If it’s been long ( more than 5 years) since you head hunted for your next role/leap in your career, it is important to note that mechanics of job hunting have changed. As an executive resume coach there is more than updating your resume & LinkedIn profile & sending your applications on various job boards.
If you think that sending 4 to 6 applications every day across job boards will help you garner success, please give your thoughts a pause. By just applying online, you will find your resumes in gate keeper black hole- “ Application Tracker System(ATS)” from where your resume will never return. This will not only frustrate you, but also prolong your job search.
Besides, revisiting your resume & LinkedIn profile, I recommend navigating through modern world job search approach as explained below:
- Targeted Research: Start allocating & spending a quarter of your weekly or daily job hunt hours on figuring out the prospective companies you want to work for & researching about them.Local business journals, LinkedIn, Xing & various other websites such as glass door offer listing of organizations sorted by any category you can think of. After you have noted down some names, you can go through these companies websites to learn more about them-their core philosophy, work culture, HR policies, about their business & their key management team.
The layout of website & style of writing can give you clues about the company’s corporate culture. Financial research websites such as Bloomberg, Hoover & Financial Times offer free versions to uncover details about public companies such as shareholders, directors, stock history and the competition. While it’s tough to figure out information on private/closely held companies, resources are available online.
2. Establish a personal online brand: Devote 20% of your time in building your personal brand. Having limited professional online presence can delay your job search process. Prospective employers & hiring companies search online on various professional network & social media platforms to search candidates & ratify their candidature. Building & growing a professional online footprint is necessary. I recommend starting off your online brand building journey with one or two platforms. Depending upon your sector/ industry professional & target audience, you can be present in all, some or handful of platforms. For more insights on how to build your personal brand, check out my earlier blog.
LinkedIn is far more important & most sought after portal given than it has 260 million plus active users. Besides, facebook & twitter are also gaining traction. Get started by sharing & commenting on various articles on LinkedIn, join various professional groups of your interest & start sharing your views on different topics through your own blogs & articles. Posting a number of times weekly or daily can make your profile actively searchable on the platform. Using software such as hootsuite & buffer can let you schedule your posts/articles ahead of time.
3. Networking: Focus on spending 50% of your job hunting time on networking. More than 70% of the positions are never advertised & more than 85% of jobs are closed through networking. Start with reaching out to inner circle such as friends, families, neighbourhood & colleagues. Then, expand your reach & connect with folks who cross your path but not regularly such as friend/relative of your neighbour or dad of kid who plays with your son in basketball team. Finally take your search to LinkedIn & connect with HR managers of the companies you wish to target, decision makers or senior folks working/have worked in your target companies / sector &/or function. If you are not connected with them, look out for folks in your network who are connected with them( 2nd & 3rd degree connections) & send them a personalized connection request. If you are exploring Twitter & Instagram, start following people with whom you want to establish a contact, retweet their tweets or like their posts. If you don’t know a person well or at all, reach out via InMail or do a bit of research to find out their professional email.
The balance 5% of time should be spent on job boards. This will help you identify companies who have hiring budgets & find our recruiters/headhunters who are actively posting.
As the founder and executive resume coach at Sushant Kumar Ventures, I offer customized executive resume and LinkedIn profile writing services for the modern day world job seeker. Sign up here for our services/free consult.
