Plan before you Hunt

These days it is plain simple to apply for a job via the internet. There’s a dozen of top recruitment agencies and websites in every country, where you can find an indefinite amount of opportunities.

But how can I become visible among hundreds of other candidates to be selected for an interview, and then eventually to get my desired job offer?

If you’re looking for your first job or you’re preparing yourself for a career transition, you have to develop a plan to Get Your Dream Job.

5 Tips to Kickstart Job Search

1. Write down your skills

You have to be fair when it comes to your skills and your knowledge. What can you do best, what do you like most, and what would you want to do? Write it all down in three different columns and try to find matches to kickstart job search. Then think how your key skills can be transferred to different roles. It will help you further on in your search process. You can seek an advice from a career coach shall you have any problems.

2. Do Your Research

Let’s talk about two cases. In the first one, you might already have a certain position or a company in mind. Find out about the skills that you need, and then if you can talk to someone who’s doing this kind of job or works in the company. Ask them about qualities of an ideal candidate for the role.

If you’re not sure about the role just yet, don’t worry. There are millions of online free services that are going to help you to build a bridge to your new career. The only thing you have to do is to type in your current/past position.

3. Create/Update your Résumé

Once you’ve done your research, it is time to bring all the pieces together into one perfect resume designed for this particular role.

Less is generally more.

Try to keep it clean and as long as it needs to be to convey all relevant information while still using sharp, concise writing. Place the most important information in the top third of your résumé. Employers will do a quick visual scan of your resume and may not even make it to the bottom of the page. The length is guided by your work experience. Some new grads have a two-page resume. Some execs have a one-page resume.

Find out about resume guidelines of your country (I know for a fact, some countries like New Zeeland would prefer you not to include your picture while most European countries used to see a friendly smiling face off resumes).

Add your Personal and Professional Qualities, a small summary if relevant, and the skills you have written in the first step. If you have problems wording your skills in a professional way, don’t hesitate to use best practices from Top-Rated Resume Samples. Just find your job title in the list to see which keywords you should use and best ways to describe your responsibilities.

For those at the beginning of their career. Don’t worry, there are ways to show skills, expertise, and yes, related experience even you have never worked before. Look to your education. For some projects that you completed during your studies to show various skills and competencies.

4. Clean up your online presence

Your Social media profiles are as important as is your Resume. First thing trained recruiter is going to do after screening is he will have looked you up online. Way before you start your job search (keep in mind it will take Google time to re-index your pictures) make sure your digital footprint – all of the places you can be found online – is one your mom would be proud of.

5. Practice for your interviews

Prepare for your interviews. It is fantastic if you have someone to help you rehearsing an interview with you. Research typical questions and interview procedures on resources like Glassdoor. Write down questions that you would like to ask them. Remember that as much as they interview you, you are interviewing them.

If you need help identifying your key Skills, don’t hesitate to contact me!