How are YOU looking for a new job?

December 23rd, 2008 • Career Advice

It’s been a week full of holiday parties and reunions of friends, so the blog has been a little neglected. However, a conversation I had at one of the parties with a product designer struggling with her job application approach inspired the topic for this entry. One of the things I find – especially when talking to younger people – is that while people may understand their industry or their specialty very well, they don’t understand how to best differentiate themselves when applying for jobs, or presenting themselves. (I suppose this makes sense – after all, this is partially why the recruitment industry exists.) Too many people mindlessly submit resumes to HR departments or career e-mail addresses with generic cover letters and a resume template that is right out of Microsoft Word. Is this your process? If so, what is it that makes you different from everyone else out there? Sure, you can hope that they read every resume, but with a job market oversaturated with candidates, you should be doing what you can to make yourself noticed in the process. Don’t worry; if you’re skilled and present well, there will ALWAYS be jobs out there for you. After the break, I’ll offer some questions that you should be thinking about when going through your career searching processes.

Before you start your process, or before you start applying again, ask yourself the following questions, and make sure you can answer them. Please note: to properly position yourself, you may need to do some work that doesn’t seem directly related to applying for a job – but trust me, everything ties in. 

Where do I want to be?

This is the most obvious question to ask yourself, and one that many of you have already asked yourselves, I’m sure. This question is relevant both to those unemployed and those currently working at places they don’t want to be at. When asking this question, you should consider what role you want to have, what industries, what environments (casual, corporate, start-up, etc), and what locations. Again, all pretty obvious stuff – but too many people don’t fully ask themselves this question. You can’t properly put together an application process without answering this one fully, so don’t neglect it as the “easy” question.

What is the normal process for someone applying to position “x” in my industry?

Now that you know where you want to be, what is the approach that the majority of people take to apply to that position? Is it through a response to a job board posting? E-mails to a careers e-mail address? Calling the company? Using a third-party recruiter? Through referrals or internships? With the possible exception of the job board posting and recruiter, many of these processes may be very difficult for you to differentiate yourself through. If you have to apply through HR, you need to worry about ensuring all of the keywords relevant to your skill-set are predominant in your resume, as many HR people aren’t experts in the relevant skills required, and rely on keyword searches. Job board postings and recruiter postings generally imply that someone will at least review your resume; if you’re being proactive, they may just place your resume on file with the rest.

Referrals are the best approach to take, in my opinion – someone from within the company sending your name along will cause you to be more noticed, provided that person is someone with respect within the company. With their reputation along with yours, you’ve leapt ahead of the resume-submitters. How do you find these people? That comes a little bit later, if you don’t already have the contacts. Again, following the same process as most other people does little to differentiate yourself, even if you’re a superstar extrovert who would be a perfect fit to that company.

What sort of feedback am I receiving?

Let’s say that you have 100 companies on a list of where you’d like to apply to. You spent your time applying to the first 10 listed, and have received one or two responses where they indicated that they are not interested in you. You continue submitting your applications. 

STOP.

Have you looked at the feedback and what it said? Maybe it’s offered that you aren’t appropriate for that level of position you are applying for. Maybe it has made mention of your presentation. Maybe it’s a form letter. Regardless, whenever you get feedback, you should evaluate it against what you’re doing. If you get an opportunity to refine your process, why not take it? What you hear from that first company may make the difference in that 15th application, one that would be enough to get you to the interview phase.

How do you represent yourself/what sort of presence do you have?

This is a VERY broad question. Not only does it cover how you present yourself to the potential company – resume/cover letter/portfolio/etc – but it also covers how you can be evaluated outside of these pieces. I think this is the most important question that you can ask (of course I do, as a social media advocate), and paying attention to this question and what you can do with it will give you your largest advantage.  

A couple of quick ground rules regarding your printed work. First rule: no default resume templates allowed. Second rule: no Times New Roman. Want a way to make yourself look generic? Break these rules. Seriously, don’t do it. I don’t have many other print tips that you can’t find anywhere else, so I’m not going to focus on this very much.

What I do want to focus on is your overall presence. Let’s think about it this way: everyone wants to hire someone who is ambitious, mature and an expert in their field, right? How can you position yourself as such?

Firstly, you need to Google yourself. Yes, as self-serving as it sounds, you should have an idea of how you’re represented online. Not all employers will be doing this, but some very well may. Knowing how you’re represented on Google – if at all – is an important step to figuring out how you may appear outside of your resume. If your Facebook profile comes up, you are going to want to make sure it’s not anything embarrassing. Same for MySpace, or any other social network you may use. If there’s anything else up there “incriminating,” make sure you at least have a reason for it. Look at what happens when you Google me. The first result is my website – a good sign. Second is my Twitter account. Other items include a few other social networks, as well as profiles from my time in school. Nothing incriminating there – and all 10 results are on the first page are about me. Definitely a good start.

Secondly, especially if you have no presence, you need to establish yourself online. This is the part that takes time. I’m firmly of the belief that everyone should be maintaining a personal site online. Sorry, this isn’t negotiable with me. Especially if you’re looking at an entry-level position, or moving into a field where you don’t have a lot of professional-level experience, you need to be able to establish a presence this way. This should include some sort of writing area (like yes, a blog.) Now you may say: “Dan, why do I need a blog to apply for a job?” It comes down to establishing yourself as a Subject Matter Expert (SME). By writing on items relevant to your field, and properly supporting your opinions with research, you can demonstrate that you actually know what you’re talking about. Providing this to a potential employer would allow you to show understanding outside of your resume, and you may even get job offers just by doing this. It’s a no-brainer. 

Thirdly, you need to particpate actively in your relevant industry communities. This is the big advantage that social media offers with this. Although Katrina and I disagree on this point, I believe that you can’t just be approaching people in your desired area of work, introducing yourself, and immediately asking what they have available. You need to establish a genuine relationship with them. In a way, it’s like selling yourself as a product – if you’re too aggressive you come off as pushy or desperate. By forming these relationships, you never really know what may come your way in the future. I wrote more about this here.

Lastly, you need to think of your entire presentation. Now that you have your online presence, include a link to it in there. If you use LinkedIn and have references on there, provide them. If you can, provide your information to the person who is responsible for the actual position. While they may send you off to HR, you’ve given them an opportunity to notice you. They have the ultimate control in who gets hired, so why not approach them first? Do things that will set you apart immediately – while it may not work everywhere (HR doesn’t always like really creative resume presentation), it should give you a better chance of being noticed – and in this market, that chance will translate into better opportunities for you.

I could write so much more about this, but for now I will stop it there. Remember, you should be asking yourself all of these questions so that you have control over your job process, rather than letting whomever may be reviewing resumes do it. What are your thoughts on this? Do you have any tips? Leave them in the comments.

Tags: Career Searching, Online Presence, Social Media

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