We get a lot of inquiries from Career Hunters who need help in their pursuit of that perfect next job. First of all, we want to be clear that we are a For-Fee Consultant to The Career Hunter, and want to ensure that if you retain us, you have done as much as you can on your own (or are clearly in a hurry to start properly, and not waste time).
Ask yourself the following three questions (and sub-questions) before contacting us, and you will have a much stronger experience & result in your Search
1. Is my current resume getting me positive results in the job hunt?
If you are qualified for the position and your resume is in the upper 5% of your peer group in marketing presentation (substance & style), you should receive a response 75% of the time. Your cover letter needs to be of similar quality; although 80% of the time it may not be read depending on seniority of position. If not, this is a clear sign of deficiency.
- Do you have a “Career Objective” at the top of your resume? You will be better off with a one paragraph “Profile” stating who you are in the marketplace, what your identifiable track record is and what type of person you are?
- Is most of your resume a repetition of job duties instead of accomplishments?
- Are your accomplishments described in bottom-line oriented way?
No one can justify their employment no matter how junior or senior unless they can explain how they make or save money. This should be done for each position you have held.
- Have you stated your accomplishments in one or two concise sentence paragraphs after a bullet or do you have large text blocks, which are less effective?
- Have you determined the eight key words specific to your sought position?
- Does your resume contain empty phrases or words that should NOT be used? Like “references available on request”, “team player”, “friendly”, “people person”, and “high school” when you have a higher education. Does your resume include a photo? (this is a European custom, not done in North America)
- Does your resume contains typos, spelling errors or an unprofessional email address? These almost guarantee you will be rejected for any of these anywhere from 43% to 75% of the time?
- Is your resume perfectly formatted to current standards? A resume with just one font, no bolding, unclear headings, and poorly laid out work experience will ensure your resume will be ingnored.
Typically, a resume is scanned & screened as “keep” or “toss” in just 6 seconds!. The critical areas for that screening include job positions/titles, names of the companies worked at, and start/end dates. And the same for your education.
2. Am I using the correct job-search strategy?
It has been suggested by elite recruiters and career specialists, that both recruiters and corporations should dedicate 20% of their time to posting positions, another 20% for resume review and 60% networking.
Logically then, it is suggested that the job seeker should not expend more than 20% of time reviewing and applying to job board postings; and if at all possible obtaining a reference or recommendation from someone in their network.
So, the job seeker needs to have an “upper 5% resume” and profile easily located and worth reading on LinkedIn, to maximize chances of being contacted, as opposed to you the job seeker making the first contact; and belonging to LinkedIn Groups to establish networking contacts.
Do you understand what the actual competition for a position is? An average 250 resumes are received for each advertised position, and according to BeHiring, 427,000 resumes are posted on Monster alone each week. That according to Talent Function Group, 1000 job seekers may see a job post, 200 will start the application process, and 100 will complete it; that 75 of the 100 will be screened out, and 25 resumes will be reviewed by the company, and typically 6 may be invited for an interview, with no more than 3 called back for a second interview and only one will receive a job offer,
Therefore, 80% of your job search effort is marketing; you don’t have to be better than the other 95% of applicants, just appear to be!
3. Have I exhausted free resources?
Here are some free resources job seekers should access as part of their Career Search:
- Employers can post jobs to over 50 job boards free that you can also access
- You can search positions from the top 100 Canadian/U.S. Job Websites
- Use the Insider’s Guide to Job Search for invaluable Job Tips,
- Techniques for Improving your Networking and Negotiation in the 21st Century
- Recruiter Directories (including ours!)
- Resume Writing resources
- Newcomer Resources and Orientation
- Published Job Search Articles
- Resources for Differently-Abled People
- Student Resources
- Labor Market Indications
- Wage Data
- National Professional Organizations
- Step-by-Step Self-Marketing Plans
- Best of Web Career Articles
What Then?
If you have exhausted these resources, and are still looking for work, then you definitely should consider paid professional help in your career search.
We invite you to contact the professionals at Advantage Tech inc