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The path to a new job is typically more arduous than winging it and waiting for a job offer with an abnormal level of certainty. During the Covid era, the typically arduous is even more so. The talent market is tight, which benefits job seekers, and the Great Resignation has many more people on the move. Professionals have the leverage, and they know it. Consequently, people – maybe even you – are winging it.
Recent observations and insider chatter support the notion that job seekers are lax and unprepared and that this trend has not gone unnoticed by the gatekeepers. Here are some quick tips, and reminders, to handle your job search like a pro.
1. Don't spend all your energy looking for a job on Friday. Of course, you can and should apply on Friday, or any other day, but know that the unemployed and employed-and-looking do the same thing on Friday. Out of panic or disaffection, they rev up their job search on a Friday afternoon. Job seekers who want to make themselves feel better before the weekend flood recruiters and hiring managers with phone calls and emails. Those efforts are not likely to get traction. Consider "pounding the pavement" on a different day. Find a time when the volume isn't spiking – you might have a better chance of reaching a decision maker or a recruiter on another day.
2. Be interview-ready. Don't wait until an hour before your interview to pull your suit out of the closet. Make sure your interview clothes, whatever they are, are clean and ready to go. Don't wait to print hard copies of your resume only to discover you're out of paper or ink or have printing issues you can't solve in time. Just like you shouldn't wait until you pull out of the garage to realize you need gas. You get the idea.
3. Stay on target. Just because the job market is hopping doesn't mean you can stretch out on the couch and wait for job offers to knock on your door. Spoiler alert: That is not going to happen! Don't be a sloppy and messy candidate who is careless with the basics. Don't let overconfidence silently burn bridges. Put your best foot forward every time you put it forward. The little things separate real candidates from the recycling bin.
4. Act now! Just like you've heard in every infomercial ever, don't wait! Act now! Intelligent companies with lots of openings are filling positions with speed and success. Don't skip the proofreading, but submit that application as soon as you are able. Be aggressive.
5. Answer the phone. Imagine you are a recruiter or an employee involved in the hiring process. You can't reach a candidate. He does not answer his phone, and you can't leave a message because the voice mailbox isn't set up or the mailbox is full. Now imagine you call the second candidate. He answers the phone or calls back quickly. Who gets the job? You'd be surprised how common this scenario is. Being unreachable is antithetical to getting a new job.
6. Clean up your Zoom background. If you're doing a Zoom interview, make sure your Zoom background does not distract the interviewer. Zoom allows you to blur the background. The space should look as much like an in-person interview as possible. It does not help to have a background that is cluttered, or a tropical forest, or worse - a cluttered tropical forest! Zoom also has filters that can smooth out your appearance.
7. Do your market research. Knowledge is power. Hit Payscale.com and find out where you fall on the salary scale for your area. This will give you a baseline from which to assess other aspects of the job (e.g., benefits) and any mitigating factors (e.g., relocation). Knowing as much as you can about a company and how it compares with similar businesses going into an interview can be an advantage.
8. Consider a different job at the same company. To stay or to leave a company is a difficult decision for many people. Their circumstances are more nuanced than a clear-cut case of escaping a toxic work culture or being undervalued. It may be that their heart is with the company, but something still doesn't quite fit. Instead of jumping ship, consider exploring new roles in your current company. If they roll out the red carpet to retain you, it's worth it to have that discussion. You may discover your next big thing is down the hall and not down the street.
Philip Roufail contributed to this article.
Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.
