5 ways to get a leg up in a rough job market
Fortune magazine lists 5 tactics to get you get a job in the current rough economy. Some are good and some are a bit vague. In the interest of getting information out to career seekers I’ve got them listed with some commentary.
1. Offer something in return, such as intelligence on the competition.
Interesting idea, but you need to be smooth about it. Don’t be blatant and say things like “give me an interview and I’ll tell you about XYZ corp’s new business strategy. To be honest I’m not very comfortable with this one. If you are willing to spill the beans on XYZ corp, what’s to stop you from telling everything you know about your new firm?
2. Target your search.
They suggest not sending out hundreds of resumes, but they don’t offer much of an alternative. I’d suggest targeting your search for the positions that you are obviously the best fit for. I also question whether having a finely targeted search is a good idea for new grads who may be a good fit for several different positions.
3. Tell everyone that you are looking.
I like this one, it’s simple, doesn’t take much time and probably can’t hurt.
4. Clearly state what you will deliver.
Use the interview process to clearly state what you will bring to the company in the first 30, 60 and/or 90 days. This might be a good idea, especially if you have a lot of work experience. If you try this just coming out of school you might seem a bit arrogent or presumptuous.
5. Fine tune your resume.
Unfortunately many resumes submitted online never even meet up with a human. They are scanned by a computer looking for magical keywords. The article suggests looking over the job description and trying to incorporate anything that looks like a keyword into your resume.
