For most of us today, a career for life is simply not an option. We usually have several different jobs, with a variety of different employers, in various different industries or sectors throughout our working lives. This means we need to be flexible when identifying the factors that make us employable – those skills that help us acquire, retain and achieve success in a job.
So what exactly are ‘Employability Factors’? Basically they are the set of achievements, skills, expertise, and personal attributes that help you achieve success in your chosen career. Most employers seek candidates that have other abilities beyond just the required qualifications and experience. These are a more comprehensive or balanced mix of experience, soft skills, and value that you add in your day to day work.
I’ve written before about how soft skills can help advance your career so this is a great place to start. The most important soft skills for your chosen career don’t necessarily align closely with the technical knowledge or hard skill sets required. They relate to the way in which you interact with and treat others, make decisions, or react to different situations. They include:
Communication: employers mostly seek candidates who can clearly and concisely articulate ideas and needs (both verbally and in writing) with a wide variety of people.
Interpersonal: being able to develop working relationships is seen as one of the most important skills for any employee. It means you can empathise with others and build important relationships – with colleagues, superiors, clients, suppliers, and other employees.
Creative Thinking & Innovation: competition is fierce across most industries today, so doing things the way they’ve always been done isn’t ideal. Having the ability to think outside the box to solve problems and make decisions can offer new perspectives or approaches and is a huge asset to any employer.
Collaboration: the ability to work well with others and appreciate input from different team members is essential, and will result in higher levels of efficiency, effectiveness, and ultimately success for any organisation.
Presentation Skills: being able to present ideas and information effectively is vital. This isn’t just about making formal presentations, but also includes speaking at informal meetings and preparing written reports, business or project plans, or more detailed strategy documents.
Leadership: having the confidence and ability to influence other people’s decisions and outcomes is important. Leadership isn’t just for ‘leaders’ or managers, but is important for all employees to progress and succeed.
ITSkills: most people need some IT skills to do their job. As a minimum, you should understand the basics of IT such as using the internet, sending and receiving emails, and using word processing and/or spreadsheet applications.
In addition to these soft skills, you should be able to identify the value you add. A great way to do this is to talk about your achievements because new employers don’t know your history – they need to understand the value you can add in the role, and this can be achieved by explaining past achievements.
Achievements don’t always have to be money or number focused (although it is great if they are). This is where many candidates get bogged down – they don’t have a revenue generating role so they think they don’t have ‘achievements’. However, there are many different areas we can look to for achievements. Think about things that you do in your day to day work that benefits your business, customers, and/or colleagues. Sit down with a pen and paper and think about anything you did:
where you received positive feedback or praise from a colleague, superior or client;
that made you feel proud;
that solved an ongoing issue or problem in the business;
that involved working in a team – say a larger project that was completed collaboratively;
that provided a new way of doing something;
that reduced the time taken or cost required; and
that improved service or support, or the quality of the outcome.
Once you’ve identified these soft skills and past achievements, you have the basis of your most important employability factors – the reasons why an employer would choose you over someone else. It’s also important to have a good attitude towards personal development because employers want ‘lifelong learners’ – people who are willing to adapt, change, and constantly learn in order to do things better for their organisation.
Would you like help identifying and articulating your most important employability factors so your next job application has a better chance of standing out? If so, please see our Career Advice and Professional Resume & CV Writing Services.
We believe the answer is definitely YES! Learning how to write an effective speculative job application can certainly pay off – especially if you are seeking to change careers or move up the career ladder. It can demonstrate initiative, keenness and a proactive nature – all great traits for any successful employee.
Speculative job applications are also a great way to put yourself in control of your job application process. We strongly believe if you’re only applying for advertised vacancies, you may be missing out on many other opportunities – as well as making your entire job search process much longer than is necessary.
Sending a speculative job application to a company that is not currently advertising a suitable position can get you and your experience in front of the right person at just the right time, and prevent your application from sitting in the same pile as everyone else’s. But what is the best approach?
Here are our tips for success:
TIP # 1 – Research the company: and how your skills and experience could benefit them. This does take time, but it will pay off. You’ll be able to quickly demonstrate how your background could be of value. In addition, you’ll have a good idea about how good a ‘fit’ you are, which will help you appear more confident if you do achieve that all important one-on-one interview.
TIP # 2 – Strategise: take time to define your offer and why a potential employer might like to meet you. Write down your key skills and strengths and how they fit the company’s goals and objectives. Try to identify benefits or ‘value add’ outcomes that you’ve achieved for other employers and relate that to the company you are approaching.
TIP # 3 – Use Your Networks: you can approach a company cold by sending a letter or email, but a better approach is to leverage your existing network. If you know someone within a company, don’t be afraid to ask them for help in ensuring your application is delivered. Just don’t forget to show your thanks and hopefully repay them with some information or advice in the future.
TIP # 4 – Write: put yourself in the potential employer’s shoes and write based on the ‘what’s in it for me?’ principle. This is an important part of the speculative process because you’re approaching them with no real idea about whether or not there are any relevant current or impending opportunities. Rather than just making statements about who you are or what you offer – provide proof of value or results you’ve achieved in the past. Your speculative application needs to be sufficiently interesting for the potential employer to want to talk to you more. You can only do this by showing them how you’ve achieved certain results or solved specific problems in the past.
Here’s a few tips on how to format your approach:
Use a formal letter writing technique – include your name and address details, the date, address the letter to a specific person (not just a title such as ‘Attention HR Manager’) and include their job title, and the company name and address details. End the letter with ‘Yours sincerely’.
Open with the reason why you are writing to them – mention what interests you. Explain you are seeking a new role and why you have identified the company as a potential employer.
Summarise your experience, skills and areas of expertise including recent achievements or successes (remember the proof mentioned above). Tell the reader why you are interested in exploring employment opportunities with their organisation, what you could bring to the company, and why you feel you’d be a good candidate.
Prompt a call to action by telling the reader how to contact you and what they will achieve if you speak further.
Once you’ve written your speculative application, don’t sit back and wait! Follow up with a phone call a few days later. Even if your letter hasn’t been read, this approach could increase your chance of success. Speculative applications are no longer being seen as presumptuous, in fact many employers love them because they save much time with recruitment! So what are you waiting for?
With the majority of applications now submitted via email or online job application systems, what is the difference between an e-note or email and a traditional cover letter? Many of our clients are confused about whether to include both, and how much detail to include on each. This article explores the two approaches and evaluates the most effective use of each.
When clients ask us whether or not they need to include a separate cover letter when applying for a job via email, our answer is ALWAYS YES. Supplying a customised cover letter to accompany your Resume will give you the best opportunity to highlight your unique skills and successes that make you an ideal candidate for the role. The e-note/email should also be included and used as a way to briefly introduce yourself and your motivations for applying.
From an employer’s perspective, sending a short e-note without a customised accompanying cover letter can give the impression that the candidate is lazy and has opted to take a ‘short-cut’ approach. First impressions count, and in a competitive job market, you need to give the recruiter a reason to call you in for an interview – instead of the next candidate with similar qualifications, background and experience.
For email applications, we suggest attaching a cover letter and resume as separate documents. In the case of online applications, use the same approach where you create a separate customised cover letter targeted towards the role you are going for and upload both the Resume and Cover Letter. If the system allows for only one file – add your cover letter in as Page 1 of your Resume document.
When preparing your cover letter – we are not talking about a standard approach. We advise customising the letter for each role – put yourself in the recruiter’s shoes and think about why you are right for the role, rather than why the role is right for you. Pay attention to all the details in the job ad or position description if you have one. What does the candidate need to achieve in the role, what are the company’s issues, and how can you help solve them? Provide brief details of scenarios where you’ve had similar successes in the past – and always provide proof of the outcomes you achieved. This should all be done succinctly and clearly.
For the e-note, our advice is to keep it very brief and reference the attached Resume and Cover Letter for context and detail. Use it as a way to provide a quick introduction. Don’t leave the subject line blank – use it to clearly reference the job title and specific job number if available. While we recommend keeping the content very brief in the email, we also strongly encourage professionalism and proper writing style. Use some letter writing etiquette – ‘Dear’ and ‘Regards’ will suffice, with your name and full contact details at the bottom. Avoid any abbreviations, ‘text talk’, overly familiar language, and emoticons.
In summary, there aren’t many cases where we would recommend sending only an e-note. Even in job ads that haven’t requested a Cover Letter – we always recommend sending one. Doing so creates a much more concise (targeted) picture of who you are and the value you can bring to the role. Our anecdotal evidence suggests that candidates who include a customised cover letter with their application are more likely to achieve an interview.
It may come as a surprise to some, but employers don’t just look for education and work experience. In order to achieve a viable long term employee, they also consider a range of skills that go beyond relevant technical requirements. Obviously you need to suit the role and possess all the minimum requirements, but so called transferable (or soft) skills can increase your chances of standing out in your next application.
If you’re like most candidates, the first thing you think about when applying for a new role is education and experience. However, this is often not the most important area. Many times, the skills you have acquired outside of your area of expertise can provide the key to achieving your new role.
No matter how experienced you are or how many different roles you have held, identifying and clearly articulating your transferable skills to a potential employer is very important. These transferable skills can be referred to as ‘soft’ skills and are key to achieving some roles – particularly if you are changing direction or careers – even if only slightly.
These skills matter because they can help you make a smooth and successful transition to a new role. They make you a valuable and contributing employee from your very first day in the role. While your specific area of expertise might be highly technical or specialised, transferable skills ensure you achieve a long term career.
How can they be acquired? Transferable skills are acquired by everyone starting from when you are born – they come from day to day interactions with family, formal schooling, university education, social interaction with friends, sporting activities, day to day work activities, workplace interactions, and throughout the course of life in general.
How do you identify them? Think about your areas of strength and weakness or use a formal self-assessment tool. Enlisting the help of a colleague or superior can help or alternatively try an online assessment tool – simply google ‘transferable skills assessment’. Your formal annual performance review process can also be a great place to make this happen. It’s simply a process of identifying a list of skills and going through and checking off all those that you feel you possess.
What are they? The areas to think about are broad, but generally cover some key areas:
People skills – communication, interpersonal/influencing, delegating, diplomacy, coaching/mentoring, leadership, presentation, tact and empathy, collaboration, customer service, negotiation, listening
Analytical skills – problem solving, research, data analysis, risk management, financial analysis, budgeting
Creativity & commercial acumen – the ability to solve problems with creative but viable solutions, thinking outside the box, and adapting to changing environments, market situations and company strategy are huge assets in today’s competitive world. Likewise understanding how your work fits into the bigger picture or broader company strategy is important.
But it doesn’t stop there. Once you’ve identified your skills, you need to prove them and articulate the ‘how’. It’s not enough to just say ‘I’m a great communicator’ you need to prove why you are a great communicator with examples. We always recommend an overview or profile and key capabilities section in your resume where you highlight some of these transferable skills together with an explanation of ‘how’ the skills were acquired. Likewise, in an interview, be prepared to articulate where you gained your skills with specific examples that demonstrate how they have contributed to past successes.
Would you like help identifying and articulating your transferable skills? Does your Resume need updating with some proof on how you obtained these transferable skills. If you would like assistance with your job applications and job search, please see our Resume Services and Job Search Coaching Services.
I speak to new clients almost every day and when I ask them about their ‘achievements’ in previous roles, I would estimate that eight times out of ten, I hit a brick wall. People find it so difficult to identify and articulate their achievements. The fact is, you need to sell yourself in a job application. The recruiter doesn’t know (yet) how fabulous you are, so your content should be tailored to make an immediate impact. And immediate impact can only be achieved by showing them how valuable you could be to their organisation.
Achievements don’t always have to be money or number focused (although it is great if they are). This is where many candidates can get bogged down – they don’t have a revenue generating or financial management role so they think they don’t have ‘achievements’. However there are many different areas we can look to for achievements. Think about things that you do in your day to day work that benefit your business, your customers, and/or your colleagues. Sit down with a pen and paper and brainstorm with me.
Start by thinking about anything you have done that you were commended on or that made you feel proud. Maintaining an ongoing file with positive feedback or notes when something goes well always helps with this. But just ask yourself a few key questions to help the process:
Did I receive any positive feedback from colleagues/superiors/clients about something I did?
Have I overcome or solved any ongoing issues in the business? How?
What projects did I complete/work on and what did they achieve?
Did I implement a new way of doing something that made a difference – to the time it takes, the money it costs, the quality of the outcome, the level of service etc.?
Areas you could focus your attention on include:
Revenue increases
Expense / cost savings
Productivity
Customer Service
Quality
Relationships
Time Saving
Competitiveness
Branding / market awareness
Safety
Employee morale/attendance
Deadlines
Simplifying complexity
Our research indicates that recruiters look for achievements while more quickly discarding resumes that are purely ‘responsibilities’ focused. Make sure the achievements you use are tailored and support your ability to perform in the specific role you are applying for.
Would you like help identifying and articulating your achievements so your next job application has a better chance of standing out? If so, please see our Professional Resume Writing Services.
As a team here at Katie Roberts Career Consulting, all of us consultants have been heavily involved in recruitment of some kind throughout our careers. Either as managers directly recruiting team members or as recruiters sourcing people on behalf of clients. Collectively, we’ve seen tens of thousands of resumes applying for diverse roles across almost every imaginable industry.
As a Resume Writer, I’ve personally reviewed and advised on almost 1,000 Resumes in the past six years alone. Most of the Resumes I review aren’t great – after all, clients have come to us for assistance and advice because they recognise their current approach is not working. That said, we do see the same mistakes over and over again – mostly focused on typos, relevance, grammar, and formatting.
• Let’s start with Typos – it seems obvious but typos are a recruiter’s number one complaint. Anecdotal evidence indicates up to 60% of resumes contain typos. This often happens to those people tweaking their resumes frequently to match the requirements of different roles. Going back over your content time and time again to fine tune it makes you open to errors that you may not pick up in the rush to submit your application. While we always recommend taking the extra time to tailor your content to suit the role, it is important to also proof read your document carefully. It might sound strange but reading your document out aloud can help – and printing it out and reading it from a hard copy rather than the screen can also help. Having someone else review your document is ideal, but make sure they are detail oriented good spellers!
• Relevance – over time, some content may become less relevant to the roles you are applying for today, or perhaps the content is simply dated. It is a good idea when adding recent roles to reduce detail under older roles. Your Resume needs to convey the most important information about you and your past experience to get you in the door but without becoming too long. You should ensure the content fits a maximum of three or four pages and make every word count to convince the recruiter you deserve an interview. It is much harder to write less than more – short, sharp succinct content takes time and effort to achieve but will achieve better results for you in the end.
• Grammar – another area where mistakes can appear over time when content is regularly reviewed. Grammatical errors occur when you start to speak in past and present tense and first and second person. This is particularly important to pay attention to because it can make your Resume extremely difficult for a recruiter to read. Try to stick to past tense when describing past experience and achievements; with present tense for current employment. There is no need to use I, we, or other first person references because your document is already about you – the recruiter knows this and repeating it unnecessarily will just clutter your document.
• Formatting – unless you’re applying for a job as a designer or artist, your focus should be on creating clean, clear content in an attractive but simple format. Complex borders, columns and tables make Resumes look clunky and outdated and should be avoided. Use white space, bullet points and sub-headings to highlight and separate out sections.
The fact that so many Resumes contain errors means that if yours doesn’t you will stand out. Remember, your Resume is not meant to get you the job – that’s up to you during the interview. Make your content count by ensuring it’s short, sharp, relevant and error free for the best chance of success.
What really makes a recruiter stand up and take notice? In today’s job market, it is common for recruiters to receive upwards of 100 applications for one role, so what are they doing to cull those applications? How does that process affect how you should prepare your application?
There are many ways to make sure you get noticed in a job application. Despite what many people think, the best way is not with colourful graphics, complex formatting and an enticing head shot on the front page. Today’s job market is tough and there are simply more people with the right skills and experience applying for the same jobs. So how can you ensure you give yourself the best possible chance at getting noticed? Here’s our TOP 8 TIPS:
TIP # 1: Call the recruiter: many job ads include a contact so call them to find out exactly what they are looking for. Ask if there is anything in particular they are expecting or looking for in an ideal application or any specialist experience they would find useful. Then use that information to tailor your application.
TIP # 2: Focus: understand who you are and what you have to offer and focus your content around those core themes. As a Resume writer I am often asked to write a ‘general’ Resume because clients want something they can use across various roles and industries. Unfortunately this approach just does not cut it. Apart from the fact there is increasing competition in the marketplace, by generalising your experience and skills you could come across as a ‘Jack of all trades, Master of none’. Employers look for value and they need experts who can quickly hit the ground running and add immediate benefit.
TIP # 3:Use keywords: many recruiters use software or online systems to make an initial cull of applications and this software works in different ways depending on what it is and how it’s implemented. Regardless if automated systems are used or not to cull applications – it is important to include keywords in your application. By mirroring the content found in the job ad or position description, you increase your chances of getting noticed and being perceived as an ‘ideal’ candidate. Sometimes, all it takes is changing your language like using ‘client’ instead of ‘customer’; and using key industry buzz words to demonstrate your knowledge.
TIP # 4:Write a customised cover letter: you should do this for EVERY job you apply for. Go through the job ad and/or position description with a fine tooth comb and highlight all your relevant experience, skills, qualifications, and specific expertise. If possible, think outside the box to identify successes you’ve had or skills you possess that might make you stand out. For example if you’ve worked in a similar role or industry – perhaps identify a key issue or challenge the industry is currently facing. Maybe you’ve implemented a similar project and have some specialist knowledge – if so, say so and indicate the level of success you achieved and how that is relevant to the recruiter.
TIP # 5:Tailor your Resume: Yes, that’s right – and again EVERY time! This might be as simple as re-ordering some points or de-emphasising/emphasising certain aspects of your job history, but tailoring your resume is just as important as writing a customised cover letter. The recruiter needs to immediately identify with you as being an ideal candidate and you won’t achieve that with generic content. This comes back to focus, but you can brand yourself as the ideal candidate by showcasing relevant experiences and successes and using the same language as the recruiting company.
TIP # 6: Address your cover letter: address your letter to the individual mentioned in the job ad and make reference to the conversation you had if you made an initial call (see TIP # 1). With LinkedIn and other online information sources, it isn’t hard to find out someone’s correct name, title and company address. Take a few minutes to source this information and address your cover letter professionally.
TIP # 7: Include all relevant details in the cover letter: after your address, open with a bold heading stating the job title, where the job was advertised, and the reference number if applicable. This makes it easy for the recruiter to identify exactly what job you’re applying for and allocate your application to the relevant area for assessment.
TIP # 8: Follow up: this is especially so if you have spoken with the recruiter prior to submitting your application but equally relevant if you haven’t. Leaving a brief voicemail or sending a short email is both appropriate and admirable because it shows commitment and interest. Briefly highlight how you match the job description and reiterate your desire for an interview.
Taking a little time to customise the content in your application can reap big rewards when it comes to the job application process so don’t underestimate the value in doing this.
Would you like assistance from a professional Resume Writer to create a job application that gets you noticed? Do you feel your application lacks relevance to the roles you are applying for? If you would like assistance with writing a winning job application, please see our Resume Writing and Job Search Coaching Services.
If you feel like you’re sending off rafts of applications with little success, it might be time to change your approach. Tailoring your application is an important stage in the job search process for many reasons – but it becomes more so in a competitive job market like the one we’re experiencing at the moment. It may mean the difference between your Resume ending up in the YES or NO pile so what are you waiting for?
We often tell our clients that job applications are like sales proposals and any good sales person knows they need to be tailored to achieve success. While we usually recommend writing a customised cover letter for each role you are applying for, tailoring the entire application is often something candidates relegate to the ‘too hard’ basket. The process of tailoring your Resume can sound time consuming, but we challenge you to put yourself in the recruiter’s shoes and ask yourself ‘What’s in it for me?’ Your job application should immediately highlight you as someone who can add value in the role.
Before we even begin to tailor, we are assuming that you have a killer resume in place already – a document that highlights who you are, identifies your key skills, and shows the value you have added in previous roles. If you don’t already have that, then focus on this step first – see our previous article How to Write a Resume – Top 10 Tips to get started. Then, follow these five simple steps to tailor it each time you apply:
1. Do Your Research: The first step is research. Read the job ad and identify exactly what they are looking for. Highlight skills or experience that seem important and make notes. If the company is advertising directly, have a look at their website, Google the company name and find out if any current company or industry events might impact the job. Writing just one sentence that references your knowledge of a current situation could mean the difference between success and failure at this initial stage.
2. Customise Your Career Profile: We always recommend including a good strong career profile in your Resume. The profile should introduce you and highlight what you will bring to the role. It should clearly demonstrate your skills and past experience and highlight how they add value to an organisation. Most people see this section as fairly standard; however by customising the content to address specific individual job requirements, you’ll put yourself a step ahead. Make it enthusiastic, passionate, easy to understand, concise and engaging – and clearly demonstrate to the recruiter ‘What’s in it for me?’ in the context of the job you’re applying for.
3. Change Your Key Skills: Once you know the recruiter’s main priorities in terms of what they’re looking for, you can customise your content to meet those needs. In its simplest form, this means re-ordering your ‘key skills’. Get more involved by rewording those key skills and customising them to suit the job. Think about what the job is asking for and how you can demonstrate that skill by some past experience or success.
4. Write a Customised Cover Letter: We can’t stress enough how important this step is. Writing a customised cover letter is the simplest way for your application to stand out from others. Think about it for a second – if a recruiter receives 100 or so applications, how do you think they’re going to choose which ones to actually read in detail? Research has proven that you literally have seconds to make a good first impression. Preparing a cover letter that highlights your key skills, experiences and past achievements that are highly relevant to the role you are applying for increases your chances significantly of ‘getting noticed’.
5. Change the Order of Your Job History: This is not something we recommend doing unless absolutely necessary because the Resume can become confusing. However, where we may recommend doing this is if you have highly relevant experience in your past work history, with the recent roles not at all relevant. In this case, you should make a new section called “Relevant Employment History” then list the relevant roles. Move your other more recent role descriptions to a section called “Other Employment History”. This means that the recruiter will see your ‘relevant experience’ first but the title of the section will give some insight into why that experience is not recent.
Taking the time to tailor your application might seem time consuming, but if it means the difference between success and failure, it’s worth it! We talk to so many candidates who are seemingly perfect for roles, but aren’t achieving interviews. After tweaking their applications, they are amazed at the success they can achieve.
Are you struggling to achieve interviews? Do you feel your application lacks relevance to the roles you are applying for? If you would like assistance from a professional Resume Writer to help you customise your job application, please see our Resume Writing and Job Search Coaching services.
Do you have qualifications coming out of your ears but not much experience in the field where you are seeking work? Or, conversely, do you have years of experience and proven success but no formal qualifications. We talk to people every day that fall firmly into one or the other of these camps.
The debate as to whether education or experience is more important when searching for a new role often rears its head when working with clients. The discussion becomes even more passionate in tighter job markets. Whilst it is great to have both – if you don’t, there are ways to optimise your situation:
1. Highlight What Matters: whether you are a recent graduate with very little practical experience or a 20+ year experienced manager with no formal qualifications, relevant expertise matters to recruiters. Try to draw out what you’ve done in the context of ‘success’. Look at the achievements you’ve made in previous roles (or personally) and relate these back to the requirements for the role. For someone with oodles of work experience this might be easy – but make sure you highlight ‘relevant’ experience and substantiate it with examples and successes. If you’re a graduate or have little practical experience in the area you’re applying, highlight your expertise as it relates to the specific job requirements. This could include areas where you excelled during your studies; or soft skills such as team work, flexibility, confidence and a positive attitude. And don’t forget to consider part-time or volunteer work, as well as group and other projects you completed while studying.
2. What if I Have No Work Experience? In many fields, qualifications are an essential pre-requisite – if you want to be a doctor you need to study first! However, with most areas, it’s great if you can do some kind of work while you study. Otherwise there isn’t much (other than academic achievements) to differentiate you from the next person with the same qualification. Even part time work that has no relationship to the area you are now seeking work in can count for experience and will certainly give you the chance to discuss transferrable and ‘soft’ skills. If, however, you are a recent graduate with very little work experience, highlight your academic achievements and think about the skills you developed while studying or even during school (think about sporting and other extracurricular activities).
3. What if I Don’t Have any Formal Qualification? While qualifications are essential for many jobs, for some, experience may well count for more. I have several close friends in very senior sales roles who don’t have any formal qualifications. They have worked all over the world, working their way up from sales representative to senior executive roles today. This means they have a lot of expert knowledge in their area and they can demonstrate success. Again this comes back to highlighting what matters to the recruiter. They want to know what’s in it for them. Ask yourself what you can offer that the next candidate can’t. Think about your successes in the context of the role you’re going for and put yourself in the recruiter’s position – why do they need you in this role?
4. Identify Your Transferrable Skills: everyone has transferrable skills whether you’ve studied and not worked or worked and not studied. If you need to have certain knowledge or skill sets that are learnt during study then demonstrate how you have that. If you have the degree but no experience, think about all the transferrable skills you learnt while studying. Again, look at group assignments and discussions you participated in.
5. Think About Studying: if you have no formal qualifications and feel that this is holding you back, you could always consider enrolling in a course. There are so many courses on offer out there – it doesn’t have to be a university degree. Do your research first and speak to people in the industry or area you’re seeking work in. That way you’ll get expert advice as to the types of courses and qualifications that will be most respected.
Today, it is important to have a good mix of both with employers often looking for unique individuals with diverse skill sets that will add significant value to their organisation. However, there are ways to maximise your personal situation.
Are you struggling to demonstrate how you can add value to roles even though you know you could? Would you like help maximising your experience and qualifications to give yourself a better chance at your dream job? If so, please see our Resume, Cover Letter and Selection Criteria Writing or Career Counselling Services.
Selling yourself and your expertise effectively is an important part of the overall job search process. Whether it’s in your initial communications (Resume, Selection Criteria and/or Cover Letter), or during the interview process, articulating and communicating your unique value will help get you noticed. This month, we look at some strategies to assist you in selling yourself to a potential employer.
We often tell our clients that job applications are like sales proposals. For many people not working in traditional sales or marketing focused careers, this can sound daunting. However, with a little bit of effort it isn’t that difficult. We often tell our clients to put themselves in the shoes of the recruiter. Take a good look at your application and ask yourself (as the recruiter) ‘What’s in it for me?’ Your job application should immediately highlight you as someone who can add value in the role.
To help understand the concept, let’s follow six fundamental sales steps:
1. Introduce Yourself – in any sales situation, you need to introduce yourself, give a reason why you’re there and explain why what you’re selling will benefit the buyer. Same goes for your job application. Start with a good strong introduction or ‘Career Profile’ that demonstrates your skills and past experience and how that will add value. This section is usually fairly standard, however consider customising the content to address any specific individual job requirements. Similar to any sales situation, make sure your introduction is enthusiastic, passionate, easy to understand, concise and engaging – and clearly demonstrates ‘What’s in it for me?’
2.Ask the Buyer What They Want – any good sales person will tell you the key to success is finding (and addressing) the buyer’s ‘pain points’. This means researching their issues and giving them what they need to address those issues. Same goes for your job application. Study the job ad and/or job description in detail and make a list of all the key points. At this point, it can often help to study other similar job ads. If a contact person is listed, call them – ask questions to uncover the pain points and ask them outright what they are looking for.
3. Show Your Value – if a buyer can’t see the value in a product or service, they simply won’t buy it. Same goes for your job application. If you don’t give the recruiter what they want, you won’t succeed. Your application needs to demonstrate to the recruiter how you are going to add value. This process is simple once you know their pain points because you can clearly demonstrate how you have the best solution. Again, customisation is important so spend time ensuring the content in your documents targets and addresses as many of the requirements as you can. Use past successes and achievements to show how you’ve ‘added value’ in the past.
4.Present Your Offer – successful sales proposals are clear and concise with relevant content that doesn’t ramble and is presented in a visually appealing way – using white space, headings and bullet points to highlight and present information so it’s easy to digest. Same goes for your job application. While we never recommend highly formatted resumes with tables and pictures, we do use some fabulous templates that really cut through. Never under-estimate the value of information that is easy to read and well formatted.
5. Provide a Call to Action – any basic sales training will tell you that this is often the most common mistake poor sales people make. Not actually asking for the sale. The buyer needs guidance and they need to know that you want their sale. Same goes for your job application. Make sure you tell the recruiter that you are keen to talk further about the value you can add. This means asking for an interview and providing contact details (phone and email) that are clearly visible on all parts of your application. It also means answering your phone to unidentified numbers and providing a voicemail facility. Making it easy for the recruiter to contact you is a key part of the process.
6. Stop and Listen – an important part of any sales conversation is listening to the buyer. This last point relates specifically to the interview if you’re successful in progressing to that stage. Communication is key, however if you don’t listen to your buyer, you don’t get the opportunity to present your offer in the best possible way to meet their needs. Same goes for an interview. Listen to the recruiter and answer their questions as best you can. Also ask questions to demonstrate you are keen. We have written several articles relating to succeeding in interviews that you can read here.
Success in sales is based on giving the buyer what they need. Likewise, when you’re searching for a new job – do some research, know your customer, and give them what they need in order to achieve success.
Are you a natural sales person? Or do you, like many people, find it hard to sell your skills and expertise effectively? Would you like some assistance from a professional Resume Writer to develop a job application that clearly and honestly articulates the value you could bring in a role? If so, please see our Resume, Cover Letter and Selection Criteria Writing services here.
Selling yourself and your expertise effectively is an important part of the overall job search process. Whether it’s in your initial communications (Resume, Selection Criteria and/or Cover Letter), or during the interview process, articulating and communicating your unique value will help get you noticed. This month, we look at some strategies to assist you in selling yourself to a potential employer.
For most of us today, a career for life is simply not an option. We usually have several different jobs, with a variety of different employers, in various different industries or sectors throughout our working lives. This means we need to be flexible when identifying the factors that make us employable – those skills that help us acquire, retain and achieve success in a job.