Understanding the process and applying specific methods is directly related to your success.
In the day and age of HRIS (Human Resource Information Systems), ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems), Assessment Tests, and Personality Tests, searching and applying for jobs can be time consuming and frustrating. After over a decade in the industry and watching individuals struggle with these processes, it dawned on me that my purpose in life was to help them succeed within all the new technology. It used to be that you could send out 100 applications with the click of a button. From these efforts, you could usually net 2 or 3 interviews. However, things have changed and so should our methods.
There is no way for me to count how many people I have personally assisted in the past through their job searching process over the years. But I do know this, I usually don’t see them again because they have found their job. Understanding how the hiring processes works and using methods that directly speaks to the process, creates success. The people who tend to struggle are the ones that refuse to change their ways and adapt to the change. They continue to send the same resume job after job, never making any changes or adjustments. They only want to put in the time to click a button 15-20 times and call it a day. Then claim that they have been working diligently to secure employment. This may have worked brilliantly 10 to 15 years ago. Not today.
Ever wonder why local union jobs, county government jobs, state jobs, and most federal jobs don’t make it to the public job boards? Why…? It is because they don’t have too! People naturally flock to these organizations because of the pay or the benefits or both. If people rely on only searching public job boards, they will miss out on 90% of all opportunities that exist with these organizations. In addition, this rings true for many other great organizations to work for, as they also have no need to publicize their openings. Some organizations even operate on internal referrals only and don’t even post jobs online unless no one in the company knows anyone that might be a good fit. Most people have an idea what they want to do or who they want to do it for. They need to stop waiting for the job to magically appear on the job board and start doing what I call ‘Job Hunting’!
Research the industries, organizations and companies in the area. Go to their websites, read about what they do, how they do it, and why they do it. If you like what you read, go further and look at their openings under the career or job opportunity tab. I rarely see a website without one. Searching for the next career opportunity is a full-time job.
If you are not changing or editing your resume every time you apply for a job, you are missing out. In this day and age of ATS and HRIS systems, you need to be picking out the most important key words and skills from the posting. You also need to be translating those onto your resume and cover letter. You cannot just copy and paste, you cannot just list all the words. The individuals reading them are not stupid. One must be creative in blending the words and phrases eloquently, making the overall resume an engaging read. Sometimes it is better to have 2 or 3 versions of your resume based on job title, but each time you send it out. the resume should still be specifically edited for the job and company for which you are applying.
Job searching is just like anything else in life…You will get out of it, what you put into it. Your return will greatly depend on your investment. The individuals that take this to heart, take the time to truly understand, listen and apply these methods, will achieve the success of getting a phone call for that interview.
So, if you are sending out application after application with no phone calls or interviews coming your way, maybe it is time to look at your job searching methods. It might be time to try a different approach to achieving your goal. Let the hunt begin!
Meet Our Contributor: Tim Pillard
Tim Pillard works within the Career Services Department at MyComputerCareer and his team serves all campus locations. Tim leads the Career Services’ team members that support each student’s professional career development. They are in the classrooms doing workshops, teaching students how to interview, completing resume revisions, editing cover letters and providing anything else that a student may need to be successful in their job search.
Tim has a strong employment history with helping people and providing assistance in their professional development. He also has a background in recruiting so he knows what employers are looking for and how to help our students showcase themselves effectively.
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