Job Hunting Phases
After 5 weeks of continuous job search, I took some time to do some evaluation of the process thus far. What is working, and what isn't? What could I possibly do better? If I had the chance to advise the "me" from 5 weeks ago, what will I say?
I will say that job hunting should be executed in the following phases:
RECOLLECT > RESUME > STRUCTURE > SKILLS > SEARCH & RESEARCH
1) RECOLLECT your past experiences
- School, CCA, Volunteer Work, Part Time & Holiday Jobs
Significance:
Recollection allows you to be clearer about yourself- strengths, weaknesses, whether you're the "right fit", etc.
This has many far-reaching implications for the subsequent phases of your job hunt: your resumes, cover letters, research process, job applications, interviews, skill preparations and many other issues are influenced largely by your recollections.
True Story:
Don't skip this phase. I repeat- DON'T SKIP THIS PHASE !!! In my first week, I hastily drafted a resume and sent to 140+ companies in one week. I wasted hours searching and sending but to no avail- none of them got back to me.
After two weeks of banging against an invisible wall, I decided to do a little recollection of my own. It helped me to refine my resumes and cover letter. It also provided me a focus to zero in during interviews. Interestingly, I only sent around 30 resumes per week since then, but I get at least one call every 4 days. It may not appear significant, but it is a stark contrast and marked improvement from my haphazard 140+ experience.
I will have saved the hours of trouble had I just sit down and do my recollection right at the outset.
REFLECTION OF THE ROLES:
- What have I learnt from the experience?
- What are the skills I had acquired/sharpened in those positions?
- What are the successes, breakthroughs or results produced from the position?
- How had my contribution supported the BIGGER picture/organization?
- Was my experience mundane and mediocre? How had I made the best out of it?
REFLECTIONS OF THE PEOPLE:
- Who were the people I had worked with? What are their credits for the overall success?
- How had they impacted/influenced me as we worked together?
- How had I provided any form of assistance/motivation to my co-workers?
- Are there character issues to be resolved and competencies to be developed so that I can work more effectively with my future co-workers?
2) Resume (and Cover Letters)
- craft it as an art form
There are many issues with resume. As with all product design, it is not possible to please everyone. Even as I gather feedback from various individuals working in HR, there was no strict consensus regarding a "perfect resume".
Some people believe that the Resume should not exceed two pages for a fresh grad. Tell this to the overachiever who had a slew of awards, publications, voluntary activities, campus involvements, internships, exchanges and conferences under their belt. Two pages will surely not suffice.
In fact, I will suggest that you disregard page length entirely and focus solely on crafting a resume that accurately reflects your competencies supported by the evidences of your experiences and actual awards.
Sometimes it is not about the page length, but tedious content that frustrates HR professionals who need to sieve through hundreds of resumes on a daily basis. Badly written English, over-inflated credentials and passive lists of duties draw red flags about the character, competency and potential of the individual under assessment.
You are judged by your cover letter, resume and online presence simply because the HR professional had never met you before. It may seem unfair, but realistically they have no prior reference to you as a person.
However there is one advice seldom dispensed:
USE PDF instead of Word.doc
- It looks more professional and formats better.
- Microsoft Word requires you to simply Save As > Filetype: pdf
- Open Office is free and it has a feature that converts documents to pdf files automatically.
http://www.wikihow.com/Convert-a-Microsoft-Word-Document-to-PDF-Format
The Cover Letter always accompanies a Resume.
NEVER EVER APPLY FOR A JOB BEFORE POLISHING YOUR COVER LETTER!!
This is crucial . HR professionals don't have time. They read resumes but there are just way too much information to digest. At best, your resume dazzles them. At worst, they treat is as a pile of junk.
But consider this: "Maybe the worst thing isn't even about my resume being discarded."
The worst possible thing that could happen to a job hunter is when the resume is not even read.
As long as the HR professional reads the resume, the candidate stands a fighting chance amidst the pool of hundreds, however slim it may be. But when the resume enters a "black hole" (pigeonholed into database, accidentally deleted, rejected out by HR software to exclude certain types of people, etc), you have absolutely no chance of getting hired.
How often does this occur? Pretty much everyday.
This is why your Cover Letter matters- along with networking and follow up calls.
YOU NEED A COVER LETTER THAT MAKES PEOPLE WANT TO READ YOUR RESUME
(pretty much like a trailer to a blockbuster movie)
The Cover Letter should compel a disinterested HR professional (upon clicking your email) to pause and say "Wow, maybe I should check out his resume!" or "Hey, she seems like a good fit. Let's see her resume...."
I will say that job hunting should be executed in the following phases:
RECOLLECT > RESUME > STRUCTURE > SKILLS > SEARCH & RESEARCH
1) RECOLLECT your past experiences
- School, CCA, Volunteer Work, Part Time & Holiday Jobs
Significance:
Recollection allows you to be clearer about yourself- strengths, weaknesses, whether you're the "right fit", etc.
This has many far-reaching implications for the subsequent phases of your job hunt: your resumes, cover letters, research process, job applications, interviews, skill preparations and many other issues are influenced largely by your recollections.
True Story:
Don't skip this phase. I repeat- DON'T SKIP THIS PHASE !!! In my first week, I hastily drafted a resume and sent to 140+ companies in one week. I wasted hours searching and sending but to no avail- none of them got back to me.
After two weeks of banging against an invisible wall, I decided to do a little recollection of my own. It helped me to refine my resumes and cover letter. It also provided me a focus to zero in during interviews. Interestingly, I only sent around 30 resumes per week since then, but I get at least one call every 4 days. It may not appear significant, but it is a stark contrast and marked improvement from my haphazard 140+ experience.
I will have saved the hours of trouble had I just sit down and do my recollection right at the outset.
REFLECTION OF THE ROLES:
- What have I learnt from the experience?
- What are the skills I had acquired/sharpened in those positions?
- What are the successes, breakthroughs or results produced from the position?
- How had my contribution supported the BIGGER picture/organization?
- Was my experience mundane and mediocre? How had I made the best out of it?
REFLECTIONS OF THE PEOPLE:
- Who were the people I had worked with? What are their credits for the overall success?
- How had they impacted/influenced me as we worked together?
- How had I provided any form of assistance/motivation to my co-workers?
- Are there character issues to be resolved and competencies to be developed so that I can work more effectively with my future co-workers?
2) Resume (and Cover Letters)
- craft it as an art form
There are many issues with resume. As with all product design, it is not possible to please everyone. Even as I gather feedback from various individuals working in HR, there was no strict consensus regarding a "perfect resume".
Some people believe that the Resume should not exceed two pages for a fresh grad. Tell this to the overachiever who had a slew of awards, publications, voluntary activities, campus involvements, internships, exchanges and conferences under their belt. Two pages will surely not suffice.
In fact, I will suggest that you disregard page length entirely and focus solely on crafting a resume that accurately reflects your competencies supported by the evidences of your experiences and actual awards.
Sometimes it is not about the page length, but tedious content that frustrates HR professionals who need to sieve through hundreds of resumes on a daily basis. Badly written English, over-inflated credentials and passive lists of duties draw red flags about the character, competency and potential of the individual under assessment.
You are judged by your cover letter, resume and online presence simply because the HR professional had never met you before. It may seem unfair, but realistically they have no prior reference to you as a person.
However there is one advice seldom dispensed:
USE PDF instead of Word.doc
- It looks more professional and formats better.
- Microsoft Word requires you to simply Save As > Filetype: pdf
- Open Office is free and it has a feature that converts documents to pdf files automatically.
http://www.wikihow.com/Convert-a-Microsoft-Word-Document-to-PDF-Format
The Cover Letter always accompanies a Resume.
NEVER EVER APPLY FOR A JOB BEFORE POLISHING YOUR COVER LETTER!!
This is crucial . HR professionals don't have time. They read resumes but there are just way too much information to digest. At best, your resume dazzles them. At worst, they treat is as a pile of junk.
But consider this: "Maybe the worst thing isn't even about my resume being discarded."
The worst possible thing that could happen to a job hunter is when the resume is not even read.
As long as the HR professional reads the resume, the candidate stands a fighting chance amidst the pool of hundreds, however slim it may be. But when the resume enters a "black hole" (pigeonholed into database, accidentally deleted, rejected out by HR software to exclude certain types of people, etc), you have absolutely no chance of getting hired.
How often does this occur? Pretty much everyday.
This is why your Cover Letter matters- along with networking and follow up calls.
YOU NEED A COVER LETTER THAT MAKES PEOPLE WANT TO READ YOUR RESUME
(pretty much like a trailer to a blockbuster movie)
The Cover Letter should compel a disinterested HR professional (upon clicking your email) to pause and say "Wow, maybe I should check out his resume!" or "Hey, she seems like a good fit. Let's see her resume...."
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