Shop Me, Don’t Drop Me, What it will take to land your next job …

For those of you lucky enough to have a job, don’t think you are necessarily off the hook!  For those of you lucky enough to be exploring new job opportunities, now is your chance to shine! Whether you are shopping for a new gig or are being shopped, you should not wait until the day of your interview to figure out what it will take to put your most original self forward and land your next job.

Before you start pounding the internet job boards, searching and sending your resume to the virtual world of recruiters, you should take some time to figure out the current job market, explore new areas of interest and opportunity and craft some really insightful questions to help you navigate your way through your first interview. Being prepared doesn’t always mean having a neatly printed copy of your resume in hand and a new outfit to wear to your first interview. There are many ways you need to stand out if you are lucky enough to get called in for an interview out of the thousand of candidate applications, so here are a few things to keep in mind and to keep prepared as you venture forth.

First, the number one quality that will help “sell” you to a prospective employer is your ability to “sell” yourself!  Too often, candidates are led by the interviewer and they really don’t understand how to take control of the interview process in a way that works in sync with the interviewer’s questions and in the meantime, helps promote and sell you and your accomplishments.  This is no time to hold back! The more you promote your accomplishments, boast your qualifications and present a confident, relaxed demeanor, the stronger chance you will have to land more than a second interview, but maybe an actual job offer!  

Another way to stand out and ensure that you get more than a successful interview is it to have a thorough knowledge and understanding of not only the job you are applying for, but also about the company as a whole.  Many times people just “wing it” going in and expecting the interviewer to take the lead and hoping all they have to do is make a good impression.  Too often, “dumb luck” is not the best approach in making a lasting impression and you really have to work the relationship and learn to sell yourself.  Make sure you do your research so you appear knowledgeable, and use the information you’ve learned to ask intelligent questions that will make the interviewer know you did your homework. Coming prepared with 3 to 5 questions not only about the what is expected in the position, but also about the company culture, environment and overall stability will be enough to impress the interviewer and ensure a second interview.

Finally, don’t take your network for granted.  Find out who you know and who your friends know in the company BEFORE you go in for the first interview.  So many times a polite mention of someone’s name, particularly if the person is tenured with the company and well thought of goes a long way in securing your reputation and your ability to show you are in the know.  Your network is your most valuable tool and you should not be shy, afraid or awkward about letting people know you are interviewing at a company and asking for their help.

So before you are dropped from consideration, learn to shop yourself in a way that makes you stand out from the rest of the crowd and show your creative and original character!  Impress yourself and your audience too and land your next job!

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Copyright © 2024 Lisa Kaye - HR & Business Consulting - The Career Rebel

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Don’t Lie About How Good You Are….

but it’s ok to flaunt just a little.

There is so much competition in the market place at the moment, with many former senior level executives vying for jobs far beneath their skills and qualifications it’s become a virtual (no pun intended even though we are an online recruitment company), feeding frenzy! 

So how do you warn senior level execs who are being out-placed and replaced on a daily basis of the potential hazards of the job market mine field currently inhabiting our world?

Well, the first thing you tell them is not to lie about their qualifications and skills or “dummy down” their resumes in hopes of getting a look-see from some eager and hopeful recruiter looking to make a placement. This market is tough, nothing new there.  In fact, most job markets even when there are an abundance of jobs available, offer its own unique challenges from which we must navigate. When jobs are a plenty, the executive is courted like a debutante at a cotillion ball.  Recruiters, employers, hiring managers alike pull out all the stops and throw in more perks to entice, seduce and eventually overcome their prey-The Candidate. When jobs are scare however, there is no room for pleasantries and it’s a game of survival of the fittest.  The once coveted executive must now become savvy, slick and all so focused on how and when they will be enticed, seduced and ultimately overtaken by a job offer!

So what’s the best approach to take in re-entering the job market, vying for not so senior jobs, when your resume reads like a “Who’s Who” in Executive Leadership and you were once listed on the “Top 50 Most Influential People to Watch?”

Well, if you are lucky enough to take some time off and “float” a little that’s great.  But most people, particularly the highly successful and creative executives need and really want to get back into the job market as soon as their feet hits the pavement with severance agreement, non-compete and pink slip in hand (no one gives those out anymore by the way). The best approach for the senior exec is to tailor a “resume” that reads like a professional bio and focus on overall accomplishments and leadership skills that have made them a success to date.  

An executive resume plain and simple can either scare the hell out of a recruiter or get dumped in a pile somewhere under a two-day old cup of coffee or in an online folder marked “Executive” on a recruiter’s desktop.  Resumes are nice, and “the standard” but we are moving towards a new age of technology and communication that encourages self-promotion, loquaciousness and brand savvy.  One-page bios highlighting individual and team accomplishments, an online ad, a video promotion, are some new ways one needs to think about how best to flaunt and stand out.  Creating a blog site, tweeting, and other social media outlets offers an executive a chance to “boast” about who they are in a bold new way.

Communication and recruitment advertising is not just for job posting boards or companies seeking to promote opportunities,  but can, and I foresee will be used for individuals to promote and brand themselves as well.  With virtual walls crumbling as fast as the Berlin Wall, we need to seek out the new and change the way we look at self-promotion and abuse the web and all forms of media to advertise and to successfully promote ourselves.

So it’s not so much a lie but more like a “spin” on how senior execs can take advantage of what the college kids seem to have down, and sell yourself like you are your own business-oh and it’s always best not to wait until you need to a job  to start the promotion but to get out there while you still have a job.

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Copyright © 2024 Lisa Kaye - HR & Business Consulting - The Career Rebel

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