Tips for Job Seeking From A Recruiter
My job as a Recruiter, or Talent Acquisition Specialist, is to go out every day and find the right candidates for my company or clients. This process can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks depending on the job opportunity for several reasons. Sometimes the job requires a very specialized candidate which may take a little longer to find especially if the job isn't remote or willing to relocate candidates. Sometimes the job doesn't require a lot of technical skill and will have a higher number of qualified applicants apply very quickly, so those jobs may take less time to fill.
No matter what the job though, there is always competition and as a recruiter it's my job to identify the candidates that will be the best match which means I have to choose out of however many applications the best 3-5 candidates to recommend to management, or the client, for an interview with the people making the hiring decision. Obviously this means that not all candidate will make the cut, and here are a few tips that I'd like to pass along to people looking for jobs.
I can't, and won't, guarantee that you'll get an interview for every single job that you apply for, but I will say that if you do take my advice you will see an uptick in the number of interview requests.
Tip #1: Applying for jobs is a numbers game
If you're passively looking and not really in any rush to make a move, then you don't need to apply for a large number of jobs, but if you're actively looking and want to make a move immediately then you'll need to apply for a large number of jobs. That being the case, you want to establish a timeline for making a move. If you are looking to make a move inside of three months, I would recommend trying to apply for 50-70 jobs daily.
I know that sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but you can make the most of your time by using more than just Indeed to apply for jobs. Find different job search sites and make sure that you get the job alerts for similar jobs to the jobs you're looking for. I'd recommend ZipRecruiter, Indeed, and LinkedIn. Even if the job is the same exact posting you saw on one, or more of the other sites, you should still apply for it because never hurts to get an extra chance for your resume to get seen.
You can scale those numbers up and down as you like, but the point is to make sure that the number of jobs you apply for lines up with how quickly you're trying to make a move.
Tip# 2: Be firm with your salary requirements
If you haven't done this already, sit down and write down all the bills you pay monthly. Don't worry about any variable expenses, just worry about your basic monthly bills. Internet, rent, car payment, etc. Once you have that number, then add whatever else you need on top of that for those variable expenses. The number doesn't have to be 100% accurate, but it does need to be realistic to your lifestyle. Here's an example.
Let's say all of your month bills come up to $2000 per month and your variable expenses come up to $1500 per month you'll need $3500 per month to be happy. Be mindful that this is all before taxes, so based on this example, you would need to be in the $56,000 - $66,000 per year range.
Once you have that number in hand you will be more confident when discussing your salary range and you'll know which jobs to apply for and which to avoid because they won't pay what you need to be comfortable. I know that not all jobs pay that much, but that's why it's important to understand exactly how much you need that way you can focus on only jobs that have the highest pay relative to your career field, so that way even if you can't fully give up that first job, you'll at least be able to work less hours with two jobs. The goal is to improve your situation and not burn yourself out working 80 hours a week.
If you happen to come across a job you like and the salary requirements aren't listed by the company, go ahead and still apply, but don't be afraid to inquire about the salary during the interview process because there is no sense in getting all the way to a job offer just for you to turn it down because the pay was too low. I know some people say that you should never discuss salary on the first interview, but in my opinion, the idea only came out to take away your negotiation power and pigeonhole candidates in to taking jobs for less pay.
Tip# 3: Resume and Cover Letter
If you're good with whatever your favorite word processor is, there are templates you can use to write and create your resume or you can create one from scratch. The point is to create your resume and make sure it's as complete as possible.
Now I know there's a lot of different advice out there about how to write your resume, what it should and shouldn't look like, but the biggest thing is to make sure that YOU are confident in that resume and it expresses your skills, experience, and abilities.
Each person reviewing resumes is different and trying to figure out what each person likes is a crap shoot, so just make sure that the final product is something that you're proud of and would confident sharing with potential employers.
When it comes to cover letters, I suggest just making sure that you have a small summary of your skills and experience written out either on the resume or saved somewhere so you can copy and paste that should a company require a cover letter. If you're applying for a job that is outside of your career field, make sure your resume highlights why you'd be a good fit and how your skills will transfer from your previous experience to the job you are applying for.
Make sure both your cover letter, and resume are free of simple grammatical errors. You don't have to worry about anyone looking for complex grammatical errors on your resume unless you're applying for a writing or editing job, so just make sure that your resume and cover letter are free of simple spelling and grammatical errors.
Tip# 4: The interview
Make sure you do a little research on the company just in case they ask you what you know about the company. Sometimes the person doing the interview will give you an overview of the company, so it won't matter, but on the off chance that they do ask you, you don't want to be the person who doesn't seem very interested in the company. Even being able to describe the company on a basic level will score you some points.
Some people say that looks don't matter, but they do. Keeping that in mind, dress the way you feel the most comfortable and confident, but make sure you never dress anything less than business casual unless expressly told otherwise. As a hiring professional, I pay more attention to the people in ill fitting suits and that are sloppily dressed for an interview more so than those that don't dress business professional.
Here's an example: I was interviewing people for a job and one guy came in with this very poorly fitting suit, very worn out shoes, and the suit wasn't pressed. I had another guy come in and he had on khakis, a button down shirt, a pair of brand new Jordan's, and his clothes fit well and were pressed. During the interviews, the guy with the suit was uncomfortable and you could tell. He was always adjusting his jacket and you could sort of tell he was self-conscious about how it didn't fit well. The other guy had a great interview and was more confident overall.
This is just a personal experience, but my point is that everyone doing the interviews will be different and the companies will all have different dress requirements, so it's important to dress in the way that makes you look the best and feel the best while maintaining, at least, a business casual appearance.
If it's a phone call or video chat make sure there isn't a lot of background noise or distractions. I've passed on candidates because by the time we ended the interview I could only remember all the distractions. I know that this sounds like common sense, but I can't tell you how many times I've had it happen either on the phone or video chat where there was a lot of background noise or distractions.
I called a candidate one time and I asked if it was a good time to talk and they said yes. The whole time I was on the phone with them I could hear nothing but the wind blowing over the microphone because I guess they were sitting outside. That was a situation where the candidate should've told me to give them a call back when they got to place where it was quiet.
The last thing is just to make sure that you are 100% honest and transparent during the interview process. We spend the majority of our time during the week with our coworkers, so it's important to be authentic and honest during the interview process because recruiters and hiring managers are not only looking for the best candidate on paper; they're also looking for people that they can get along and work well with.
Think of it this way; if your boss came to you and said you can bring on one friend, which one of your friends would you recommend for the job? My guess is that you would probably choose your best friend or someone adjacent to a best friend because you know them, you like them, and they've proven themselves to be dependable. Recruiters and hiring managers are doing that exact same thing. Obviously there is less of friendship, but the point is that hiring managers go with the most qualified candidates that they like, so make sure you're honest and authentic.
Wrap-up
Looking for jobs is tedious and it sucks. It always involves a lot of rejection and frustration, and while I can't promise that these tips are going to land you that new job, I can say with a fair degree a certainty that you will get more first round interviews and from that point it's about making the most of your chance to land that job. It doesn't always happen the first time around and sometimes you will feel that you did everything right, but remember that sometimes it's not necessarily that you're not good enough, but that there was someone slightly more qualified and/or better liked by the hiring team, so don't take too long being down in the dumps about it because while it does suck, you'll find the right job in due time.
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