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To succeed in today’s competitive job market, you need to tap into both the advertised and unadvertised job markets. You need a comprehensive strategy that helps you find and connect with recruiters and employers, combined with a tailored, targeted approach that makes you stand out from other candidates. It’s particularly important to build your online presence, protect your personal brand, network with others, and market yourself effectively. If you’re not achieving interviews, you might need to rethink your approach and develop a comprehensive job search strategy….
Identify Job Search Websites: in addition to SEEK, MyCareer and CareerOne, there are other niche job search websites. Do a Google search to identify relevant recruitment agencies, professional associations, university career websites, niche job search websites, industry journals, and the LinkedIn Job Directory. Sign up for automated alerts if the option is available and create a dedicated favourites folder for reference.
Identify Recruiters: perform a search for your particular role on popular job search sites and identify common recruiters. Add the sites to your favourites folder and make a note of the consultants.
Evaluate Your Resume: how many applications have you sent off and how many interviews have you secured? If it’s not many, what might be the problem? Perhaps you need to revamp your Resume and/or application process. Think about asking someone in your industry to review it and provide feedback, or consider getting a professional involved.
Use LinkedIn: recruiters review LinkedIn Profiles and you can easily be found, so make sure it’s up to date with relevant information and keywords, as well as a current, professional photo. Add in as much detail as you can including additional sections such as qualifications, certifications, courses, memberships, interests etc. It provides a more comprehensive view of you, as well as additional opportunities to connect with others. Use LinkedIn to research recruitment consultants and HR managers from companies you’d like to target. Join relevant groups, follow companies you’d like to work for, and connect with others in your industry.
Customise Each Application: write a customised cover letter for every job you apply for making sure to address as many ‘job requirements’ as you can.
Build Your Online Presence: there are many ways to do this including LinkedIn (discussed above); writing a blog; developing your own website; creating a Facebook page, Twitter account, or Youtube videos. This is especially important if you are looking for contract/freelance work.
Check Your Settings: some employers look up candidate’s social media pages as part of their screening process, so make sure your privacy settings for social media sites are set to an appropriate level and ensure personal photos, timelines, tweets etc. are not generally visible.
Access the Hidden Job Market: a large percentage of available jobs are never advertised so this is an important part of your job search strategy. Connect with some of the recruiters you identified via LinkedIn. Develop a standard pitch as to why you want to connect and what you can offer. Think about specific companies you’d like to work for then research their website careers page and follow them on social media. Network with others in your industry, join suitable LinkedIn Groups and make active contributions to help build your profile.
Network: think about who you know and who you might be able to connect with. Let your network know you are seeking new opportunities. Remember there are many different ways to connect with your network so use them all – phone calls, emails, Facebook, LinkedIn, face to face and online networking groups etc. Find relevant professional associations and networking groups – attend seminars and connect with people in your industry.
Stay In Touch: once you’ve identified relevant job sites, recruiters, companies, etc. it is important to regularly follow up.
A customised job search strategy is your blueprint for success. Remember, there are many aspects to securing your next opportunity and if you’re finding it tough at the moment – you’re not alone. That doesn’t mean that you can’t achieve success – you just need to take some time to develop a winning job search strategy.
If you would like help from a Career Coach to develop a Job Search Strategy tailored to your target role/industry, please see our Job Search Coaching services.