Nobody learns job hunting in school. That's why today's working professionals need to educate themselves when it comes to job hunting tactics. The job market is constantly evolving. Part of why we started CareerCloud is to make you a better job hunter. So here are ten simple ways to do just that.
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1. Tailor Your Resume
When you see a job you want to apply for you MUST tailor your resume to that job description. Use the same KEYWORDS and PHRASES they use to describe the job. Doing so will allow you to be filtered out by human resources as a candidate that closely matches the job requirements.
2. Network, Network, Network
Just about every industry has some sort of networking group that you can join. After all, It’s not what you know Its who you know. This phrase still resonates in the job market. Whatever industry you work in, seek out and talk to the people who are your colleagues. Develop relationships with them. You never know when you will meet someone who helps you discover your next opportunity.
3. Utilize Family & Friends
Referrals are still the best way to find a job. Make a list of your friends and family and where they work. Then approach each one and give them your resume. Tell them to submit it to their HR department. Ask them for a copy of any internal job postings. If you get hired by any of them your friend or family member will probably get a bonus from their company. That is a powerful incentive for them to get you hired!
4. Create an Untraditional Resume
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Instead of doing the usual 1 or 2 page chronological resume like everyone else, do something different. Design one that looks like a tri-fold brochure or the front page of a newspaper. Today, word-publishing programs like Microsoft Word and Microsoft Publisher let you create wonderful looking documents with total ease. So what are you waiting for? Get creative and let your untraditional resume get you noticed!
5. Follow the Money Trail
Companies getting VC funding (venture capital) are usually hiring. Seek out and find the companies in your area that are getting funded. Your local library can help you find local sources for locating these companies. Once you find them visit their website to see what opportunities are available. A site like Crunchboard is helpful for this.
6. Make Your Headline Count
When emailing your resume, send something that gets noticed. A big, bold subject line that declares “5 Reasons I Should be your Next Employee” is sure to grab the attention of anyone sifting through their inbox.
7. Get a Personal Website
Many people fail to realize that creating your own personal website is a great way to market yourself. Register your own domain name and create a website with your resume, pictures, samples of past work, etc. Services like SquareSpace make it easy to get a domain, email and site all in one place for as low as eight bucks a month.
8. Make Yourself More Valuable
In order to always be in demand for your career you need to invest in it. Take courses to improve your skills, take on new projects at work, read books, and go to seminars. The more skills you learn will make you more valuable to potential employers. You can learn a lot for free these days on places like Khan Academy, Lynda.com, Udemy and others.
9. What Makes You Unique?
Develop your own unique selling point or USP. A USP is a phrase or tagline that tells people in one sentence how YOU are different than the other jobseekers. Are you an "Admin Who Gets Things Done" or perhaps a "Salesman Who Makes It Rain"? Tell it with a tagline.
10. Add Color to Your Resume
Make your resume stand out more by using subtle color hints throughout. If your resume happens to end up on someone’s desk along with other resumes, whose will stand out? Yours will. One tip is to use the actual logos of the companies you worked for as a visual element that stands out. Want assistance to initiate your efforts? We have evaluated the best resume-writing services online.
