Online Job-hunting Tips
Did you know job-hunting used to be more personal?
As in, you walked into a store, talked to a manager and dropped a physical resume on paper. Since the mid 2000’s, talking to someone about applying is now a thing of the past. Paper resumes need to be electronic, job applications need to be submitted through a company website and resumes need to be ATS (Applicant Tracking System) friendly. Then you need to fill out all the extra questions on an application with a cover letter, without ever meeting an actual person. So if you’re a forward-thinking job seeker, you’ll need some up-to-date online job-hunting tips.
So where do you start?
Optimizing online profiles on professional networking sites like LinkedIN and Indeed have never been more important!
Here’s our guide on how to master networking sites like LinkedIN. Let’s start with the basics. The basic settings are your Headline, About Section, Profession/Job Title, Location, Job Skills, Education, Certifications and Industry. Today we’ll start small with changing just 3 sections in your profile!
1. Change your headline!
- Right underneath your profile photo is a space that lets any visitor know who you are professionally. Add a little tagline like “Results oriented sales representative looking for new opportunities” (or something to that effect) and the skills you have acquired. Here’s a little formula if you can’t think of anything: How you describe yourself + job position + “looking for new opportunities!” + in (location where you’re jobhunting).
2. Update your skills and assessments.
- Whether you have experience with Microsoft office, customer engagement etc. When recruiters search, they will type in key skills. You want your profile to potentially match what recruiters are looking for. Think of it as Profile Engine Optimization rather than Search Engine Optimization. Think of what responsibilities you have had in past internships or jobs. Whether it is content production with Canva, writing email newsletters or customer service, these phrases matter too.
3. Make your About section all about you!
- Make your About section clear that you love what you do! It’s okay do a little humble brag so share some accomplishments of what you’ve done. You can talk about how you started in your industry and add a few key words (skills, responsibilities etc) that are relevant your career. Then leave a call-to-action (“contact me for x,y,z”) that lets the reader know they can connect!
Tip: Remember that your personal profile needs to be searchable in terms of key phrases since headhunters use key phrases in their search for talent! What terms, metrics, responsibilities and skills are common in your field and how can YOU apply these phrases to yourself?
Extra tip: Don’t use a selfie for your profile pic!
P.S Being successful is a matter of being prepared with luck comes your way. Oprah put it best..
“I believe luck is preparation meeting opportunity. If you hadn’t been prepared when the opportunity came along, you wouldn’t have been lucky.”
If you’re looking for jobs in Idaho, contact us today! We update our open positions weekly AND you can submit your resume for general consideration.
Don’t forget to follow us on Linkedin!
