Secrets to Finding a Job

[burbuja0512]

I haven't posted in months and now here I am several times today! Inspired by Sanantone's job post, I would like to share with you a recent success story in hopes that it might be useful for you post-degree job seekers.


My brother was looking for a job. He'd gotten laid off at his tech sales position, and has been in this field for a while, even though his BA and MA are in music. Four long months went by without any significant leads and only a handful of first interviews. He had gone through almost all of his savings account and knew that it was only a matter of months before he couldn't pay the mortgage and car payment.

I didn't want to butt in, but at this point, I was spending so much time worrying about him; I wanted to do something. I asked him to give me his resume and to let me create a LinkedIn profile for him as he did not have one. With nothing to lose, he agreed.

His resume was decent, but I jazzed it up. Here are a few examples showing his old resume as before and suggestions to improve:
Before:Well-versed at XYZ Software After: Internally known as subject matter expert on XYZ Software
Before:Experienced at customer service After: Adept at creating lasting client relationships
Before:Team Player After: Proven ability to motivate and inspire colleagues
Before:Sales goals consistently met After:Exceeded sales target of x by xx%


There are more and these are rather vague examples and don't include the more measurable statements, but you get the idea..

The other part of improving the resume involved finding a very sharp template. THIS IS NOT HARD. Please, don't use the standard Word format unless you have a reason to. Just Google "sample executive resume" and you will find a million and one. Don't pick the ones that look common and glance at Google Images for a quick review.

Probably the MOST IMPORTANT piece in all of this was to make sure that he had a solid LinkedIn profile and that he applied for as many jobs as possible daily. He applied for around 5 daily, but sometimes more. Of course he's not a CEO, so there are quite a few options, especially considering that he was taking into account jobs that might not be an exact match. Remember, he was trying to get a decent-paying job so he wouldn't lose his house... not get the ideal position. Does this take a ridiculous amount of time? YES, but what choice do you have? If you aren't in a rush, this step should be modified.

With these steps, any guesses as to how long it took my bro to find a job? It took one week. I was very pleasantly surprised. Not only was he literally on-the-job at the first day of work two weeks after we changed his hunting techniques, it was actually in a software sales position just like the one he wanted. Yes we all know that he should go back to school and obtain education that matches his position, but how do you do that when you're unemployed? We needed to make some realistic changes that he could do while he was out of a job and broke!


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One last comment slightly off topic, but related to job searches. I was recently hiring a staff member for my team and learned something about the LinkedIn applications. ALWAYS make sure that when you apply on LinkedIn that you do the complete application. DO NOT EVER just hit the "apply on LinkedIn" button. All that does is send an email with link to your profile. I deleted every single one of these that I got. I was busy and had tons of resumes to review. I didn't have time to go hunting through LinkedIn to look at the profiles and guess whether the person fit my position. I figured that if they didn't have the time to properly apply, it wasn't worth it. I'm sure that not all hiring managers feel like that, but I wanted to comment.

Thoughts?

[cookderosa]

My thoughts are that you're a rock star, but I already knew that I don't even HAVE a linkedin profile....ughhh

[davewill]

The apply on LinkedIn button is only available if you enable it. Why would you enable it if you didn't want such applicants? Waste of everybody's time. Not to say that applying with a proper cover letter isn't good advice. I always try to drill through to the most direct approach I can identify.

[burbuja0512]

@Jen - Thanks You have a great job, so networking isn't super urgent!!! However, that is when it's best to set up a profile. It's also a good place to present your professional profile for the world to see, not just job hunting!

@Davewill - Interesting. I have no idea how the LinkedIn job posting was set up or the different options that exist. At my company, it's the HR dept who does that and as the hiring manager, I'm sent all applications from online. Next time I'll ask them not to enable any quick apply features.

Also, Good point about the cover letter as any time a job is in demand, there will be quite a few applicants. In this particular case, we put in all caps MUST INCLUDE COVER LETTER TO BE CONSIDERED in the job requirements. This was important as the job was fairly specialized and we wanted to hear why the candidate thought he/she was a good match. We only got cover letters from about 25% of those who applied, and of those that I saw, only two were actually personalized to include company name. Needless to say I made the decision to hire internally even though that wasn't initially what we wanted to do. This was not for an entry-level job so it was especially shocking.

[clep3705]

There is great advice for the immediate job search. There is also long term networking. Identify professional organizations and join them. Attend meetings to meet other people in your field. Keep showing up. It can take years for this approach to bear fruit, but that's okay because you're likely to need work years down the road. Speak or volunteer at professional meetings - there's usually an opening to check people in at meetings.

[sanantone]

Thoughts?

What advice would you give millennials who have no work experience outside of retail or fast food?

I think LinkedIn works well for certain fields such as IT and business. I wouldn't know from personal experience because I don't work in those fields. I've had a LinkedIn account for years, but I only keep it to stay connected to certain people. It has no value when applying to government jobs. I've also learned that resumes don't matter much when applying to government jobs. They're usually supplemental. Sometimes, there is no place to upload or send a resume. For those looking to work in the public sector, I would advise them to focus on knowing where to search for jobs, being able to pass any written and/or physical agility tests required, and developing interview skills.

[burbuja0512]

What advice would you give millennials who have no work experience outside of retail or fast food?

I think LinkedIn works well for certain fields such as IT and business. I wouldn't know from personal experience because I don't work in those fields. I've had a LinkedIn account for years, but I only keep it to stay connected to certain people. It has no value when applying to government jobs. I've also learned that resumes don't matter much when applying to government jobs. They're usually supplemental. Sometimes, there is no place to upload or send a resume. For those looking to work in the public sector, I would advise them to focus on knowing where to search for jobs, being able to pass any written and/or physical agility tests required, and developing interview skills.

I agree with Clep3705 regarding volunteering. You don't have to do it full time to get the experience. My career is in international medical software sales, but when I was still climbing the ladder covering the U.S, I took a pharmacy tech course and volunteered at a local hospital pharmacy every Friday night for a year. It was a lot of fun, but from a career perspective, it set me apart from the other sales reps I worked with. I'm now in senior management covering global sales and the hospital experience is still something that comes up from time to time. It really did a lot for me.

However, let's say that you don't yet know what you want to do. Maybe you have a degree and understand your desired field, but don't really know where to begin. There are a few steps you can take:
1) Get out of retail/fast food unless you want to move up the chain there.
2) Make sure that your resume is VERY good. Highlight projects that you've worked on or other possible skills. If you don't have volunteer experience, you can start NOW so that you can put it on your resume. Don't be too humble - don't be obnoxious - but selling yourself short is a very common and fatal mistake.
3) Create a solid LinkedIn profile. If you're young and don't have many professional connections, link in to your neighbors, people in your church, family, professors, etc.
4) Join a networking group on LinkedIn. I consider this optional, but it will give you a way to meet people who are seeking to increase their connections.
5) Search daily on LinkedIn and other job sites. I have strong favorites, and think that some of the larger ones are all but worthless, but you'll need to decide for yourself. Look at entry-level jobs in the field you want. Apply at both large and small companies. Don't limit yourself to the big names that every other job seeker is targeting.
6) It's a real pain, but you may need to modify your resume slightly for each job. Review their requirements and see if you've done anything that might be similar to what they're asking for. If it's not included in your resume, then add it!
7) Write a passionate cover letter explaining how much you want to work at their company and how your enthusiasm plus skill set will make you the ideal employee. You don't have to write this completely from scratch each time. Use a basic template and modify as needed. Just don't make it look like a template or have too much generic content.
8) Remember that you do have to be truthful, but you can still be creative. For example, if the job you seek is asking for customer service and you only worked with customers a few times a month, it's ok to list customer service on your resume. You just may need to clarify in the interview that it wasn't your primary role.
9) Did I mention not to exclusively apply at large companies? It's very true!!! The pay not be as good in a smaller organization, but you'll move up a lot quicker. I negotiated a very important title (VP) at a past smaller employer because the lower pay didn't quite match my responsibilities. If you're entry-level, you might negotiate for something different, or just wait to prove yourself before you either ask for more or use your experience to move up elsewhere.
10) Lastly, make sure that the job you're applying for is legit. There are a ton of "become a manager in 3 weeks" style postings out there. I have to imagine that there are a bunch of poor suckers that waste time and hope on these jobs.

That's all I can think of for now. I can't stress enough that this is a TON of work. Most people I know won't do this to get a job - and have told me as much when it comes up in conversation. Frankly, it's just more common to want to go down the traditional path where you list your experience on a resume, then not be nearly as aggressive in job hunting, but it does make a huge difference when you go above and beyond. Remember, seeking a job is a numbers game. If your resume looks great, then you'll just increase your chances of finding something if you're treating the employment search as a full-time job!

..And then there is the question of a successful interview, but I think that might be another thread or at least a different post!

[cookderosa]

this is gold, really very very very good advice!

[rebel100]

Bubbles, its your amazing ability to shake the jobs tree that makes me think your son would be fine with a social sciences/ liberal arts degree.

[Yenisei]

Perhaps the best thing about sales positions is that they are performance-based, hence it often does not matter what your degree is in or who you know.