If you’ve been out of work for a while, you may face a well-documented bias against the unemployed in your job search. But fear not; there are ways to easily fill the gap, preempting any potential uneasiness about your unemployment while reassuring employers that you’re current in your field. Here are three of those ways, followed by what to say when asked about an employment gap in an interview.
Building and leveraging a network of mutually beneficial career relationships is easier than you may think. And having this network of relationships is crucial in today’s environment, where being good at your job is simply not good enough, or where applying to lots of jobs is an inefficient way to search. Whether you’re eyeing a promotion or seeing layoffs on the horizon, your network will help you. In a job search, your network will enable you to shortcut the application process and tap into the hidden job market where you’ll find the best opportunities.
Here are some ideas to help you to quickly build and optimize your network of career-advancing relationships.
Even if your resume, pitch and communications skills are stellar and your background is in demand, you may still be in for a long job search. Many opportunities simply won’t pan out through no fault of your own; budgets, priorities and hiring managers can change unexpectedly. To ensure that you’ll have a quick job search, play the numbers game to win; have many things
Business prospects or employers are probably searching on LinkedIn for someone like you. The single best way to ensure you’ll show up in their searches, and stand out from competitors, is to have the right profile “keywords.” These are the words or phrases that resonate. They’re used in search queries, and answer your target audience’s main question: “How can you help me?”
Profile keywords have benefits beyond boosting your LinkedIn search ranking. Since search engines like Google and
All too often, jobseekers snatch defeat from the jaws of victory; they see rejection too quickly and end up essentially rejecting themselves. If you can adopt the mindset of a successful salesperson, however, you’ll see opportunity where others might see rejection.
That’s because in a job search, your “job” is now sales (you’re the product), regardless of what you do professionally.
While having a resume means you’re looking for a job, having a LinkedIn profile doesn’t send the same signal. As a result, many jobseekers think their profile needs to say that they are actively searching. Otherwise, how else would an employer know to contact them? So they’ll add phrases like “open to new opportunities” or “seeking a position in…”
As I discuss in my book Advanced LinkedIn, however, you’re making a mistake if you add anything to your profile that indicates you’re looking. Here’s why.
Before you leave campus, you have a unique opportunity to take advantage of face-to-face interactions and your “student” status to set yourself up for career success. Graduates who implement these four ideas have faster job searches and easier career transitions down the road.
If you want to speed up your job search, adopt the mindset of a successful salesperson. Sales professionals know a few things about rejection that can help jobseekers. They know you shouldn’t assume rejection if you haven’t heard back from a prospect. They know that it’s often possible to overcome an apparent rejection or hesitations about the services you are offering. And they know how to skillfully keep in touch when there’s no interest now.
Many of my new job search clients, however, are too quick to see rejection and give up. They
Once your resume and LinkedIn profile are complete, you’re ready to start getting interviews. And the most effective way to get interviews is to actively go for what you want; send high-impact emails to hiring managers who may be complete strangers, and then crucially follow up with a phone call to land that interview. This “active approach” is more effective than passively waiting for the ad to show up or the recruiter to call, and then responding.
Salespeople intuitively understand the active approach to the job search, since they use a similar approach every day in their sales jobs. If you are in a job search, you are effectively in sales whether
Land that Job Offer by Keeping in Touch with Your Network
by Robert Hellmann • Getting Interviews, Job-Search Strategy
Being good at networking isn’t just about meeting new people—that’s only half of it. The other half involves