“If I were looking for a new job I would…” the first in a series of blog posts that will give you an opportunity to gain insight into the world of job seeking from a recruiter’s perspective.
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Guest blog post by Andrew Wagle, Senior Recruiter for Sodexo’s Facilities Management team.
The first similar basic element is the goal. The goal of a political candidate is to get elected and the goal of as a job candidates is to get hired.
The second similarity is the candidate needs to be qualified. I have 15 years of recruitment experience and 5 years of HR Generalist experience and I have a Masters Degree in Human Resource Management. I’m qualified and I know what qualified candidates look like. Often the challenge for job seekers is not actually being qualified it’s confidently communicating these qualifications.
So if I were looking for a new job my first step in the job search process would be to make sure my resume is in shape. As a recruiter, I know how important a resume is to get noticed. In some cases a candidate’s resume is their only opportunity to get noticed by a recruiter. Keep in mind your resume is not a creative writing project. Overstating your qualifications just to get noticed is only going to come back to haunt you.
My next step would be to go digital. Yes, it’s still important to have a printable resume these days but it’s equally important to have a digital “resume.” Linkedin is a great tool to use to keep your qualifications up to date so that you are always presenting yourself in the best light possible. Once my Linkedin profile was up to date I would then start to build my profiles on other social networking sites with a link to my Linkedin profile. Using the built in search tools on these sites I would seek out like minded professionals who may be able to help me make a connection that might lead to a job. As a Senior Recruiter for Sodexo I am contacted by potential candidates all of the time. I can say from experience, I am more likely to respond to request from the candidates who take the time to explain why they are asking to connect with me in the first place.
Social networking sites like Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter are great tools to get noticed online but they would not be my only strategy to get noticed if I were looking for a new job. The politician in me still believes in the power of a hand shake so I would reach out to local groups and associations for additional networking opportunities. Whether networking online or in person I would develop my “campaign speech.” Unlike a politician though I would keep it short and simple. Being concise can get you a lot further into a job search than you’d think.
Once my resume and online profiles were in place and I had a clear strategy for networking I would expand my job search to a multi-pronged approach using both widely used job boards like CareerBuilder, Indeed, Simply Hired and Monster as well as industry specific job boards and company career centers like Sodexo’s. I would only apply for jobs that I am qualified for. Job searches are about quality not quantity.
Probably the most important part of my job search strategy would be to practice my interviewing skills. I would practice at every opportunity possible so that when I had the opportunity to sit across from the hiring manager I would blow them away with well thought out, articulate answers… just like a great political candidate.
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