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If you are looking to land a new role, your success depends largely on hiring trends and the economy, both of which are working against you right now. Hiring fell to a seven-year low last fall. While the economic downturn has tilted the market in favor of employers, many companies are financially strained and lack the resources to survive another lockdown.
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Nearly 100,000 small businesses have permanently closed since the pandemic began. Together, these factors amount to increased competition for scarce positions and extreme stress for job candidates. As a job seeker, you may feel powerless right now, but rest assured — this is not entirely true.
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Yes, your competition has increased, but so have your opportunities. Remote work has expanded talent pools and fostered more diversity in hiring. Before the pandemic, the majority of recruiters were limited to candidates located in their cities. Today, virtual work environments have freed up companies to search for talent regardless of location.
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Now is the time to embrace these opportunities and form a strategic approach to your application process. Even though you can’t control the ebb and flow of the market, there are still ways that you can make yourself a marketable candidate.
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Companies hiring top talent often spend the first few months of every year focused on corporate strategy instead of recruitment, which will typically hinder your job search between January and March. After this initial rough patch, the market hits peaks and valleys based on the state of the economy, which explains the increase in unemployment during the pandemic.
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Hiring trends, however, tend to surge upward again at the end of the year, between October and December, because companies want to devote any leftover budget to new talent.
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The narrative behind your career path is critical when you’re trying to stand out in an employer’s market. Companies want to know where you’ve been, what you’ve learned, and how it has shaped you as a professional. This will help them understand your value even before you land an interview.
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Make sure hiring managers see your LinkedIn profile by using keywords to land more search results. Just like you use Google to find specific information, hiring managers use LinkedIn to search for candidates. To start, copy the descriptions of 10 similar jobs that interest you and paste them into a word cloud.
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The most common words are the ones you should incorporate into the various sections on your profile. You’ll also want to include your desired job location (even if you’re targeting remote positions) to catch the attention of recruiters who are searching for candidates using location-based keywords.
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Additionally, you should upload a professional — but friendly — picture and consider personalizing your banner photo. Profiles with a photo receive 21 times more profile views and nine times more connection requests than those without them.
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You can also grab an employer’s attention by engaging with your network. Think of LinkedIn as a way to show off your expertise. Attract more people to your page by liking and commenting on posts related to trends in your industry, publishing text-only posts (which receive 42 times more views), sharing original articles, and regularly searching for connections.
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People talk about the importance of having “transferable skills” on your résumé all the time, but what do they really mean? Transferable skills are all of the things you’re good at that can be applied to various roles in various industries. For example, strong writing, time management, and problem-solving are all examples of what would be considered “transferable skills.”
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You might have been told to tailor your résumé for each role you apply for, but from what I’ve seen, that strategy won’t work in 2023. Many companies are nervous about hiring more specialized candidates because they’re unsure what the business landscape will look like after the pandemic.
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To show you are adaptable, generalize the skills on your résumé into three main areas: systems-oriented, people-oriented, and self-oriented. Systems-oriented skills are associated with your areas of expertise. Under each role listed on your résumé, try to phrase these skills in a practical way to show how they can apply to a variety of positions and industries,
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not just your specified field. For example, suppose you worked as a content creator at a software company. In that case, highlight “business writing” on your résumé and specify what you mean by including more distinct tasks — like creating blog posts or writing marketing emails — under your role. Doing so will help prove that you can apply this skill to any job rather than just at a software company.
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People-oriented skills highlight your ability to communicate with colleagues. Right now, companies value candidates who can collaborate remotely and have the potential to lead virtual teams. On your résumé, be sure to include keywords like performance management, virtual training,
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and task delegation, either under a particular role or a separate “skills” section at the bottom of your résumé to demonstrate your ability to collaborate and lead. Self-oriented skills tell your potential employer that you can work diligently, learn quickly, and apply new solutions to existing problems,
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like the ones caused by the shift to remote work (decreasing productivity, burnout, etc.). You might think of these as “soft” skills, but they are in demand and will help you stand out as companies continue to decentralize their workforces. Words like “autonomy,” “time management,” and “self-starter” show employers you can stay on task, remotely or otherwise.
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If you have been using a chronological résumé but are struggling to get responses from employers, or if you are trying to enter an industry you have no previous experience in, try mixing things up by showcasing your transferable skills first — even before your job titles. Use them as headers under the experience section on your résumé. For instance, sticking with the content creator example, you might put:
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Prior to your interview, conduct plenty of research so that you are up to date on recent news surrounding the company you’re applying to as well as trends happening in your industry. You can usually find these updates on their website and social media channels, or by setting Google alerts for the company’s name and key players. This step is especially important if time has elapsed since you originally applied.
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I’d also recommend looking into the person who will be interviewing you, provided you’re able to gather that information from your recruiter beforehand. Check out their LinkedIn and Twitter profiles to learn more about their career path and interests.
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With the information you gather, craft a few questions catered to the company, the work they do, or projects they’ve launched that catch your interest. You should also come up with a few questions specifically about your interviewer and their work. This will immediately set you apart from other candidates by showing your genuine passion and curiosity for them and their organization.
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In terms of what you will be asked, know that many employers are concerned about work-life balance in the remote work era. That said, I can almost guarantee queries like “How do you stay productive?” and “What’s your daily routine?” will come up. Prepare your answer beforehand to showcase your ability to prioritize tasks and manage time.
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Lastly, when it comes to your physical presence, know that you will likely be interviewing remotely as well. The most common virtual interview tips include downloading the right technology (Zoom, WebEx, Microsoft Teams), having an appropriate environment (go with a plain background), lighting yourself from the front to avoid appearing like a shadow figure (use a ring light),
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and making eye contact to appear confident (look into the webcam). Dress in neutral colors on top and go with a business casual outfit, even if the company culture seems casual. Your effort will show the interviewer that you’re serious about the hiring process.
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Make it a point to show that you are engaged in the conversation by nodding, raising your brow, saying “yes” in agreement when the other person is talking, and using hand gestures to emphasize important points. Enthusiasm is difficult to communicate on video, so you’ll need to make an extra effort.
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An informational interview is a conversation you can have with another professional to learn more about their career, company, or industry. Unlike a job interview, the goal isn’t to get hired; you’re trying to educate yourself. In your job search, this type of interview serves two purposes:
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1. It allows you to gather intel on companies that are hiring. 2. It helps you form connections with employees at those companies. Through those connections, you can learn about open positions before they’re advertised. You might even gain referrals to roles you’re interested in pursuing.
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A great way to start is by reaching out to your existing network. Talk to school alumni, LinkedIn contacts, family members, and friends who might work at or know someone employed by an organization you’re interested in. These conversations might land you an informational interview, or they might guide you toward other potential opportunities.
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If you have your heart set on a certain organization, another option is to use LinkedIn to connect with someone who works there. It’s best to choose someone who holds a position similar to or cross-functional to the one you’re seeking. The goal is to find someone who can credibly answer the questions you have.
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When you reach out, show them that you are a valuable contact by first offering to connect them with someone who could benefit them, professionally or personally (if you can).
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If you don’t have a contact to offer up, then it’s best to be upfront about your intentions. Begin your message by saying something specific about their organization — or even better, their personal work — and then go in with your request.
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Once the call is scheduled, come prepared with a few questions, and try to keep the tone of the conversation casual. The nice thing about informational interviews is that they are low stakes for both parties. So, while you should be professional, don’t treat the process too formally. Whoever you end up speaking with, be sure to end the call by sincerely thanking them for the meeting.
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Depending on how things go, you might also ask whether there is anyone else who they might suggest you contact to learn more. Taking the time to have this conversation will show that you care enough about a position enough to reach out before the application process, which already places you ahead of more passive candidates.
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If you made any good connections during your informational interviews in week three, ask your contact for a referral before you apply to the role at their organization. This is important because getting a job search referral shows potential employers that another person is confident in your skills, and it’s usually a guarantee that your application will be seriously considered —
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which increases your odds of getting called in for an interview. It’s best to follow up with your contact no sooner than one week after your informational interview to avoid bombarding them. Glassdoor recommends being honest from the start about your goals while providing your contact with ideas for how they can assist you in your professional job search.