How to get a job in the 21st Century
I wasn’t surprised when I read some recent statistics on how many people have a suitable level of understanding on how to get a job in the current market. It is reported that less than 45% of professionals understand the market, and it is even lower for early career professionals and students. Everyday I talk to people who are taking the same approach that they were taking 10 years ago, and wondering why they are not getting anywhere in the job search.
Things have changed – drastically.
Firstly, technology
Technology plays a key role in how we need to look at finding roles, network but also in managing the selection process for suitable candidates.
LinkedIn is now a talent management tool, allowing organisations to search suitable profiles in their preferred location using specific keywords. If your LinkedIn profile is not optimised effectively for these keywords, there is a high chance you will be missing out on key opportunities. Expanding your network in LinkedIn and increasing your engagement within groups will assist in increasing your profile reach whilst also make you appear more appealing to a recruiting or HR professional.
Traditional applications
If this is not the path that is taken, and you are working in the traditional job market (bearing in mind people say this is only 20% of available jobs!) your resume may be subject to robot analysis. The format of your resume alone may be an issue, yes some still do not process PDF documents, however the content again will be analysed for keywords, both on their own but in context! These tools are becoming more and more advanced but if you are doing some fancy formatting in your document (or even not so fancy such as putting your name only in the header) your resume may not even be able to be processed by these systems.
Your online footprint
Finally, your digital footprint is easily accessed by any individual and if they have any questions that may let their fingers do the walking and turn to a basic internet search to confirm information on your resume, but also just to see what they can find out about who you are. Generally this is not done to discredit a potential applicant, but rather to understand more about the businesses they have worked for, their engagement in the industry or even the training institutes that they have completed their qualifications through. It is human nature not to trust information if we have never heard of it before, so searching information such as this allows the reviewer to confirm that you have worked somewhere that shows an alignment to the role you are targeting.
Secondly, the job search approach
You can see from the above that technology is now playing a huge part in the job search process. However, when jobs available in the hidden market are presumed to be around 80% of available opportunities, traditional networking should never be forgotten. A good network will establish and then nurture their relationships; use them for growth potential and then enhance their capabilities through ensuring that they improve relationships by offering support to their network as well as asking for it.
And there is a lot more
The reality is, the job search process has changed extensively and it is not easy. Most people should consider seeking professional advice to guide them in this, however this may be financially out of reach for some individuals. (You should expect to pay between $200 – $250 per hour for a credible career and job search coach). For this reason I have released my 2nd book, ‘How to get a job in the 21st Century’. In this book I cover off everything that you need to know about job search strategies, writing your resume, writing your cover letter and even a few tips on interview skills!.
To purchase the book for delivery in Australia follow this linkhttp://www.vividpublishing.com.au/howtogetajob/. For delivery outside of Australia, leave a message below and I will get back to you.