Secrets to Gaining Recruiters' Attention
Recruiters and headhunters can be considered as a great resource for job seekers, as they have access to many opportunities in the denominated hidden job market.
But it is not so easy to capture their attention, if we take into account that they receive hundreds of CV and they just spend less than 15 seconds reading each CV.
For this purpose, here we give you some advice
- Use the correct format – It is better the chronological CV than the functional one.
- Quantifiable accomplishments – Connect them to results, such as revenue earned, money and time saved, market share increase or costs cut. Highlight your selling points!
- Keywords – A correct choice of words is important because the positions are categorized by qualifications, and once your CV is in the database, the search method is based on identifying some keywords. Try yourself to find the most commonly used in 10 or more target postings. It is a way of assuring your CV will show up when they sort by these keywords.
About the contacting way, the most effective initial contact is through email, with both word attachment and plain text in the body of the email. They will contact you by phone if they found your profile enough interesting for any position.
How to develop Job Lead/Search
How can you find the best source for open jobs in your field of interest? The truth is that there is not one best source, but different methods that can be effective.
However, to be successful in your job search, it is not enough to develop many sources, but also to follow up every job lead. It means, confirm your resume has been received and check the timing of the search. Also, ask for an interview as the next step. Be professional and persistent at this point.
Here find a list of the main sources for job seeking, arranged by order of effectiveness.
- Networking – it is a powerful source based on the people you know (friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, customers) as information sources. Build on your personal and professional relationships to count on a good network in the future.
- Professional, Trade organizations – both annual conferences and on-going process
- College career – It provides you a network of people in your field. Contact the career services
- Cold contact, direct mail – This method can be useful to uncover the hidden job market, it means, these positions that are not published anywhere.
- Job/Career fairs – It is a way to get your foot in the door, your preparation beforehand can help you to identify the key employers and develop a strategy to break through the other job-seekers.
- Online job sites – It should be one of your sources, but not the only one. You can go to general job sites, industry-specific or geographical ones. The benefit from them it is the information you can find about company profile to get a better understanding of employers.
- Corporate career centers – Apart from the job sites, you can also go to on line corporate career centers, which often include opening positions, guidelines for job search, and many other related materials.
- Recruiters/Headhunters – The professional recruiters work for the employer, selecting the most qualified candidates for their clients. The applicants do not have to pay any fee for their service.
- Want ads – Their importance has declined with the Internet arrival, but you can check the newspapers for entry-level positions. Unfortunately, many times these positions are filled by the time the ads are published.
- Hitting the streets – The oldest technique can be useful for entry-level positions and blue collar jobs. It is also a way of meeting prospective employers in case of relocation.
Finally, we recommend you to have a job-search package prepared, including a cover letter tailored to the specific jobs, and a CV focused on your qualifications and accomplishments.