4 Basic Best Practices Job Seekers Often Forget
What job seekers need to know to stand out in the current climate
Despite a talent shortage, job seekers still need to work hard to stand out, says G&A Partners recruiting manager Eleesha Martin
The conditions in today’s labor market certainly make it an interesting time to be a job seeker. Unemployment continues to be at historically low levels (3.5 percent in September), but the latest jobs report indicates that the pace of hiring isn’t as aggressive as it has been. (136,000 jobs were added last month, compared to an average of 161,000/month so far in 2019 and 223,000/month in 2018.)
Job seekers shouldn’t be deterred by these numbers, though. Employers are still hiring, and doing so at a decent volume. Many are just being even more selective about who they bring into their organizations, which means candidates still need to put in the hard work to get noticed by recruiters and hiring managers.
In her recent interview with KSAT, Eleesha Martin, the recruiting manager in G&A Partners’ Houston office, talked about some basic best practices candidates often forget during their job search. Keep reading for her top tips, and check out the full article for even more great insights!
Tip #1: Know the story your resume tells about you
“[Candidates] have to be careful about their resume not showing a lot of jobs,” Martin said. “If they take a job and don’t like it, then two months later take another job and didn’t like it, and they keep changing, it’s not going to look good when a recruiter is looking at their resume. It’ll look like they are not stable.”
Tip #2: Tweak your resume for each application
“There’s a six-second scan rule,” Martin said. “Recruiters, they will glance at your resume for about six seconds. They are looking for certain keywords, skills or expertise. If they don’t see it in the first six seconds, they might not continue reading the resume. You want to tailor your resume.”
Tip #3: Be courteous to everyone you interact with
“You may walk in a restroom and not know who that person is in there,” Marin said. “Be kind to everyone, because you don’t know how that can influence the outcome.”
Tip #4: Don’t name-drop
“I do not like it when candidates do a lot of name-dropping,” Marin said. “Some people get a little cocky with that and feel like just because they know somebody, that they already have (gotten) the job, and that’s not always the case. Even if you are referred, you should still show that you are qualified and capable of doing the job.”