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Finding your dream job takes time and effort
It’s often said that job hunting is like having an actual job. It consumes time, requires patience and preparation to get the results you want. Finding the correct position to further your career and get where you need to be professionally is not simple.
Plus, the job market has been significantly changed because of COVID-19. Namely all the good jobs are now even more competitive. You need a lot of polish and strategic thinking to cut down the time you spend on actually applying.
It helps to know what you want out of your next phase in your career. You won’t land a dream job without first defining what that dream looks like. I would say that a lot of the hard work comes in the preparation. If possible, start working towards applying while on your current job.
5 job search strategies to apply now
Know what you want
It’s one thing to want a new job. Quite another to know what kind of job is best suited for you at this time in your career path.
It’s best to carve out the time to sit down and brainstorm what you really want from your career. As you exit your current job, think about how your future job should compare. What are the upsides of your current job you’d like to have again? What do you wish to firmly leave behind? Is there any corporate talk that gives you pause and promises you’ve realized hiring staff makes only during interviews?
Then come the bigger questions. How do you see your career progress and how should this job fit in your career plan? What are the deal breakers? What are the new skills you wish to develop and build into your resume? Ideally, you want a little bit of a challenge at your upcoming position.
Knowing what you want as well as what you don’t gives you a precise vision of where you should look for work and in what capacity. It’s good to dream big, but be sure to keep in mind the current state of your industry – especially in your city. Do you mind moving for a job?
Use LinkedIn
Needless to say, LinkedIn should be your go-to platform for job search before you turn to job sites like Glassdoor for instance. This social networking site boasts over 133 million users in the U.S. alone and in a previous survey by Jobvite Recruiter Nation, around 87 percent of recruiters use the site as part of their candidate search.
I’ve had friends tell me that they receive messages from recruiters semi-regularly even when their profiles have been inactive for a few years and their credentials are old. Now imagine how effective recruitment will be when you optimize your profile. Time to add a new profile pic and dig into the list of professional skills available – you don’t want to miss out on a single skill that can spell the difference between a job offer and radio silence.
Be sure to use your headline to advertise your availability and highlight your recent experience as a way to show that you’ve been active in your field and ready for a new opportunity. Advanced Search is your best friend here as you can locate professional groups, which can lead to good leads and chances to grow your network.
Use RSS Feed Readers
During the actual job hunt, RSS feed readers are indispensable. RSS is designed to consolidate a high volume of information from a variety of sources and display it in one dashboard for your convenience. That’s good because you can keep tabs on new job offers across multiple job boards, LinkedIn groups, newsletters and social media searches and accounts.
RSS feed readers have evolved quite well beyond supporting classic RSS feeds meant for blogs and news sites to include video, audio and social media. Inoreader has built-in support for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and now Telegram. This means you have all your bases covered. Along with trigger automation, IFTTT integration and push notifications, you’ll never ever miss an important job posting ever again.
As we know, the early bird gets the worm and the earlier you submit your resume the better your chances to stick in the memory of recruiters.
Personalize your CV and cover letters
Your career is a living thing, so your CV should be the same. I take pride in regularly updating my CV with any new accomplishments or courses I might have completed or public speaking I’ve done. That way when the time comes to apply for a new position, I have a living document that I can quickly reference to curate the best combination of skills and qualifications for the position I have in mind.
Employers receive job applications in the hundreds. They have to make decisions in seconds so your resume has to make a strong impression in the first few seconds of them opening your resume. That’s how to stand out and avoid being discarded.
Recruiters know when they receive boilerplate CVs. The best strategy is to demonstrate how well you’ve understood the advertised position. Sure, it’s a time-consuming task, but unavoidable when you’ve set your sights on a truly competitive position.
Follow the companies you want to apply
Obviously you have companies you think are a perfect fit. One way to find a job in the long run, if you have the patience for it, is to follow your dream companies through social media, blogs and any other available channels for job opening announcements. RSS truly shines on this occasion.
A caveat! Be sure to do some research beforehand. What’s their reputation as an employer? Do they offer career growth and compensation? What do former or current employees say about their time in the company? This is where your LinkedIn network comes into play as you can see who’s been in the organization and when. Don’t be afraid to politely message individual people.
Also Read: How To Get JavaScript Developer Jobs
