Editor’s Note: This blog post has been revised from the original version to add new information and reflect changes in job search strategies.
Job hunter prepared to win that dream job
Job hunting is a bit like Game of Thrones. Top talent takes a no-holds barred approach to landing the best jobs available. Skilled and savvy, take-no-prisoners job hunters are experts at winning great jobs.
Ok. How do I compete against those job hunt goliaths? Arm yourself with the powerful tips and secrets we’re about to share to win the battle for your dream job!
Your Job Search Needs You to Put Skills Front and Center
Your college degree is an important asset, but not quite as important as you may think. What employers really want to see are professionals who are proficient in key skills. Find a job to apply for and identify where your skills and experience overlap.
Use the same exact wording that you found in the job posting to match your skills to the job you’re applying for. The more skills you have that overlap those of the job you’re applying for, the better!
VMS Pro Resume Secret: Most skills gained in almost any job are transferrable. Do some research to learn the transferrable skills you have and use them on your resume.
Keep an Eye Open for Job Offers, Even if You Love Your Current Job
Some of the best job opportunities arise when you aren’t even looking. For the so-called ‘passive job seeker’, there are job platforms that allow you to anonymously drop a hook in the water by posting what it would take to convince you to switch jobs. Switch, Woo, Jobr are just a few of the possibilities to check out while you still enjoy the job you’re at.
Perhaps you don’t like your current job, but you don’t know what kind of job you should look for. You can grab a copy of What Color Is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles, or you can find a career coach to help you figure it all out.
Get a Career Coach
We like to think of ourselves as capable of choosing and managing our own careers, but if worker dissatisfaction is any indicator, some of us are not nearly as good at it as we may think.
In a 2016 survey conducted by Pew Research, 9% of workers expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs. An additional 6% were very dissatisfied. Combine those figures, and you have 15% of the workforce unhappy with their jobs. How can a career coach help you find your dream job?
Even if your career coach looks like the Red Priestess of Asshai, she can’t work magic to get you the job you want. Rather, a career coach helps you get a clear picture of who you are as a person. They help identify your strengths, weaknesses, and all the skills you possess (even ones you didn’t know you had!).
Career coaches are also adept at helping you figure out what you really enjoy doing (a lot of times, it’s not what you think) and use that information to help you find a career path that fits like a fine tailored suit.
Once you know what kind of work you’re best suited for, you will need to write a resume that captivates its reader like a novel by J.K. Rowling or Neil Gaiman.
A storyteller regales the job hunts of yesteryear
Tell Your Story Through Your Resume
Everybody loves a good story. When it comes to your resume, we’re not talking a Harry Potter novel; rather, use storytelling to share details of how you contributed to your previous employers. Draw them into the experience by showing that you understand and genuinely care about the organization’s goals and needs. Take inspiration from this great quote:
“While job seekers aren’t fortune tellers, and it’s not always possible to foresee an employer’s / hiring manager’s specific needs, you CAN express HOW you intelligently and solidly hammered out bottom-line (measurable) solutions to burning needs at your current company in a way that will resonate with a future employer (where you leave them vigorously nodding, in the ‘been there, done that’ way).”
— Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, Owner and Chief Career Writer, CareerTrend
This parallels a similar shift occurring in the marketing world as companies shift to a storytelling model where they talk about their products in a way that emotionally engages their target customers.
Deliver a fact-based, emotionally engaging experience in your resume, and you will find yourself getting the interview and the job!
Make Yourself Visible Online
In the Digital Age, a professional online presence is a must. Large job sites like Monster, Indeed, and CareerBuilder allow you to post your resume, which is a start. However, you need exposure to all prospective employers, not just the ones with job listings on the big job sites.
One major way to make yourself visible online is to create a profile on LinkedIn. With 467 million members as of the third quarter of 2016, LinkedIn has evolved into a platform for professionals of all skill levels to make their presence known to potential employers.
LinkedIn profiles are searchable and provide you with tools to help you build a professional presence for employers to see, with features that allow you to add video and other media to your profile to showcase your work and let others see it.
Learn about our Professional LinkedIn Profile Service
Social media job search options
Leverage Social Media as Part of Your Job Search Strategy
To further increase your online presence, create a professional profile on other social media platforms. Some Facebook members are using the Fan Page to create professional Facebook profiles. Google+ also has features for its members that allow you to create a professional profile that is visible throughout the Google ecosystem and through Google search.
Recruiters comb social media looking for talent. Post content on your social media platforms that creatively demonstrate your skills, and a recruiter may message you for an interview!
Personal Website
If you would rather not create professional profiles on Google+ or Facebook, you may opt to create a personal website to promote your skills and experience. However, this can be a disaster.
Designing and building a website can be profoundly difficult, with a poorly built website causing you professional harm. If you decide to build your own website, take a look at options like WordPress, SquareSpace, or Wix. Each offers tips and guidance on how to build a professional, polished website that showcases your skills and experience.
Expand Your Definition of Work
We’re well into the 21st century, and still hold onto some antiquated notions of what work is: a place you commute to and work from, usually Monday – Friday. The Digital Age is transforming what work means, broadening it to include flexible arrangements that include telecommuting and working remotely from anywhere in the world.
Work hours are slowly shedding their rigid 8-5 shells, allowing people to work when they are most productive, rather than when the boss says. These changes are reflected in the details of job postings as more employers offer flexible work arrangement and work hours to attract talented employees.
Take a Close Look at Job Trends
When you’re hunting for a job, it’s easy to get lost in writing resumes and/or filling out a bazillion job applications. Before you dive into all that work, take some time to research job trends for your occupation.
If you find that demand is low for the job you want, you may want to search for a different job. Look for jobs that have skills similar to yours, even if they are in a different industry. This will greatly improve your prospects for finding the kind of job you want.
Learn the Job Demand Cycles of Your Industry
If you’re looking for a job, timing is important. Ideally, you want to be looking for a high demand job in an industry that is also in a high-demand cycle. It’s much easier to land a job when an industry is in a high-demand cycle for workers. During low-demand cycles, companies tend to fill new positions from within first.
Industry demand for workers isn’t the only thing you need to look out for, however. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are on the march, replacing workers at jobs that have a high level of routine, repetitive tasks.
AI robots taking over jobs
Turn One Eye to the Future, But Keep One on the Robots
The Digital Transformation is a term used in to describe the disruption brought by advances in technology.
Big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are tearing down the walls of the traditional workplace, replacing the repetitive tasks in jobs with automation much faster and more efficient than even the most highly skilled person.
To prevent robots from taking your job out from under you, learn new skills or advance your current skills to levels that AI can’t touch.
Jim Stroud, Senior Director of Recruiting Strategies and Support at Randstad Sourceright, has this perspective:
“The robots are coming and indeed, are already here…Such being the case, any and all job seekers should research their industry and discern how long it will be before automation makes their present day skills obsolete and in the interim, they should be learning new skills that are less vulnerable to the great robot takeover.”
To future-proof your career, look for jobs that entail non-repetitive work with a high level of creative thinking and problem-solving.
Be Flexible
Out of all the tips and secrets shared, this one may be the most important. The workplace is undergoing a transformation unlike any seen since Henry Ford built the first automobile factory. As job descriptions morph and the term ‘workplace’ gets a much looser definition, the highly adaptable job seeker will succeed where others fail.
Adapt and persist like Davos Seaworth, and travel your noble path to career victory!
Vertical Media Solutions provides professional resume services that help people get jobs! Contact us today to learn how we can help you find your dream job!
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