Your knowledge and
experience can help you excel at a given role in an organization, but it is
your job searching and acquiring skills that will land you that position. You
can apply all your potential only when you have the job in hand. Higher
positions are very limited hence you need to convert every interview call into
an offer. Searching and acquiring a job is a skill that depends on lots of
other things that we will discuss further.
Private jobs are
volatile, and you never know what will happen. You may end up looking for a job
due to various reasons. It can be your dissatisfaction with your work the situation, or you need a new opportunity. It can also be inevitable causes like
the company fires you or a pandemic like COVID-19. These are the example
situations where you find yourself job hunting. In any case, you must be
prepared with appropriate job searching skills. Listed below are some of the
top reasons for job loss:
- A bad relationship with boss and colleagues
- Lack of growth opportunity
- Lower salary and perks
- People don’t quit jobs sometimes they quit situations
- Political environment and Harassment
- Recession or crashing economy
- Lack of clarity
To chalk down the
solutions, we first need to understand the problem areas. Every challenge has
its own set of solutions.
Applied hundreds of
jobs but no response
There can be multiple
reasons for this issue –
- You may not have applied to the relevant job
- Your resume may not be in the proper format
- Your resume may not be written matching with the job
description
- Proper keywords are not added in your resume hence, it
is not getting filtered through the Application Tracking System (ATS). ATS
is a software which ranks your resume based on keywords
- The cover letter is not appropriate
You can do multiple
things to prevent this. Apply for the jobs which match your skills and
experience. Prepare your resume in proper format and add proper keywords so
that ATS can rank it. Always write your resume in proper format and according
to job descriptions. Enclose a proper cover letter with your application. Brush
up your social media profile in case recruiters check it. Do proper follow-up
with recruiter and HR manager after the application.
Got a call but can’t
convert the call to an in-person interview
Major reasons for
non-conversion can be -
- It seems you are not able to convince recruiter in the
introductory call
- Recruiter feels that you are not suitable for the
profile
- There may be a problem with your communication skills
or articulating your technical skills
You must pitch
yourself hard. Be a salesperson for yourself and explain your capability,
experience, knowledge and skills. Do precise communication and get ready with
an elevator speech along with a hero introduction. Your focus should be
converting introductory call to an in-person interview.
Lots of in-personal
interviews but no move to the next round
In this case, problem
areas may be -
- Lack of Technical or Functional knowledge. Interviewer
feels that you are not suitable for the position
or your knowledge is
not deep enough according to the job description.
- You may not be able to articulate the solutions to situation-based questions. Interviewer feels that you are not proactive
enough to deal with sudden situations
- Poor commutation may also be one of the reasons
You must work in these
areas. Enhance your hard and soft skills. Present yourself as flexible enough
to fit in different situations. Job searching and acquiring is a knockout game,
every stage is important to reach the final.
No Conversion to an
offer
This is a typical scenario where you have cleared multiple rounds but did not receive an offer
letter.
- It can be Salary Negotiation. You may not able to
justify your worth according to the salary you ask
- Sometimes openings are put on hold because of changing
business requirements
Company is always
looking for ROI before the investment. Justify the ROI and highlight your
strong points. Keep your salary according to market rate. You can ask more when
you have a niche or extraordinary skill. Don’t bother, keep trying.
Few more points to
consider during the job hunt
Find the right fit
Every individual has
different job requirements that may include industry types, profile, location,
shift timings, company selection and salary expectation. You must narrow down
your search according to your profile and experience. First, find your right
fit, do some research work and shortlist the jobs where you fit the most.
Applying to only relevant jobs will increase your conversion rate.
Job Sites
Always apply for jobs
through renowned job sites or on the company’s web site. There are cases when
unknown job sites list out fake openings to increase the traffic. Naukri,
Indeed, Glassdoor, Monster and LinkedIn are good job sites to apply for jobs in
India. For overseas opportunities, you may apply on the country-specific job
portals or immigration web sites that can lead you to job portals.
Job Search Funnel
To maximize your
selection chances, you need to apply maximum relevant job vacancies on
different job portals. For example, if you apply for approx. 100 jobs then you
may get an initial call for 30 jobs, out of which you may get shortlisted for
10 cross-table interview and chances of getting an offer letter are close to 5 out
of those 100 applications. Hence, keeping your options open from multiple but
relevant applications can be a good strategy.
Upgrade yourself
Keep studying and
brush up on your knowledge. Try to keep in pace with the latest trends and best
practices of the industry. This will enhance your skillset and make you more
suitable for any job opportunity. Another way to improve your knowledge is
whenever you attend an interview, note down all the questions which you were
not able to respond. Find out solutions to the questions so that you don’t
repeat it in the next interview.
Resume development
A resume is a very
important tool to showcase your knowledge and skills. Always develop your
resume with the utmost care and include relevant keywords. RESUME stands for
Relevant Information, Easy to read, Specific details, Use Keywords, Match the
requirements and Evaluable. A good resume comprises of personal details,
synopsis, education, organization, skills, training and certifications. Many job
portals also provide professional services in resume building.
LinkedIn Profile
Few recruiters check
your LinkedIn profile before proceeding further so make it impressive. Add
professional photograph with a relevant heading. Keep your profile summary concise
and crisp. Add relevant objects in Featured section. List out all your relevant
experiences, education and certifications.
It also provides
premium membership that gives your resume a little push when applying for jobs
through LinkedIn.
Digital Footprint
A digital footprint is
your online identity and individuality. It is what makes you unique. You build
an online reputation, or impression depending on the things you do online.
Posting on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and other social media
platforms are an example of it. There are many ways to ensure your digital
footprint doesn't damage your reputation or any future employment
opportunities. You can do so by refraining from talking about sensitive agendas
and taboo topics online.
Knock every possible
door
Use your network and
personal reference and inform them that you are looking for a change. List out
your contacts and check if any suitable opening is available in their company.
Ask them to facilitate the interview in their company for an open position. You
may also post on social media that you are looking for a job change. This will
enable your network and close-knit professional circle to know about it.
Networking is the key to professional growth. You never know who will help you
to facilitate the interview and get the job. The thing you need to remember
about networking is that you’re not going to get immediate gratification.
Sometimes you need to network for months and sometimes for years before
something pays off.
Keep a Tracker
Maintain your database
for job status tracking. Whenever you apply for any job make an entry in it.
Every job application has a cycle - apply, initial interview, in-person
interview, HR round and offer. Maintain the status of every application in this
database. Add contact details, phone number, email id of recruiter and HR
manager in this excel so it will be handy when you need immediate
communication. Always follow up jobs with open status.
To walk ahead you use
your own feet. Similarly, to move ahead in your career you need to use proper
job acquiring skills and your full potentials to bag the job you desire. This
article will help you to hunt down the position by covering it from all
possible directions. It enables you to work on the ignorant areas that can lead
you to a great opportunity.
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