8 Ways To Hack A Job Search
As a recent Masters or Professional graduate (or a soon-to-be graduate), you may now be in a position, to start looking for new career opportunities. For some, looking for a new role brings excitement and confidence, however, for many, it’s an experience filled with anxiety and financial insecurity.
We’ve put together 8 ways to hack a job search to stand out from the crowd and land your dream role.
1- Send your CV to the jobs you want and have skills for
No hacks or tips are going to help you when a recruiter asks a question about something you have no idea about. The main reason is you’ll come across as desperate in a job interview which is never good, and job searching is a full-time job, so you’ll want to be as efficient as possible.
2- Job Description
Most job ads list attributes to be successful in the role. This could range from understanding certain software to having experience in a certain field. What the recruiter is looking for is for you to say how you meet most (if not all) of the requirements.
Don’t cherry-pick your favourite requirements, pick your brain for all of the skills, even if they are not part of your current professional life so far. The more you believe it, the more they will too.
3- Make an interview cheat sheet
While it’s more of a checklist than a cheat sheet, this handy sheet will help you organize your thoughts and stay focused before and during the interview.
To create a sheet, draw a line down the middle of the page and on one side write what the interviewer/job description is looking for, and on the other side, make a bulleted list of the qualities you have that fit the requirements.
4- Think about what you can bring to the company
No company will waste their time and resources hiring someone who won’t give them something in return. So you need to think about what additional skills or experience you can bring to the role.
Unique skills – what sets you apart from other candidates. This could be interpersonal skills or greater knowledge of a topic related to the job.
Unique perspective – how would you approach tasks and time management?
Ideas – what fresh ideas could you bring to the table to push the company forward? As a new potential employee, you’ll have an edge over current employees.
5- Rehearse interview questions
The best way to feel comfortable prior to an interview is to rehearse some interview questions. You should ask a relative or a friend with experience in a similar role to ask standard questions.
Possible questions include but are not limited to:
- What skills can you bring to the role/team/company?
- Tell us about a time you had to go above and beyond?
- How would you solve this problem?
6- Avoid large job listing websites
It is highly unlikely you will get an interview from a website housing thousands of jobs with millions of people competing against each other. Rather, focus your search using specific keywords in the industry you want to work in.
7- Pick yourself up
Everyone gets rejected from jobs, it is a part of life. This is the most important lesson everyone needs to learn, both mentally and emotionally. Everyone gets rejected from jobs, it is a part of life. It’s a kick in the teeth after spending hours creating a presentation and spending money to attend the interview. But you need to keep getting up and trying again. Use your rejected job interview, email the recruiters for feedback and use that to help you focus on your next interview.
8- Use recruiters
Most people hate recruiters but you can use them to your advantage. There are hundreds of recruitment firms that specialize in a certain industry, and it can be a great way to find roles that you wouldn’t have been able to find.
