Job Hunting Tips for Your Career Search
Plenty of career advice is available online. Today, however, I’d like to talk about a few job hunting tips that sometimes get overlooked.
1. Refine your message
Concentrate on what you want your resume to communicate to a prospective employer. If you don’t have a clear idea of what your goals are, the person reading your resume will be able to sense that and may hesitate to conact you. Use the same tactic with your covering letter too, if applicable.
A human resources person reading your cover letter and resume is likely to focus on your professional experience, your skills and abilities, and your perceived competency. You have full control over what your resume communicates, so put some time into perfecting your resume and tailoring it to a specific position.
Make sure the first few sentences of your cover letter (if you’re writing one) are upbeat, memorable and clearly outline what you want to achieve. How likely is it that someone will remember this information? Do you clearly communicate what you have to offer for the specific role you’d like to fill? Emphasize these messages in your cover letter, as well as in your resume and on your LinkedIn profile.
2. Prepare to face occasional rejection
You won’t land an interview for every position you apply for, and you will strike out more often than you get a response. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get hired right away, though – keep your head up, stay positive, and keep trying until you get hired at a successful company.
Keeping this in mind, it would be wise to apply to a healthy number of open positions as opposed to putting all your eggs into one basket. The more the better – as long as the job sounds promising and you think you’d be a good fit for the role, apply away!
3. Use more than one job search method
It’s always wise to use multiple avenues of career pursuit, instead of just handing out resumes or relying solely on online applications. Job boards like Indeed and TravelBestJobs.com are a great way to see what positions are currently available, but get yourself out there! Do some research and ask around about upcoming networking events, job fairs, or workshops that might benefit you.
Also, consider reaching out to companies that aren’t actively posting jobs. You never know when a desirable position could open up that you might be qualified for – if your resume is on hand at the right time, they just consider you to be a potential candidate! Giving something your best shot is always better than being passive and not trying.
I’ll be discussing more job hunting tips next month, so stay tuned!
By Dan McDonald
Dan is a Sales and Marketing Development Associate at Baxter Media. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 2011.