Something I’ve been finding out just from hearing from other people or casual looking around for myself is that, well there’s quite a competition when it comes to the job market out there. I don’t know whether it’s a combination of the bad economy or just highly qualified people that are finally looking for more in their life but it seems like the career market is changing.
Either way, I do know that if you don’t take certain precautions and keep these 4 tips of being on top, and being ahead of this competition in your career or job, you’re going to have a more difficult time than other people. So, just dive in and see what we can come up with.
Tip # 1 — Be Honest With Your Qualifications
I know the tendency is to pad what you have on your resumes already or cover letter, or LinkedIn profile or anything you have on the internet, but really and truly someone who’s been diving through hundreds of submissions for every single job they put out there is going to be able to tell what stands out from the other things on the resume.
Unless you do a padding a making thing look funky, well it’s really going to be a “no” for you, and you don’t want that, you want every opportunity for someone to say yes to you, because when it comes down to the end of the day, recruiters, HR folks, and hiring managers are actually looking for as many ways to say no to as many candidates as possible, so they can get a pull of acceptable candidates.
So don’t panic, so don’t exaggerate, read the job descriptions on stuff that’s already out there and figure out where you fit into that and how you can address your skills to match what their looking for without exaggerating. Make it sound good, but not too good.
Tip # 2 — Play Up Your Best Attributes
By play, I don’t mean exaggerate or go too far, I mean this is where you need to put your qualitative information. If you say “I’m very good at enhancing the process for document control” okay that’s great their probably looking for that.
But what you can say, “I reduced the entire process time by 17% for most projects under 2 months and total duration.” Something like that, this person knows what they’re doing so much they can actually put numbers to it. It says a lot; it really does, so the thing that matter most to you or your strengths are the things you need to play up real big. You can find your strengths free @ https://richardstep.com/strengths/. A good start for you!
Tip # 3 — Always Follow Up
This is another thing especially if you’re going for a very technical position or a position that doesn’t normally involve inherent social qualities, like engineering, or a scientist or something more intellectual or individual contributor base.
They may not be interested in a follow up in a more personable manner, so this is where you can really shine. If you have 100 other people that are doing great things, but don’t follow-up, don’t be professional personal, or show enthusiasm and interest in what you’re doing then you’ll just be one of those people that are just hoping for the best.
Well, you can increase your chance, increase your luck surface area, by doing more and making sure you follow-up with an email whether it be the next day or next week later. Ask them when they expect to be followed-up.
Go ahead and ask it can’t hurt, they might be interested that you are looking to see what they want out of you, and are taking value of the time spent having you there today. Figure out what it is, phone call, email, letter, it doesn’t matter, check and do it!
Tip # 4 — Give Good References
I know you probably have really good buddies from the last job you were at, but follow-up on them, see what they’re doing now, see what their social profiles look like and see whether their doing party pictures. What if it turns out that you weren’t really good fans of the last place they worked and they’re not big fans of you, then obviously, you don’t want to include them.
Also probably pick people that would also be able to show some relevance of what you’re going for, either technical or the ability to work in a matrix environment or the ability to communicate with all levels of colleagues. Pick someone who’s going to collaborate and make sense for the position you applying.
Make a bigger list than you need and narrow it down to three or four professional and maybe one personal reference to include in a PDF that you can attach as part of your supplementary documentation.
Forget the Competition – You Rock
High competition job markets in pretty much the norm now. Bunches of people are looking for a job, more than what they have now, a dream that they have been hoping for forever. Though you have a lot to compete with and a lot to show, I know you can do it.
Just take a couple extra precautions especially the four tips on being honest and stating your qualifications, playing up your best attributes, following up and making sure you get good references. Try these things and I will guarantee you’ll be well on your way to at least better leads when it comes to finding your career.
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