfully achieve your goals. Make a step-by-step checklist. Include each of the ideas discussed below and determine what steps you need to take to accomplish each part of the process. Make a list of contacts and networking opportunities. Your connections will help open the right doors, so reach out to as many as possible. This is also the time to consider what search firms, recruiters, or agencies may be able to help you in your job search. Create a calendar. Schedule each activity and make a task list for each day. Treat your job search like a job and don t stop working until you have completed your list of tasks for that day. If you are currently employed, remember: for some of the other candidates, this job search is their fulltime job. Polish Your Online Resume In the last several years, social media has become a more prevalent method for employers and recruiters to find candidates for open positions. While employers may seek out information about you in various places on the internet, your LinkedIn profile is your online resume. If you do not have a LinkedIn profile, create one! It will likely prove to be a vital part of getting noticed in your job search. Your LinkedIn profile should list a complete job and education history as well as skills, experience, certifications, credentials, and other relevant information. While the paper resume you present to individual

6 employers during the application process should be tailored to that particular industry, your LinkedIn profile should present the whole picture. Seek recommendations, references, and skills endorsements to flesh out your profile. If you are currently out of work, post a status update about your job search to let those in your network know you re in the market for a new position. LinkedIn is also a great resource for reaching out to people who might be able to put you in touch with open positions. Network, Network, Network Eighty percent of available jobs in the marketplace are filled through networking. Talking to the right people will make a huge difference in the success of your job search. Here are some ways to get started: Reach out to your business network. Talk to colleagues, professional mentors, former clients, recruiters in your network, and others you have come into contact with over the course of your career. Let your family and friends know you re looking. They have a different network than you do and might be able to connect you with someone you couldn t have approached before. Be careful about status updates on Facebook and Twitter, however. If you recently left a job, don t complain about it on social media or talk about any negative circumstances related to the ending of the position. Instead, present your job search in positive terms. If you are currently working, don t announce your job search to the world on social media. Remember, your current or future employer could be reading your status updates, so keep them positive and constructive. Contact professional associations or societies you belong to. These organizations may keep a list of available positions or may be able to provide recommendations for you. They may also host a job fair, career workshop, or networking event to connect skilled candidates with opportunities in the industry. Cross reference positions you are interested in with your LinkedIn network. Finding a common connection or a friend of a friend that can provide a vital introduction to a hiring manager with an open position will greatly increase your odds of success.

7 Many times, sending your resume to a posted position will result in a dead end. Land interviews by networking to find connections in the companies you are interested in! Register with Recruiting Apps and Search Boards Relevant job search boards and recruiting apps can keep you apprised of what positions are available based on your skills and credentials. If you are currently unemployed, post your resume on sites such as: ZipRecruiter The Ladders Monster CareerBuilder You can also streamline this process by registering with websites like Indeed.com and ZipRecruiter which notify you when a position fitting your requirements gets posted. Both are good fits if you are still employed, since they will notify you of relevant job postings while protecting your identity. You can then contact that company in person to apply for the position if it looks like a promising opportunity. Do Your Homework The more intentional your job search efforts are, the greater your chances of success. Throughout the job search process, you should be researching the companies you plan to interact with. Whether you re submitting a resume, preparing for an interview, or hoping to get introduced to an influential person, take the time to do your homework: Create a list of companies that you are interested in as well as those with openings that match your experience and skills. Utilize LinkedIn and other networking channels to identify connections who could introduce you to an influencer at those companies. Research the company to find out more about their culture, work philosophy, methodology, and current situation. Use this

8 information to better understand the company and speak to their needs and goals as you interact. Seek to make direct contact with the managers that have the open positions. Human Resource professionals are tasked with screening out candidates. They do not make the hiring decisions. By following these steps, you can bypass the black hole of submitting your resume to a posting and never hearing anything. Talk to Industry Recruiters Find recruiters that specialize in your industry and set up a time to speak with them. At most recruiting organizations, this meeting won t cost you anything. If possible, get a personal introduction to the recruiter. Friends, family members, and colleagues can be great sources of information and may be able to provide you with a name of someone with whom they have worked successfully in the past. Talk to the recruiter about your background, experiences, credentials, skill sets, and any other relevant information, including your goals for your next position. Remember, however, that the recruiter s job is to fill positions for the companies that are his clients. His focus will be on finding candidates who meet their needs rather than finding a position for you. While this is always a good step to take and may yield good results, don t rely on a recruiter to find a job for you. Remember, 80% of all jobs come through your network! Learn to Sell Yourself Job hunting is similar to sales. You must find your target audience (the employers for whom you would like to work), identify their needs, and convince them that you can meet those needs. In other words, you have to sell yourself to the employer. Unless applicable for a technical job, don t get caught up in the nitty-gritty of what you used to do or how you did it. Think big picture. Employers are interested in what their problems are and how you can solve them. Start with these steps:

9 Research. As discussed above, it s important to research the company before you try to land a job there. You need to know what the company is looking for in order to convince them that you are a good fit. Develop an elevator pitch. You should be able to describe in 60 seconds or less why you want to work for the company and why they should hire you. Your elevator pitch will vary from company to company and from interview to interview based on the specifics of the job and company you are interacting with. Unless the interviewer asks elsewhere, this will be one of the few opportunities in the interview where you will get to talk a bit about your interests; who you are as a person. Although this should not be a large part of the elevator pitch, it should not be omitted. Highlight benefit to the employer. Always sound eager; never sound desperate for a job. A good salesperson will show how a product or service can benefit the customer. In the same way, your goal should be to demonstrate how the employer will benefit from your skills and credentials. Prepare for the Interview Never walk into an interview and try to wing it. Research the company deeply ahead of time and come up with sample questions that might be asked. Develop strong answers to those questions and try to understand all you can about the company and the people with whom you will potentially work. Ask a friend or two to do mock interviews with you, giving you the chance to practice answering unexpected questions. Get Serious This is perhaps the most important thing you can do to accelerate your efforts: you must take ownership of your job search. You cannot sit around idly waiting for someone to contact you based on resume submissions or your LinkedIn profile. If you are unemployed, treat your job search as your job. Schedule each activity, be diligent about followups, and spend several hours each day on company research and networking. Remember, the longer you remain unemployed, the less desirable you become as a candidate. If you want to get back in the job

10 force quickly, you ll need to dedicate yourself to the process. If you currently have a job, you may not have quite as many hours to invest, but it s still important that you spend as much time as possible on your job search efforts in order to reap the reward of a desirable position. Always Build Your Network We all know someone who is a jerk and really enjoys being a jerk. People like that will have a very humbling experience when they have to do a job search! If 80% of new jobs come through a person s network, then it follows that the bigger your network is, the more career opportunities you will find. So here is a little advice: Always build your network, even when you are not looking for a new job. That means getting involved in your community, professional, and industry organizations so you are constantly meeting others. Be helpful to people in your network. They are a lot more likely to help you if you have helped them in the past. Always remember to follow up and thank those who help you. If they make a referral for you, it is just common sense to let them know what happens with the referral. It also gives you the opportunity to interact one more time, which may trigger them to think of another way to help you. If this sounds like hard work, it is!!! Your Next Job Could Be One Away In summary, the vast majority of jobs are found via the candidate s personal or professional network. That s why it is so important for you to spend significant time on research, communication, and follow-up. Don t be afraid to ask for help from professional mentors, but remember, if you ask for advice, be ready to act on it! The job market is recovering, and jobs are out there. Companies want talented, highly qualified individuals to fill positions and facilitate business growth. By investing the time and effort required to complete

11 the tasks above, you can greatly increase your prospects of finding the job that will help you take the next step in reaching your career goals. About Hire Velocity Hire Velocity is a Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) company that provides customized recruiting solutions in healthcare, technology, business services, transportation, retail and Federal sectors. Hire Velocity delivers intelligent RPO exactly when and how companies need it. Both onsite and virtually, Hire Velocity sources, screens and qualifies candidates to increase capacity, elevate quality and drive down costs. Hire Velocity creates clear value with measurable results for ongoing talent acquisition as well as on demand hiring. Hire Velocity s innovative recruitment analysis tools along with its team of experts will quickly find the desired candidates while saving clients time and resources. Clients get tactical recruiting support with strategic impact, on their own terms. Grow faster with Hire Velocity s Intelligent RPO solutions!