Be a Sexy Job Seeker and Increase your Odds of Getting the Perfect Job
All my life, I've been extremely lucky in my job hunts and career opportunities. Unfortunately, I have many friends who are not so lucky and are currently looking for a job, it actually seems like most of my friends are looking for jobs in the Vancouver area right now. Luck, determination and hard work have been the main factors of my career opportunities, but I think everybody works hard and is determined, but there are ways to put odds on your side and increase your luck. I thought I would share resources and tricks that have helped me and some of my friends to put odds on our side.
1. Be resourceful. There are some really nice tools out there that can keep you on top of things really easily without much effort. Use them! The first thing you need is a good way to know about the relevant jobs available in your area, and in 2010 there are 3 websites you cannot leave without for job hunting:
These 3 websites are what we call aggregators (read this post to understand why you should love them) and a search will fetch and provide you with results from many different websites. If you're looking for tech jobs in Vancouver for example, they will go on many job boards in Vancouver and do a search based on the keywords and the area you entered. That means you don't have to do and redo all these searches on all these website everyday. You can also save your searches and subscribe to the RSS feed, so you don't even have to go back on the website at all, the job postings are just delivered to your RSS feed reader. If you don't have an RSS feed reader, I would recommend Google Reader. You can even make the RSS feeds to be emailed to you on a regular basis with free services such as feedmyinbox. For instance, you could get up in the morning, open up your email client and apply on all the relevant jobs posted within the last 24 hours while having your breakfast. Cool eh?
If you're more into technology, you can use Yahoo! Pipes. That's like the Lamborghini of all the tools you can possibly have. It lets you make your own feed instead of using on of the web sites mentioned above. You can aggregate your own feeds, search, filter,
sort, etc. That’s the tool I use for my job posting on this blog which displays the 150 most recent tech jobs in Vancouver in real-time. Yahoo! Pipes is free.
sort, etc. That’s the tool I use for my job posting on this blog which displays the 150 most recent tech jobs in Vancouver in real-time. Yahoo! Pipes is free.2. 2. Use LinkedIn. LinkedIn is just the most awesome social networking tool for jobs. I know many people who complain about it, but I think they just don't know how to use it. I've had 3 job offers since January through LinkedIn. Jobs I did not ask for, the companies came forward and offered me a job or an interview. There are also a lot of jobs available on LinkedIn (you can find them through simplyhired.ca as well) and now you can follow companies (brand new of a few days). So if you're interested by one company you can follow them, and when they open a position or when someone leaves, you can apply on the job even before the company advertises for the job. Having a complete profile on LinkedIn also adds credibility to your application, especially if you can get a few recommendations. Anyways, my point is that LinkedIn is just great! If you decide to join, add me: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/mattbaril.
3. 3. Own and use your dot com. This might be pushing it a bit, but having a website helps as well. My website is a blog and there is quite a bit of content, which means that potential employers can surf through it and read bits and pieces to see my English proficiency, my capacity to write, think and how disciplined I am to keep the blog up-to-date. It helps in two ways: an employer can find you through your blog, but it can also add credibility to your application. In my interview at Elastic Path, a company I worked for during the Olympics, the HR person kept talking about my blog and she asked me only one interview question, the rest of the 45 minutes were spent talking about my blog which she pulled up on her screen. But, a personal blog is a lot of work and I know people who have used their website differently and have had some success as well. I went to school with this guy called Cody Watson and I like what he has done with his dot com. It's pretty simple, it takes few hours to put together, but it looks really professional and helps for the first impression.
4. 4. Always apply on all jobs, even those you’re not too fond of. This is probably the most important mistake people make, not applying on all kind of jobs. Don’t be picky, you don’t have a job for god sake, just apply on everything you think is related to your area even though it’s not the dream job. There are many reasons to do so:
- You can practice your interview skills and will not have the pressure you would usually have if you really wanted the job.
- You will have feedback on your resume and the experience you have that is most appreciated by employers. If you don’t get the job you can even ask why and know where you’re falling short.
- And most importantly, you’re much sexier when you have a job. People are people and hiring someone who doesn’t have a job seems like a risk. If that person was that great he or she would have a job right? Right… so get a job to make yourself more attractive. It also shows you are motivated, ambitious and driven. Once you have a job, you can say things such as: “I love working for company ABC, they have provided me with XYZ kind of experience and treat their employees very well. However, I feel that with my background and experience I could add more value and be more useful to a company like yours by doing ABC. As you can see from my resume I have already worked on projects similar in scope and have had great success.” Well now you are lot sexier than by saying: “I’ve been spending the last 2 months looking for a job, but couldn’t find the right fit.”
5. 5. Spend 8 hours a day looking for jobs. Finding a full time job is a full time job. You should set targets for yourself such as sending 10 resumes a day. Once you have the right tools set up for you, you can easily get 100 jobs per day into your inbox or RSS feed reader. Pick the 10 most interesting and apply. Make a couple of cover letters for different kind of roles you are interested in and tweak them to make it sound personal. It will take you less than 10 minutes to apply on a job with a “personal” cover letter. Count about 3 hours to do so and applying on 50 jobs per week should get you anywhere between 1 and 5 interviews per week. You can then spend the next 5 hours of your day for sharpening your interview skills (free job centre resources), having real interviews, tweaking your website, making new connections on LinkedIn, joining new groups on LinkedIn, networking at different events, blogging, volunteering, taking courses/classes/certifications. Every single hour should be an investment in your career and a step forward, something that will lead you to a job or will enrich your resume.
There is definitely a big part of chance in the process, but you can improve your odds of finding a great job if you do the above. You will also need someone to support you, a wife, a husband, a friend, a parent for the times when everything goes wrong. The week you will have sent 50 resumes and went to 3 interviews and get nothing in return will be a tough week, but it’s not the end of it. Keep working at it and you’re putting the odds in your favor and sharpening the saw.
What are your tricks and tips to become a sexy job seeker and increase your odds of getting the perfect jobs? What do you think doesn't work versus what really works?
Good luck all!
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I agree with you that aggregators are great! It is so much simpler to look for jobs now that I know about them as compared to when I was job hunting a couple of years ago. Your other points are good too, although I have yet to figure out how to use LinkedIn effectively. Maybe I need to put more effort into improving my profile and making new connections. One thing that helped me a lot when I was looking for a job a couple years ago when I graduated was the career counselor at my business school. He helped me tremendously with my resume and also had some good ideas about which companies were looking to hire but maybe not advertising. In the end his recommendation lead to me getting the job that I then used to get the job I have now. I have also heard of professors helping students get a job and a couple of my professors gave me some useful advice. I guess the lesson is to make use of everyone you think may be able to help you.
Hi Mike! Very good point! I also used the career centre help for my resume. I was apparently doing a bunch things wrong. I changed it all, it took me 2 full days, I was going back to the CC and they would suggest more changes. I have since got many good comments about my resume, and that's really because of the career centre. They also had an activity in which HR people from the industry came, and we had 2 minutes to show them our resume and they would give us feedback, there were about 12 of them. That was really helpful as well. Thanks for pointing this out, CC is definitely a great resource I should have had included!
As for Linkedin, there are a bunch of blog posts about how to maximize its use. For me, my strategy is relatively easy:
- I have a very complete profile which makes finding me easy for employers.
- I try to connect with as many people as I can, only people I know and I have worked or study with though.
- I try to be active by updating my status a few times week, and updating what I'm reading, these updates will be included in a weekly digest email LinkedIn sends every week. It reminds people I exist :p
- I connectec my blog on LinkedIn so they can see my most recent posts. I also have my twitter and my website. I consider LinkedIn as the first step. People can see where I come from: education, work experience, volunteering experience, etc. Then they can see my personality by reading my tweets or my blog.
- I sometimes participate in group discussions which has lead to 1 job offer so far. I also post links to my blog posts when I think it can be of interest. It's important to be careful here and not try to promote your website just for the sake of promoting it. I select the groups very carefully and then I craft a short post of what the article is all about and I include a link. This usually works pretty well.
I have much more to learn about LinkedIn and I definitely don't fully tap into it. But this simple strategy has worked well so far.
Good blog Mat –
such a proud older sister right now….and learned a few tricks too – any advice on how to get a bunch of sexy clients …and by "Sexy," I don't mean actually sexy, I just mean consistent and paying!
hahaha! That would be an excellent title for a future post actually: "How to increase your odds of getting more sexy clients"! I've been following you for a while now, and you're tapping in many online resources for your business: facebook, blog, website, etc. What has worked for you so far? What's the best tool? It could be a good starting point for the next post on this blog
Glad to see you here older sister
If you wanted to be of extreme service consider doing seminars for local high schools or post grad schools. Your insight, specific hints and tool recommendations as well as the spirit and commitment you bring to the job hunt are things that could really help young people entering the job market.
It's one thing for someone's mom to tell them to search for 8 hours a day but when it's a young successful guy they are more apt to listen.
I would wish you luck but I can see that you are one who makes his own luck!
All the best, Suzanne
Thanks for the suggestions on using LinkedIn, Matt. I can definitely see a few things here that I can use!
Your advices are great and well organised. One think I would add is I did not see the FaceBook as a strong professional or marketing tool. However it is very useful to touch base with friends ans long term yields.
One thing I would like to know is how to build own website or blog, and its requirements which people should put to make up and running.
Thank you for your kind words Suzanne, it's much appreciated. I had never though of giving seminars on job hunting before, but that's definitely something that would be interesting. I don't know if your teenager enjoys reading, but one book that really changed my perspective of work/career is Linchpin from Seth Godin:
http://www.amazon.ca/Linchpin-Seth-Godin/dp/0749953357/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276867952&sr=1-2
It's really a motivational book that helps you see yourself has a game changer and encourages you to be a leader and take control of your career. It's full of good general tips and makes you want to change the world.
Also, I didn't have a chance to read this book myself yet, but it's apparently one of the best about job hunting and it's reedited every year. What color is your parachute from Richard Bolles:
http://www.amazon.ca/What-Color-Your-Parachute-2010/dp/1580089879/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276867652&sr=1-4
This book gives direct concrete tips on job hunting from writing a resume to job interview. Reviews are negative on amazon.ca, but I heard good things from friends and it's rated 4 and half stars on amazon.com.
I don't have kids yet, but I can easily imagine how difficult it can be for a parent to encourage and motivate their teenagers to find work! Not all teenagers enjoy reading, but if they do, these books might motivate them and encourage them as it did for me.
Thanks for stopping by!
I agree with you Homay, facebook doesn't seem to be a great tool for job hunting. I heard stories, online and in books – not people I know, of people who updated their status and were offered jobs. I've never tried this technique myself, but I guess it could work if you have a good network, but it can also play against you depending on how you use facebook (inappropriate pictures, rude comments, immature status updates, etc.). I've heard way many more stories (still of people I don't know) about people losing their jobs or not getting a job because of facebook. So I would be careful and I would definitely not use it as a central tool to find a job.
For your question about the requirements to have your own blog or website, all you really need is a domain name (www.yourname.com) and a hosting company. Once you have that, you can use a Content Management System to create ad manage your website. I personally use wordpress which is perfect for blogs, if you don't want a blog, then Drupal and Joomla can be good alternatives.
I hope this helps!
This is really an eye opener for job-seekers. The article is very informative and educative. I think I have gained a lot in this discussion. Though, I'm not looking for a job right now; but I can use the information to teach the younger ones looking for one type of job or the other. In fact, it is very interesting to know that job searching can be possible through LinkedIn.
I liked that: "you’re much sexier when you have a job". Very true, and I am only understanding that now that I am looking for a job.