Welcome to ‘Blue Monday’, readers! Today is officially supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. How lovely is that?
We’re all back to work after Christmas. The weather is grim. The credit card bills are arriving. The gas and electricity bills are here… And we’re not getting paid for another fortnight. No wonder we’re depressed!
But, instead of sitting there at work today feeling miserable, I suggest you pull yourself together and try to do something about it. So, let’s talk about job hunting. Today could be just the day to start making a change
Every January, I’m asked by various publications to write an article on ‘New Year, New Job’, or something along those lines.
And, every year, I find myself having to repeat the same key tips and snippets of advice:
Inevitably, as the founder of the UK’s leading CV consultancy, there is an expectation that I will promote my own business. We do, after all, offer CV writing services, as well as interview coaching and much more.
But I want to break free! And, so, for my Daily Star readers, I thought I would talk about something a little different: your tech readiness. But what, exactly, do I mean by that?
I am primarily referring to your online presence. Social media is an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to landing your ideal job. But unless you manage your online presence very carefully, it can work against you as much as it can work in your favour.
Savvy job hunters know that having a strong profile on LinkedIn is vital. Some of my contacts in leading organisations indicate that they ONLY use LinkedIn now to search for and attract top talent. But these days, that’s just not enough.
You need a consistent presence across any online platforms that you use. And you also need to remember that whatever YOU can read about yourself online, so can any potential employer. It can be seen as a vital reflection of your personality, and therefore your suitability, or “fit”, for an organisation.
So, if you are serious about finding a new job in the New Year, you need to make sure your entire online presence is consistent, professional and reflects you in the most positive light possible.
You also have to be seen to be active – take proactive steps to build your network. Follow recruiters and companies that you are interested in on Facebook and Twitter as well as LinkedIn, join groups of like-minded professionals and comment regularly on activity of interest.
Being tech ready isn’t just about what happens online, though. The vast majority of hiring companies now use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to help them manage the often hundreds of applications they receive.
Your CV therefore needs to be “tech ready” to ensure that it gets past these software applications and lands at the top of the pile. This is why it’s vital to tailor it to each different role you apply for.
These ATS are typically programmed to identify the keywords in the job advert, and job description, a company creates. Your CV needs to contain these keywords if you are going to stand out from the crowd.
And it’s not as simple as just dumping a long list of skills into the CV – if they are not included in context, they just won’t work for you.
So, if one of your New Year’s resolutions is to find a new job, I can tell you for a fact that it’s never been more important to be tech ready. And there’s no time like to present to get to work on it!
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