The perfect job search strategy and why

It's the way life moves forward. You begin your life in school, move on to high school, college and then it's time for you to begin your career. Often something most people consider a very complicated task, something you spend your first 20-22 years preparing for. But is a job search really that complicated? Is it actually that tough to really differentiate yourself from the rest? Is it something worth stressing yourself out for? 

The answer in my opinion is- NO! 

Everything in life becomes easy if carried forward in a methodical manner, and your job search is no different.

I will now present you with a step by step method which will really enhance your opportunity at getting an interview call and then a job. This advice would apply to most industries.

Step 1- Update all of your job portals and LinkedIn with your most recent and most powerful resume, and all relevant up to date information, presented in a very powerful manner-

Recruiters search for candidates over job portals as well as LinkedIn, hence it only makes sense that you have a very powerful profile on each job portal possible as well as LinkedIn. Recruiters sourcing candidates over job portals and LinkedIn make life easy for candidates. It takes away the step of the candidate having to look for jobs and making applications to those organizations. If you want to benefit from the recruiters sourcing for candidates online you need to make sure that you have a very powerful LinkedIn profile with relevant keywords and core skills and you also need to make sure that you have a very powerful resume uploaded on your LinkedIn as well as other job portals. All of your job portals should have top quality information about you which has been written in a very professional manner. 

Step 2- Job search and validation.

This is a very important step. You need to search for job openings in a very proactive manner across various job portals as well as LinkedIn, you need to make sure that you aren't desperate and don't just apply to every single opening which is very remotely close to your candidature. Why is that so? The common logic is "the more organizations I apply to, the better my chances at getting an interview call" 

This is actually very illogical, the magic isn't in the quantity but rather the quality of the applications. 

Hence, be choosy, make sure you only shortlist the job openings for which there is perfect harmony between you and the organization. The organization should want a candidate like you, and you should also want to work at that organization. 

Once you have shortlisted the perfect set of job openings, it is vital to validate those job openings. Validation means finding out whether the job openings are still active. 

This step is very important because it makes sure that you aren't wasting your precious time and energy. Also, if you apply to a lot of jobs which don't really match your candidature, you might end up getting demotivated when you don't receive interview calls. 

Step 3- Fetching the contact details of the hiring manager of each shortlisted organization-

Now that you have shortlisted the organization's that you want to apply to, it's time to become proactive and begin some rigorous and challenging work. You need to go out of your way and somehow manage to fetch the details of the hiring manager responsible for recruitment in each of the shortlisted companies. You might be wondering why this step is important, after all, each job portal has an apply button. You're right, each website does have an apply button, and hundreds and thousands of people click on it to apply to that job, 90% of job candidates use the apply button to apply for jobs, but remember, you don't want to be a part of that crowd, you want to stand out, you want that job, hence, what should you do for that job? Something which no one else has even thought of doing, SENDING YOUR APPLICATION TO THE HIRING MANAGER, DIRECTLY!!!! 

This is a very powerful approach and is sure to get your application to the recruiter, just think of it this way, it's like going to a crowded theme park, or going to Sai Babas temple in Shirdi, do you want to stand in line with everyone else for 2hrs or do you want to enter the VIP lane and get quick access to the desired objective? 

Step 4- Now that you have shortlisted the job openings you're keen on applying to and have also sourced the hiring managers for each one of those job openings, it's time for you to start making applications.

Something I've noticed and I strongly do not recommend is the use of a standard cover letter when applying to jobs. I can understand why it's happening as many of us have other commitments such as an existing job and our personal lives to take care of, but is it really worth risking such an important step in your job search strategy? 

Always make a customized cover letter when applying to an organization! 

Many people believe they're sending customized cover letters but in reality, they aren't! 

Let me explain to you now the most important step according to me in your job search strategy. MAKING CUSTOMIZED COVER LETTERS!

How do you make a customized cover letter? 

Answer- You study each and every company that you want to apply to. You study the job description, you understand the job requirements and you also need to understand what it is that the organization is seeking with the recruitment of fresh people into their organization. In short, you need to understand the pain points of the organization. You need to mention these pain points in your cover letter and you need to then show how you are the solution to those pain points. 

This is a sure shot way to really impress the recruiter. You might be wondering how and the answer is simple, it's only logical that the recruiter wants to understand what you as a candidate offer to them to solve their problems and it’s something that no one else is doing, hence if you do it, you have answered their questions and your goal of impressing the recruiter has been achieved. 

This approach alongside the previous approach makes a deadly combination, and paired up with the next approach that I'm about to show you, it'll blow away the recruiters mind. 

Step 5- Follow up with the recruiter via a telephonic call!

What? Why would I do that? And why would the recruiter talk to me? They're such busy people and why would they really give me that much time? 

You're right if you think they're busy, and you're right to think why they would offer you a proper conversation over the telephone, but does that mean you give up on this step completely or does it mean you come with a solution? 

The solution lies in this beautiful technique called the elevator pitch. 

The elevator pitch is a one minute conversation which you will have with the recruiter over the phone. 

Your target is to thoroughly impress the recruiter in that 1 minute.

Hence it is very important for you to learn the elevator pitch. 

This follow up technique is again something not many people do and it gives you the opportunity to stand out from the rest. Which is what your sole target should be when looking for a job.

By following up with the recruiter you have drilled your candidature into their mind, they're now aware of who you are and what you offer, you are no longer 1/1000 random people applying for a job post. You're now 1 amongst 5-10 people that impressed the recruiter, what this means is that you're now just a bit away from receiving that much awaited interview call. 

Step 6- The final step. The interview!

If you've gotten to the interview, congratulations! Your job search strategy worked. But now, you're on your own. You need to prepare yourself very well for the interview. You need to know what to say and what not to say. You need to remain calm and just not goof up. Just be yourself!