The Top 3 Job Search Tips I Have Learnt From 2021

I hope everyone has had a nice break over the holidays and are looking forward to a much better 2022 - on so many levels! I won't say it can't get much worse, as I am sure we were thinking that on NYE 2020....

I want to share with you the job search learnings / mistakes / advice I have gathered together from working with around 80 job seekers in 2021 directly, and also what I have seen, heard and experienced across LinkedIn, all mashed together with my 17 years of recruitment experience.

1 - He Who Dares.....Wins

He....She.....They.....

You need to put your neck out sometimes and be seen. You are unable to just rely on applying and sending over your CV, no matter how good it is, but especially if you don't necessarily match up with all the criteria they are looking for in an applicant.

Find the Recruiter, Hiring Manager or HR Manager and reach out to them on LinkedIn to tell them exactly how you are the right person for the job and how you are going to solve their problem. If you happen to know someone at the company (even if only connected on LinkedIn) ask who the best person you can reach out to is.

Even better - do you know someone at the company well enough to formally refer you? In the businesses I have worked in (House of Fraser, ASOS.com, General Pants, to name a few) if someone referred a candidate we would always speak to them even if they were not totally right for the role!

When you get the opportunity to message the recruiter, of course, we would want some amazingly engaging message, addressing your relevant experience and squashing any concerns you think they could have.... all within just one paragraph (short messages for the win, by the way!)

But my advice.... JFDI.

Just F*cking Do It

Don't overthink the message and risk not doing it altogether. Any message is better than no message.

2 - Get Your LinkedIn Into Shape!

Two considerations here.

A - Aesthetics and B - To be found by recruiters.

Let's start with A. Once you get into any consideration stage, it could well be likely that the recruiter and Hiring Manager (HM) will look at your profile.

I have heard before that people don't think they are looked at once in the process, as they don't see the recruiter or HM in the 'who has viewed your profile' section.

Don't be fooled. The recruiter (when using their LinkedIn license) will be viewing you on private mode and you won't see they have viewed you.

Regardless, LinkedIn being the great platform it is, it is well worthwhile having a good looking profile. Create a free banner image on Canva, get a nice clear headshot (again using Canva, try removing the background and replacing it with a bright colour to catch the eye) and then make sure it is all filled out and accurate. A bugbear of mine is when the company(ies) you have worked for has not pulled its logo though so you just get the dull grey box. They are likely on LinkedIn so go into that position and try to find them in the company name box (it'll come up with suggestions automatically)

On to B - it is essentially you keyword optimising your profile so you get found in and come up in recruiters searches for relevant roles.

Most if not all decent recruiters will have a LinkedIn Recruiter License. A paid product sold by LinkedIn that gives them full searchability of everyone on LinkedIn via a multitude of search fields.

Having used LI Recruiter License for about 10 years now, I am going to go over the most used search fields and how to make optimise your profile to get found.

1 - Job Title

By far and away the most important. This is the first thing the recruiter will search. What can you do?

Make sure your job title is industry standard and in line with the sort of jobs you are looking for. EG - If you are a 'Product Developer' by title but the jobs you are seeing are 'Buyer' then consider calling yourself a Buyer.

Also, add keywords into it to make it more specific. If you are an Account Manager or Project Manager, give it some context through product, industry, area you look after

EG - Account Manager - Retail, Project Manager - HR & Recruitment Applications

This comes onto the next one.

2 - Keywords

Recruiters can search via keywords and will search via keywords to narrow a search down. Keywords will often be hard skills, such as systems experience, product experience and/or your specialisms.

These hold the most weight in your JOB TITLE - hence the suggestion above.

However, these should be throughout your profile, in your headline, your about section and your experience section.

Example of keywords to consider.

Buying / Merchandising - likely to be product (Womenswear, Denim, Home Accessories, Jersey and so on)

Marketing - Likely to be specialisms (Digital Marketing, SEO, SEM, PPC) or Systems/Software (Google Ads, Facebook Manager etc)

Are you struggling to think of what yours could be? Take a look at the roles you want to apply for and see what they are asking for in terms of hard skills and experience. Select the ones that are relevant from your roles and get them in there!

3 - Location

Now, location is still important as most roles will have an element of office attendance in them. It is also an important filtering tool for recruiters to narrow the search (or widen it in some cases). My tip here - put your location as that where you want to work next, if that is not your current location.

Also, select the nearest big city (assuming that is where most of the opportunities are)

3 - The ATS Myth that just won't go away....

Some of the common myths you may have heard....

"75% of all Applications are Discarded by ATS Software"

“Most companies have thousands of resumes sitting in a database that they’ve never looked at. In fact, 75 percent are never seen by a real person."

"You can't put hyperlinks in your CV or it will be rejected by the ATS"

"You have to BEAT THE BOTS!"

"Only upload your CV in word format"

Try googling?Applicant Tracking Systems?and you are met with an array of sensationalist headlines like "How to get your CV past the robots". The same goes for unscrupulous 'CV Writers' and 'Career Coaches' who vow to write you an ATS compliant CV and get you past the bots.

I'll often get asked 'can you make my CV ATS compliant?' or 'Will my CV get past those systems that recruiters use?'

There are so many more important things for job seekers to concern themselves with than ATS.

How do I know this? Having used upward of 14 ATS and being part of 3 ATS implementations, I felt myself pretty qualified to comment.

For those of you that don't know what an ATS is. Quite simply, an Applicant Tracking System is just what it says on the tin. It helps recruiters track their applicants.

Think of it as a digital filing cabinet.

Candidates come into the system (eg. via job adverts), they get screened/assessed, then rejected or moved on to the next stage. All communications tend to come via the system and you are ultimately left with one candidate you are looking to offer the job to.

This example is simplistic, but not uncommon by any means.

Very few systems (I'm talking not even 1%) will automatically reject you for not having the right keywords in your profile.

If you are getting rejected instantly, or without the recruiter seeing the CV, it is likely to be due to Killer Questions.

These are yes and no questions you will answer as part of the application process. Eg. Do you have the right to work in Country X.

Some ATS have the ability to 'score' your CV and give it a % match to the job advert/description/keywords added by the recruiter.

From my survey of over 200 recruiters, only 2% of them use this function. You do not need to go through a job advert and cram in as many keywords as possible to get past the 'Bots'.

Don't get me wrong, Keywords are very important, but FOR THE HUMAN READING YOUR CV!! If the advert is talking about SEO, PPC and Digital Marketing in the job advert, then of course, they want to see these specialisms on your CV.

NB - some ATS can act as a database and hold your details on file, keywords can be searchable within this, so you could be found down the road for a position after your application.

I hope you have a great start to 2022!

If that, for you, includes looking for a new job, you might be interested in my Online CV Course.

In this course, I cover everything you need through easy to understand videos, guides and templates, so you can write a CV that gets interviews.

You can also book in a session with me to ask questions, review your new CV and make some edits.

As you have subscribed to this newsletter, I want to gift you 50% off!

Just go to www.thecareergym.online and register to receive the discount code when it comes out on Friday the 7th January.

Happy New Year!

Russell Ayles // Founder @ The Career Gym