Are you currently seeking a new job and feeling invisible to employers? Are you literally submitting hundreds of applications with little or no responses from recruiters? Are you seeking unique ways to become visible and more memorable to employers? In a competitive market, it can oftentimes be beneficial to think outside of the ordinary and tap into additional ideas to obtain desired results.
There are a number of tips and much advice being shared from numerous sources in terms of job search success. Some of the strategies discussed below may surprise you and/or may assist you with refreshing your current job search strategy. Below, view eight great ways to make yourself stand out to employers:
- Contact the Career Services offices of area brick and mortar schools to see if any upcoming job and internship fairs may be scheduled. You may want to check with both community college and four-year institutions to inquire about such hiring events and whether these hiring events may be open to the general public. Hiring events may be reserved for students of the respective institutions only but it does no harm to ask and you may be pleasantly surprised to discover that you, as a community member, are able to attend, which would provide you with greater face-to-face contact with employers.
- If you obtained a prior degree from an institution other than WGU, contact the school’s Career Services office to discuss career support offered to alumni. While WGU offers valuable career development support to all alumni for free for life, it may also be beneficial to explore any additional support offered by other institutions to maximize your resources and provide more access to opportunities/employers.
- View your closest city’s Chamber of Commerce website to view any possible mixers or networking events. Accessing your city’s Chamber of Commerce website may not only inform you about possible mixers or networking events to attend, doing so may also provide you with key information related to your city’s top employers.
- Conduct informational interviews with professionals from companies or organizations of interest. You may want to start with utilizing LinkedIn as a resource to locate and contact professionals who may be in position(s) of interest for companies of interest to see if they would be willing to participate in an informational interview, where you would observe the role as a “curious observer” while obtaining valuable tips and advice from those working in positions of interest. It is oftentimes a best practice to conduct informational interviews only before you apply for a role of interest or after a search has been completed in order to avoid placing the interviewee in a possible position of showing favoritism towards a candidate. Completing informational interviews allows you as the job seeker to also get your name in front of others which may make you more memorable when you do apply for an opportunity. If you have a great discussion during an informational interview, the interviewee may even offer to put in a good word for your candidacy for a future application.
- After each stage of an interview, send a customized thank-you e-mail within 24-28 hours after the interview. For panel interviews, send an individual customized e-mail to each member individually if possible. When customizing the thank-you e-mail, reiterate at least 2-3 reasons why you would be a strong candidate for the role, as well as include details of a specific statement/story shared by the individual recipient to show your level of attention and connection to each recipient. Doing so may very well make you more memorable to an interviewing committee and help you to stand out as an exemplary candidate.
- Join national professional associations related to your discipline, as well as local and specialized associations. Joining such associations allows for greater visibility and networking opportunities within your field, as well as professional development opportunities. You may want to conduct Google searches for more local professional groups as well, such as “Women in Business” or “Coding Groups in Austin, TX,” as many of local groups may also have meetups that you may attend. Further, if you live close to any four-year brick-and-mortar colleges/universities, you may find it easier to locate more local groups based on your discipline.
- Know your differentiating factors to assist with articulating your personal brand to employers. Your personal brand is oftentimes defined as your “unique selling proposition” to employers and it involves examining a number of important factors to truly reflect your unique skills, experiences, and personality. Identifying and articulating your differentiating factors are imperative to setting yourself apart from other candidates in your field. For example, have you lived in another country and/or know another language fluently? If so, you may set yourself apart by discussing your intercultural communication skills and intercultural navigation abilities. Do you possess the unique combination of strong technical skills, SEL knowledge, and a background in entrepreneurship? It may be a helpful practice to make a list of unique skills and factors which set you apart and cross-check these items with your resume, LinkedIn Profile, and interviewing skills.
- Attend employer and company information sessions. By using resources like Handshake, students and alumni may register for virtual employer information sessions which allow attendees to learn more about companies of interest and the qualities which companies are seeking in ideal candidates while also providing attendees the chance to interact with the employers in the virtual environment. These unique sessions may greatly benefit the job seeker by providing them with connection time directly with employers of interest.
While applying for and securing a job in a competitive market may feel like it provides a unique set of challenges, it is oftentimes possible to improve upon your results and outcomes with unique and/or innovative strategies. If Career and Professional Development may be of any further assistance with your job search, please feel free to contact us.
