3 Ways to Simplify Your Job Search
Looking for a job? There’s advice everywhere you turn. Thanks to the rise of the internet and mobile connectivity, there are also more job boards, more networking sites, more blogs, and more application systems than ever. It can easily get overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are three ways to simplify your job search to make it easier – and land the right job in less time.
Use the job posting as a guide.
Most applications today are handled by automated applicant tracking systems. While these systems vary widely in their sophistication, most have some form of keyword search built in. In other words, they screen for resumes and cover letters that contain the same words and phrases as the job description.
Make it easy for the system to pick you out of the competition. Describe your skills and accomplishments using the same words and phrases the job posting uses to describe them. They want someone who “can type 70+ wpm”? Say you “can type 70+ wpm.” You can boast about how that score is actually 98 wpm during the interview.
Use LinkedIn to supplement your resume.
Never try to cram your entire work history onto a one-page resume. You’ll only waste time, shrink the font, and create a document that buries your best work beneath a lot of irrelevant (to this employer) information.
Instead, focus each resume on the skills and accomplishments that answer the employer’s number-one question: “Why should we hire this person?” For everything else, use your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is a great way to create a comprehensive resume that employers can view if they want a closer look at what you’ve done – and that won’t end up in the circular file. Don’t forget to include the link to your profile on your resume!
Reach beyond the internet.
By limiting yourself solely to online job postings, you both increase the length of your job search and decrease the chances of finding great opportunities. You can, potentially, apply to jobs posted online forever – and never find what you are looking for.
Instead, limit your online job searching to two-three days a week. Spend the other days getting to know people at the companies you most want to work for. And don’t forget to contact a recruiter who specializes in placing people in your field. Your recruiter will have the “inside scoop” on the jobs that never appear online.
At Burnett’s Staffing, we help you make the job search easier with access to job postings, inside information on the best local employers, and advice on everything from polishing your resume to negotiating your salary. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you find a job in Las Colinas, TX, Arlington and beyond!