Job Search Tips You Need to Hear This Week
Welcome to The Standout!
My daughter—who’s job-hunting—sent me a job listing with a text that said, “This job looks perfect for me!”
Five minutes later: “Never mind. I checked Glassdoor and the reviews are terrible.”
It’s easy to let a few scathing reviews kill your enthusiasm. But most reviewers tend to be people with extreme experiences—either fantastic or awful—while the majority of employees fall somewhere in between.
And while overall company culture matters, what really shapes your day-to-day experience is your specific team and manager.
If a job looks perfect for you, go beyond the reviews. Look up employees on LinkedIn, find common ground (like school connections or shared interests), and send them a message asking what it’s like to work there.
Bad reviews shouldn’t be ignored, but they also shouldn’t be the only thing guiding your decision. ??
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!
? Introducing Jobscan's Standout Summit 2025! ??
This is the ultimate virtual event for job seekers, offering two days of expert-led sessions, practical workshops, and actionable strategies to supercharge your job search.
Each of the 15 workshops covers a different aspect of the job search, including:
Here's what you need to know:
Date: February 26-27, 2025
Time: 10 AM to 6 PM EST
Where: Grab your spot here!
You can check out the rest of the lineup here.
Learn more about the speakers here.
?? Discover The Standout Jobseeker podcast ??
?Ready to take control of your career? The Standout Jobseeker is here to guide you. Through candid conversations with career experts, recruiters, and successful job seekers, we uncover the strategies and tools that lead to thriving careers.?
In today’s edition of The Standout newsletter, we offer the following five tips to make your job search easier and faster:
Here’s the first tip…
?? Prepare for the “Tell me about yourself” question ???
One of the most common interview questions is, “Tell me about yourself.” Don’t start at the beginning and list every job you’ve ever had. Instead, focus on your most recent and relevant experience. Keep your answer under three minutes, and let follow-up questions guide the deeper details.
Next step: To learn more, read How to Answer Common Interview Questions.
?? Tailor your resume when using LinkedIn’s Easy Apply ??
领英推荐
LinkedIn lets you upload a resume for Easy Apply, but don’t rely on a one-size-fits-all version. Instead, customize each resume to match the job. A tailored resume highlights the key skills and experience that align with the job description—dramatically increasing your chances of landing an interview.
Next step: Check your resume score to see how well your resume matches the job description. The higher your score, the more likely you are to get an interview.?
?? Focus your cover letter on two key things ???
A great cover letter is a targeted pitch. Stick to what recruiters care about: 1) Do you have the skills to do the job? Highlight a quick, relevant example from your experience. 2) Are you genuinely interested in this role? Mention something specific about the company or position that excites you and why.
Next step: Read more at Cover Letter Examples for Job Seekers in 2025.
?? Set the stage for your accomplishments ??
In your resume’s work experience section, highlight the conditions when you started and what you were hired to accomplish. For example: “Took over a team that had been through three managers in two years. Tasked with stabilizing operations and rebuilding morale.” Providing this kind of context makes your accomplishments even more impactful.
Next step: To learn more, read How to Add Measurable Accomplishments to Your Resume.
?? Watch sentence length on your resume ??
Once a sentence goes beyond 20 words, it becomes harder to read—and hiring managers may tune out. If a sentence takes up three or four lines, break it into two for better readability. A mix of short and long sentences keeps your resume engaging and easy to scan.
Next step: To learn more, read What Should a Resume Look Like in Today’s Job Market?
?? More Insights from the Jobscan Blog ??
Learn how to upload your resume to LinkedIn, and discover why optimizing it for LinkedIn’s algorithm is essential.
Here are 54 best examples of career-specific resume objectives you can use to stand out to recruiters and land job interviews.
We analyzed more than 10 million job descriptions and 17 million resumes to find the skills that employers are looking for the most.
Follow these examples to help you write a cover letter that will make you stand out from the crowd.
That’s it for this edition. I hope these tips have sparked some new ideas for your job search.?
See you next week!
Robert Henderson, CPRW, Resume Expert