Jaded by job hunting? It can feel overwhelming, all-consuming and confusing. Fifteen years ago, looking for a role involved no more than registering for job alerts and sending your CV to a recruiter. The landscape today looks very different.
With our never-offline culture and the rise and rise of LinkedIn, it’s hard to know if you’re ever doing enough to bag your dream job.
The good news is that there are some straightforward, easy ways to ensure you’re standing out to prospective employers and not missing out on great opportunities.
Here are our tips for finding a job — fast.
Write a mission statement
Before you start job hunting, think about how you want to be known. Take the time to write a mission statement and think about how you’re going to bring it to life. It will be the foundation of all your hard work, so make sure it’s realistic and authentic.
Google yourself
Once you’ve figured out how you’d like to be known, audit the content that’s already out there. Google yourself and see what comes up in the search results. Prospective employers will be doing the same thing as soon as your CV piques their interest, so make sure your online presence is in line with your mission statement.
Build your personal brand
Think about how you want an employer to see you. Your social media profiles are the perfect way to present that image of yourself.
A quick win? Post on LinkedIn about things relevant to the job you’re looking for. Potential employers will see you’re already knowledgeable, interested and engaged with the task at hand. And do ask past employers or colleagues for recommendations– it’s the recruitment equivalent of reading a good review on Tripadvisor.
Twitter is another way to work on your professional brand, ideal for contributing to conversations in your industry, engaging with thought leaders and crafting tweets that link to relevant content.
Don’t neglect LinkedIn
According to statistics from recruitment site Job Description Library, 91% of employers use social media to recruit. With 690 million members worldwide, LinkedIn is the world’s biggest candidate and talent database.
It’s not enough to just have a profile. Take the time to work on it just as you would your CV. Don’t be mysterious — upload a (professional) photo as research shows that it will give your profile 14 times more engagement. Read more common LinkedIn mistakes here.
Clean up the past
We’ve all heard the horror stories about employers sifting through tweets and Facebook photos from a decade ago. Urban myth or not, 21% say they’ve rejected an applicant after seeing their social presence. So, if you haven’t already, clean up your social media act (or least ramp up your privacy settings).
Be consistent
List the same jobs and dates online and on your CV to stop confusion (or concern) among potential recruiters. It’s a good idea to tailor your CV every time you apply for a job, but see that it tells the same story as your online profile. And make sure you review these five CV do’s and don’ts.
