Six ways to nail that coveted job!!

It was usual day at work when I logged in my Linkedin account to find a message from an old classmate. He was looking for a of job change and wanted some advise around the same.I called him and discussed his concerns trying to suggest the best possible route I could think of. Being in Talent Acquisition for so many years now , I have done this of many friends and for some it worked while others were smart enough to make it happen their way.

 

I generally encounter questions regarding channels and turnaround time. My answer to this has always been ‘when patience pays, so what’s the hurry?”Honestly on personal levels most of my job changes were either through referrals or social media except of one case where I had applied on a job portal. But this is again very specific to my industry and might not work everywhere. However this has made me great advocate of Social Media which invariably is part of my job hunting strategies these days. Moreover it a best way to cut down lot of applicant traffic too.

So to begin with make sure that two pager brief introduction which is mostly referred as ‘Resume’ or should be updated enough to speak for your caliber and aptitude. It’s strange but I have come across many senior executives’ profiles who either have poorly written resumes or not at all. You might be leading 100 odd people but trust me that job posting would not even consider your application because the recruiter who might be filtering the profile didn’t find the right set of key words in place. Remember a job hunt is surviving the elimination and the first step is very crucial.

Media comes next after you are all set with that killer application. Well, after all you intend to kill other applications to reach the destination. Choice is yours if you want to start with job portal and try your luck. Mostly for junior to mid level and vanilla skills portals do the job well. Challenge is if you have been working in a niche field or have moved to roles which are not advertised very frequently and fewer in number.

Sometimes connecting with Head Hunters and Executive Search firms can be a good idea too. They have the specific industry understanding and would know the right opportunity for you. Also the mutual benefit drives them to make sure that it happens. LinkedIn has been a blessing in such scenarios. Not just you can find good jobs being posted from direct corporate HR’s but even connecting with head hunting firms has never been so easy. It’s a great market place when you are shopping for a job!!

You know yourself the best, more that any portal or consultant would do. Self research on the best possible opportunities by pursuing your target organizations either through internal employee referrals or direct applications might work as well. However as already discussed it’s a long drawn process in many cases and for some it just happens in record time. Job hunt is like cricket you might have to wait like Tendulkar to win the world cup or can be lucky to crack it in the first go itself.

Last but not least, when looking for job you should be ready to get the call anytime of the day and nobody will give you time to prepare for that first discussion. Try not to miss that and even if you do make sure you complete it later. Sometimes unknowingly we let go the best only to realize it very late. Also remember not to take a hasty decision for you never know what it would cost you later. 

Hope this helps you when next time you plan for a job change and till then enjoy your current assignment for it’s the work you do today which will fetch you job tomorrow.

 

Whats in an Attitude?

Have you heard about Sun and Moon story?

One day Sun proudly told Moon, “Look I am so great, nobody can survive without me. You too also reflect my light. I am HOT.”

Moon looks at him gently and replied, “Yes, indeed you are very hot and nobody dares to come close to you. However unlike you I love to be surrounded by stars and prefer being cool dude.”

And Earth just smiled.

In real, though being Hot is sometimes is a statement in its own but this conversation is more to do with ones ATTITUDE. We mostly imbibe from nature and human behavior has lot to do with the celestial influence.  Mostly while recruiting we do study ones behavior competency and attitude is an important aspect in the same. Some highly qualified resources just get rejected for not having the right attitude. Yes, it’s THAT important!!

So what is an Attitude?

It’s a way of thinking, feeling and expressing ourselves both mentally and physically. Well we all know that dictionary definition , but do we have the right attitude is something to be pondered on.eg: in the above story it’s difficult to judge who has the right attitude for both at the irreplaceable .So if you are looking for an aggressive and highly competent who is just unbeatable and is mostly an individual contributor , HOT is just the right guy. But let’s talk about a people’s person, somebody who is patient ,cool, mature and can empathize with others will surely vote for Moon.

Like any technical competency, every job has a requirement of specific attitude and behavior. Only if we have the right combination, we will be able to maintain a balance in organizational growth.eg: Let’s consider our the mute spectator, Earth. Smart enough to know that it can’t survive without either of two (sun and moon), so with an amazing gravitational force it makes sure to keep them at the right distance in order to maintain a congenial relationship and we all know whenever any of them come too close for comfort the results are terrible.

An organization has both difficult and very difficult people (never underestimate an easy going person) but its only the right attitude and behavior which will ultimately helps things fall in place. Just like solar system it’s imperative to have all four (let’s not forget followers, stars) in an organization to go on and on the milky way route J