5 tips to a successful job search

In my recent research on the latest career trends I came across an excellent article on Forbes.com and decided to share with you some of the tips that is relevant to our job market today.

These tips come from a report that summarises the key findings of the Consortium’s Annual Global Career Brainstorming Day, an international, multicity event that brings together nearly 100 career professionals, including coaches, resume writers, and college career services professionals from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Here’s what the experts said about being successful in your job search in today’s competitive environment:

ONE

Keep your resume short and succinct. The experts said a resume is very much an essential tool of the job search, but hiring managers and recruitment consultants are in a rush. So you need to format your resume to be read quickly. A typical resume is looked over for up to 10 seconds and often from a mobile device.

In your key achievements remove filler words, use numbers to quantify your impressive results (such as “boosted sales by 83%”, “reduced complaints from 60% down to 10% within a 3 month period”) and include relevant keywords that appeared in the selection criteria of the job advertisement.

Your contact details should consist of:

(a) one email address, ideally with your name as this will be an identifier therefore easier to find you (please do not be tempted to use your lovechops@gmail.com email address

(b) one phone number

(c) your LinkedIn profile URL.

Residential addresses are not required unless specified in the Job Advertisement and for jobs with numerous locations.

TWO

For senior leadership roles, consider creating a portfolio of job-search documents such as collateral leadership briefs, blogs that establish your robust online professional identity or a one page executive summary.

THREE

Consider sourcing an Interview Coach to perfect your Interview skills including video interview skills as more and more employers are relying on Skype for long distance and initial screening interviews.

FOUR

Over the last few years LinkedIn has become essential, not only in your job search but also becoming a successful candidate. “Having a sharp LinkedIn profile may be even be more important than having a great resume” Kursmark says.

The experts said, too many candidates fail to fully embrace this tool, in particular your younger and older job seekers. To maximize the use of LinkedIn, engage more frequently with your LinkedIn networks. One of the best ways to do this is to actively participate in LinkedIn’s industry and interest groups.

You can do this by going to your LinkedIn home page, click on the Groups tab and search the “groups you may like” or “groups directory” tabs. Join a few groups and post links to interesting articles, participate in discussions and share helpful resources. By do this, you will become known as a resource and improve the likelihood that recruiters, referral sources and hiring managers, will notice you.

FIVE

Today, the hiring process has more steps to it and you’ll notice longer delays between the time candidates apply for jobs and receive offers.

Approach your search as though you are in sales, keep building your network pipeline, don’t let yourself become discouraged and expect to hear “no”.

On a positive note, the report says career professionals are finding there is a growing demand for candidates and that businesses are concerned about losing existing managers and other employees.

The key to a successful job search is to network. We have been provided with a successful tool such as LinkedIn, use it! Engage with your networks and advertise your brand.