Job Search Effectively
You can have any job in the world you want. To get it will require effort.
Recruiters want to hire the best candidates for their teams based on skills, experience, and nothing else, although education can be a factor. That’s the Tea. And let’s be real, no two jobs are exactly the same — so be sure to understand why you, specifically, are a good match.
Before we go too far down the road, job searching is only effective with a targeted strategy, so let’s start with the basics.
Here’s a framework I like to use when I’m job searching
- Know what you want. Compile a list of positions and target companies.
- Assess your strengths and interests as they relate to the role you want. Ask colleagues and friends for insights on what they see as your strengths — you might be surprised to learn a few more you hadn’t yet realized.
- Research your target companies and selected jobs — extensively. Rely on crowdsourced information from forums like indeed.com, glassdoor.com and teamblind.com to guide your decisions. Seriously, read the reviews.
- Build your network. Connect with people in areas relevant to your search without any expectations but include a message. Let them know why you are connecting — it could open another door as you move through stages of success.
- Shortlist positions most relevant to your background and interests.
- Prepare your resume and update your LinkedIn profile. Use spellcheck and ask a friend to proofread before sharing.
- Apply & repeat. Company career sites can be treasure troves of information on what their candidate journey will look like.
Simple.
Resumes and interviews are topics unto their own. In the next edition of Diary of a San Francisco Recruiter, I’ll touch on resumes and the ways you can effectively prepare a resume. Subscribe to Diary of a San Francisco Recruiter newsletter on LinkedIn for more: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottswanbayarea.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —— — — — — — — — — — — — —
Who am I?
Scott Swan is a San Francisco-based Technical Recruiting Specialist with expertise in talent acquisition, sales, marketing, and leadership, as well as a wealth of experience from working in the Technology, Education, Healthcare, Media, Logistics, and Space sectors. He has fulfilled contracts for Amazon, Deutsche Post DHL, Meta, Microsoft, NASA, and startups in Beijing and the Bay Area.
Feel free to send topics on the areas of the recruiting process you would like to be demystified.
These views are my own, independent of any entity I have worked with. This is an opinion piece and is not to be considered as advice.
