Ready to get hired at a great job? Looking for a better job in this hot market and know you need to move fast? Here are 5 simple tips to speed up your job search:
Pay Attention to LinkedIn
If you’re not on LinkedIn, get on it and start your profile. If you already are but you’re not getting any contacts about jobs, fix your profile. Sharpen up your headline to describe what you do, and write a stronger summary. Don’t forget to post a business-appropriate photo.
Once you have a good profile, join groups related to your industry. Participate in group discussions so people can find out about you.
Recruiters and hiring managers actively look for potential candidates on LinkedIn. If you’re there with a good strong profile and activity, they can find you.
Turn Your Resume into a Marketing Document with Quantification
Your resume’s job is to get you the interview. To improve your resume, make sure it’s in reverse chronological order, formatted with bullet points (not paragraphs), and have quantification. Quantification means to describe your accomplishments using numbers, dollars, and percentages.
See more on how to quantify your resume here: Write a Resume That POPS!
Contact Hiring Managers Instead of Applying Online
Online applications don’t work. Too many qualified people don’t get interviews because of the breakdown of online applications.
When those same people go around that system and contact hiring managers (their future bosses), they get interviews and offers.
I have a whole (free) webinar to teach you how to do this: Stop Applying Online and Get Hired Instantly.
Write a Compelling Cover Letter
The cover letter you send to hiring managers sets the tone for your whole interaction and makes a huge difference in whether or not you get an interview.
Target your cover letter for the position you want and the person you’re writing it to. Tell them why they should look at your resume. Keep it brief, use bullet points to highlight a couple of things (they’re easy and fast to read), and close with letting them know when you’ll follow up.
See more advice on how to write a cover letter.
Over Prepare for Every Interview
Think about this: If two equally qualified people interview for a position, but one of them clearly prepared for it more than the other, who has the edge? The prepared one, of course. How do you over prepare for interviews?
Research the company
Use Google, LinkedIn, the company website, and your network to find out as much as you can about this company before your interview. You’ll be able to answer questions more effectively, ask more intelligent questions, and be more impressive throughout the interview. Here’s another article about how to research a company before the interview.
Practice answers to common interview questions
Have you ever gotten nervous in an interview or stumbled over your answers? Practicing your answers ahead of time will fix that and make you seem more confident and competent.
You should always be prepared with a good response to common things like “Tell me about yourself,” or “Why did you leave your last job?” Also, you should have stories that illustrate common situations like failures, strengths, successes, or difficult situations. How you tell the story matters (see the STAR method). Think about it ahead of time and practice saying it. It will make a world of difference in your interview performance.
See the best answers to 101 interview questions.
Create a 30-06-90-Day Plan
There’s no better method of demonstrating your fit for the job than a 30-60-90-Day Plan. I’ve seen these plans get job offers in minutes, and job offers for positions at higher salaries than what the person interviewed for.
In addition, going over your plan with the hiring manager gives them a ‘test drive’ of what it would be like to have you on the job. Once they can visualize it, it nudges them much farther toward making you the offer. It’s a critical way to speed up your job search.
Find out how to write a 30-60-90-day plan and use it in your job interview.
Want to Speed Up Your Job Search Even More?
***Get some training and more information on important job search strategies so you can be better and stronger at this vital career task. Discover the most effective job search method ever in my free webinar, Get a Great Job in 6 Weeks. You’ll get powerful strategies for resumes, cover letters and networking to find hidden jobs and get more interviews.
***Consider working one-on-one with a job search and interview coach. It’s the fastest, most personalized way to job search success. Find out more about coaching and schedule your coaching session today.