Throughout my career, I have been “lucky” to land several interviews when I decide to look for a new job, and most times, several competing offers. My friends and colleagues often ask, “What’s your secret? How are you able to get so many call backs?” Honestly, I hadn’t really thought of it much until I noticed that I WAS getting significantly more traction than most. So… I thought I would share with you some of my “best” job-hunting skills that I use, to help you land an interview.
Targeting Jobs
Unlike most people, my main interest in looking for jobs, is the actual job itself – not the industry nor the size of the company. While there have been times, based on experience, that I have focused more on company size, my main job hunting advice is STOP FOCUSING ON ONE INDUSTRY! If you have a service-related role such as Human Resources or Finance, these skills are often times transferable to other industries (and typically provides you with more experience/knowledge than staying in one-industry).
Before I start applying, which I’ll review my method in an upcoming post, I update my resume – it is always ready to go, ALWAYS. I don’t have to look at it every day because I know that it was polished to the nines, the last time I did review it. Here’s the thing – when you are using the online apply method for jobs, your resume needs to be killer, not just mediocre or good. You need to chat yourself up – discuss how you added value in that role, not what you did.
For example, I want to tell potential employers that I have strong change management experience.
- WRONG WAY: “Led change management initiatives across multi-functional division.”
- CORRECT WAY: “Increased employee engagement by 23% in one year following change in senior leadership.”
Use action words. As a hiring manager/recruiter, I would rather see a very strong and detailed two page (max) resume, than a very weak summarized one page version. This is your calling card, literally, so spend time on it. Have others look at it and review it, “gut-check” that it is something that would entice YOU to want to call you.
I personally do not feel that you need to update your resume for each and every job posting because your resume should already encompass what’s included in any related job postings. Since you’re not able to write a 15 page summary of everything that you do daily, I tend to boil down the items that are included in my resume to the things that excite me in a job – are you looking for a recruiting job because that’s your passion? Then your resume should have as many action items/results from your historical recruiting experience (and leave out or minimize other duties that you didn’t like such as Benefits?). See the pattern?
*Photo By @amarulero
