Get Noticed, Get Hired: The Essential Guide for successful job seekers who want to

Leverage Social Media in your job hunt, Become a rock star networker, Stand out in a sea of candidates

Chellie W Phillips

• Publisher: Author Academy Elite
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781647461782
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Crescita personale
• Subtopic: Carriera

Have you put hours into your job search and submitted so many online applications trying to land a job of your dreams only to be ghosted by the recruiters and hiring managers?

Or perhaps you're a recent college graduate asking, "How do I get a job without experience?"

Maybe, you're just ready for a career change. If it's been more than five years since you've searched for a job, you need to realize the rules to finding a job in today's digital job search market has changed.

Get Noticed Get Hir ed is a definitive guide to showcasing your experience and skills, while offering tips and strategies designed to land you in the interview seat. You'll learn how to:

• Build a personal career brand designed to make you stand out throughout your career
• Create a power resume designed to get results
• Learn to beat the Applicant Tracking Software bots designed to keep your resume from landing in front of a real human being
• Maximize your LinkedIn profile for optimum discoverability
• Build and utilize your personal and digital network for career success
• Get the most out of career sites like Monster, Glassdoor and Indeed
• Show up more prepared than the next candidate at your job interview
• Learn the secrets to help prepare you for promotion

Get Noticed Get Hired, provides you a roadmap to professional success using the methods developed by author Chellie Phillips through her Successfully Ever After personal career branding program. She's successfully helped job seekers learn to tell their story in a way that showcases their strengths, skills, and passion so they land a job in their chosen career field.

Gone are the days of just sending out your resume and hoping for a call back. Today's job postings receive over 200 submissions and over half never make it to a hiring managers desk. Get Noticed Get Hired was written so this never happens to you. Building your career brand is vital in today's job market whether you're looking for your first job, re-entering the market, or planning a career change.

CHAPTER 1
THERE IS NO HELP WANTED SECTION ANYMORE

Before we dive into the tactics you can use for a successful job search, you need to understand how the market has changed and the timing you need to account for. People aren’t scouring the classified ads in newspapers or going business to business filling out applications. The job market is now a digital realm all its own. If you are encouraging your soon-to-be college student in their search efforts, you need to realize if it’s been more than five years since you searched for a job, it’s not done the same way.

There are mega search sites containing hundreds and thousands of job postings just waiting for potential employees to scroll through. That means competition is even greater because everyone has access to the same listings. It also means employers have larger and larger pools of applicants to screen and choose from. It’s likely an employer will never see your face until you arrive for an interview, so your digital presence needs to highlight you in the brightest light possible.

Virtually all applications are completed online today, at least initially. That also means you’re going to encounter Applicant-Tracking Software. This software is designed to eliminate all but the best matches to a job description so that hiring managers don’t have to sift through tons of applications. The problem with the technology is you could be the most-qualified candidate and still get kicked out because you used the wrong font, used a layout the software didn’t recognize, or failed to include enough keywords for the software to grade you positively. Any of these things can keep your resume from ever being seen by human eyes. We’ll talk more about this when we dive into resumes and cover letters.

It may seem the digital world is a hinderance in your job search, but it can be a positive as well. Since employers are posting positions online, it also means more and more have an online presence themselves. You can use this to do research and really narrow down the type of company you want to work with. You can get a great feel for the culture they create and even find reviews from employees to see if there are any hidden issues you need to be aware of. Glassdoor is a great website that provides information on companies, cultures, salaries, and reviews.

If you fit with a company culture/vibe, then don’t worry about the years of experience you have. Companies, especially smaller ones, want employees that are reliable and that they’ll genuinely enjoy working with. Experience level does not matter as much, as long as you are trainable.

—Karli Y.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you no longer need a paper copy of your resume. While you may enter a lot of information online, you’re still expected to have a formal copy of your resume.

If you’re comfortable with the challenges the digital job search market brings, you might be asking if there’s a better time of year for you to embark on the journey.1

The simple answer is if you need a job or are currently unemployed, the best time to look for a job is now. However, if you are making a strategic job change, there are certain times of the year you can find an advantage.

January, February—You may think this isn’t a great time of year to search for a job, but it is. Budgets have been approved, the holidays are over, everyone is working, and retirements are taking place. After the first couple of weeks of the new year, everyone is back into their routine. That also means the hiring process doesn’t get drug out. If you apply, you should get feedback quickly. You’ll need to make sure you stay on top of your follow-up.

March, April, May—The momentum continues from the first of the year until summer hits. You also have an influx of graduates as well. Competition for the open spots increases. As companies move toward mid-year, they generally begin to feel the pressure to finish up the hiring process before everyone starts taking their summer vacations.

June, July, August—Summer is usually slower for hiring, and if you are called for an interview, the hiring process can get really spread out because it’s harder for companies to get teams together for interviews and reviews. There are also typically less positions open at this time as well. The one positive is there are less people looking, so if you have amped up your personal marketing material, you can really stand out.

September, October—This is another great time to look for employment. Companies are working to fill any budgeted positions remaining open, and it’s easier for HR to get their teams together now that vacations are over.

November, December—This is not your optimum job search time. However, it is the best time to get your personal branding in order and revamp your resume and online presence.

Timing isn’t always about the calendar. Perhaps you’re considering a strategic career move either because your stuck at a job where you can no longer advance, or the atmosphere in the office is one you no longer enjoy.

How do you know when it’s time to go?

1. You dread Monday (and every other day of the week you must go to work). Not every day is going to be a great day, but if you truly dread going to your current job every day, then it’s time to start making an exit plan.
2. Your health is declining. Are you taking more sick days than vacation days? A bad work environment can cause negative health effects like depression, migraines, stress, lack of sleep, overeating, and more. Your job isn’t worth sacrificing your health.
3. No one will have lunch with you anymore. Face it. No one wants to spend time with someone who complains all the time. Does your family cringe when you walk in the door because they know you’ll take out your frustrations on them? A job should bring more positives in your life than negatives.
4. You’re qualified but not advancing anymore. No one is investing in you as an employee. Don’t stay at a place where you don’t have room to advance. If you are consistently using your skills and energy to advance a company, but the company doesn’t offer you the same option, it’s time to go.
5. Your workplace is toxic. If co-workers don’t get along, are always complaining, or your supervisor is constantly griping, it makes for a bad environment. Don’t let that environment fester in you. It will kill any joy and passion for your career choice.
6. You’re afraid to speak up at work. You should be encouraged to share ideas and opinions (in a respectful way). If you are in an environment that doesn’t allow discussion, it could be time to go.
7. It’s just a paycheck. If the only reason you stay is because you need a paycheck, you’re doing both you and the company a disservice. If the cons outweigh the pros, it’s time to look for other options.

If you’re in these situations and decide it’s time to look for other opportunities, you may not want to announce to the world, “Hi! Look at me! I’m looking for a new job.”

While it can be helpful to let your network know you’re looking for a job, there’s also ways you can do this in a not-so-obvious way. You need to apply an incognito search strategy to keep your boss from finding out.

So, how can you search for a new job without your boss finding out?

First, don’t search at work. You may think that’s a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many searches take place each day at the office. More than half the people currently employed are considering new jobs.2 Another survey shows 78 percent of workers said they would feel at least somewhat comfortable looking for a new job while with their present company. More than six in ten respondents (64 percent) indicated they’d likely conduct search activities from work.3 No matter what the surveys show, just don’t do it. There’s no need placing yourself at risk since many companies monitor online activities. Keep your search activities to your own hours.

When you do apply, don’t use your work email or phone number as a contact source. You might be tempted to but only include your personal numbers and emails on your resume and only give out your personal business cards at networking events

Don’t list your current supervisor as a reference. You aren’t obligated to include anyone from your current job on an application. Reach out to your network for references you can trust to keep your confidence.

When you start interviewing, don’t schedule them when you are at work. You’ll sound like an idiot to a recruiter if you are answering questions in hushed tones so a co-worker won’t overhear you. If you must take a phone call in the middle of the day, do it as part of your lunch and leave the office—even if that means driving your car to a quiet street or parking lot. If possible, do the interview early in the morning and arrange to come in late so you can do the interview in the privacy of your own home.

If privacy is a concern, don’t use social media publicly for your job search. Instead of posting for people to let you know about any openings, privately message or direct message your friends asking for job leads and information. On LinkedIn, check your privacy settings to ensure you’re not broadcasting every profile change you make to your connections. Don’t add a “seeking new opportunities” line to your summary, headline, or posts. We’ll talk later about how you should use keywords in these areas so recruiters and hiring managers can find you. You can change your privacy setting to notify recruiters you are looking but just remember no platform is foolproof, so if you do this, know someone you weren’t expecting might find out what you’re doing.

Finally, don’t stop doing a great job in your current position. Once someone makes up their mind to leave a company, it’s easy to start allowing yourself to slack off. You start thinking, What I’m doing here doesn’t really matter. That’s just not true. First, you never want to give your current employer a reason to let you go before you have secured a new position. You don’t want to get the reputation of goofing off, missing deadlines, showing up late, or having unexplained absences. After all, you will have this company on your resume, and someone you interview with might have a connection there they use to check you out. Leaving on good terms just makes great professional sense.

Maybe you find yourself in one of the situations mentioned above but are thinking, I’m just too old to start a new career. I’m not going to sugar coat it. It is harder to find a job as you get older, but you’ve got to ask yourself if you want to continue showing up somewhere you aren’t appreciated or valued. It takes some extra work to take the focus off your age and move it onto your abilities.

There are many examples of celebrities who have found success later in life. If you need a little inspiration and confidence, just look at Vera Wang. She was a figure skater who didn’t make the U.S. team and then later joined Vogue magazine where she was passed over for the editor’s position. It wasn’t until she was forty that she began designing wedding dresses and hit her stride.

Julia Child was fifty before she published her first cookbook. She was in her late thirties when she moved to Paris with her husband and enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. J.K. Rowling was in her thirties when she published the first of the Harry Potter series, and now, she’s one of the wealthiest women in the world.

You’ll need to be strategic with your resume. Keep reading, and you’ll learn the tactics needed to have a successful job search no matter your age.

CHAPTER 2
NOT ALL MONSTERS ARE SCARY

If you’ve been searching for any length of time, I’m sure you’ve been on any number of the mega job boards like Monster or Indeed. But if you really dive deep, you can get a lot of valuable information that will tell you more than just where to send your resume. The job postings themselves can help you identify the keywords and phrases you need to add to your cover letters and resume. Using phrases the companies uses will get you more attention and help you get past the ATS bots.

I graduated in August of 2019. I applied for 397 jobs (yes, you read that right) and was interviewed for 9 of them and only offered a position at 1. My search would have been easier if job boards could be narrowed down a little bit more. It was hard to figure out what exactly I was applying for, and it was frustrating to get emails back saying, “This is a senior-level position, sorry.” I wanted to say “Ok, why didn’t you say that in the listing so you don’t have 21-YOs applying? Also, no one ever takes their ad down once someone is hired. Probably 100 of the jobs I applied for had already been filled, and I would have saved several days of my summer semester if I’d known.

—Georgia C.

There are over 100,000 different job sites housed on the Internet. It’s important you find the one that is the best fit for you. Some of them offer targeted specific industries. You also need to use multiple search terms when you look for positions. Make sure you combine several job titles, industries, geographic locations, etc. when you begin looking. This will enable you to find the most possible fits for your criteria. Also, make sure you set up customization options, so you’ll be notified when new jobs are posted that meet your specific skills.

I get it. These sites make it super convenient to put on your pajamas and snuggle up with your laptop and browse through thousands of potential careers. It takes minimal effort to feel like you’re being proactive in your job search. But don’t be lulled into thinking this is all you need to do. So, how can you make the most out of the time you spend on job boards?

Don’t j...