Essential Tips to Start your Job Search

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Over the years, the job search has undergone a complete transformation. There are smarter ways to find the perfect candidate for the job. Getting the job that you want seems to have become a daunting and highly competitive task. I have hired thousands of people across different roles and industries throughout my career. I have seen good candidates falter during the application process, resulting in rejection.
Adding to the woes is the difficult job market following the pandemic. It is all about standing out from the crowd. As an investor, I have always backed people and not just a product or service. While the job search process is getting intelligent and smarter with several tools and emerging technologies, I still look for the human quotient for hiring or investing. Equally important is being creative and going against the tide, combined with remarkable persistence.

Here are my main pieces of advice for improving your chances in the job search:

Personalization:
When reaching out to an influencer, hiring manager, or interviewer, remember personalization is the key. If your pitch or application looks more like a mass mailing effort, you will most likely get ignored.
Avoid the cookie-cutter approach of just copying and pasting a generic email template to everyone. Personalization shows your commitment and persistence. It highlights the fact that you are not taking an easy route.

Research, Research and Research:
Research is the only way to personalize your approach. It is essential to match your skillset to the role you are applying for, which requires extensive research on your target company. The information should be tailored in such a way that it is hard to ignore. Remember, you should focus on quality over quantity. Don’t just mindlessly mass mail your job application. I call it a shot in the dark tactic, or simply spray and pray, which does not work. Take time and tailor your job application.
As always, research plays a key role here. One such example includes an entrepreneur who wanted to start a business with us. He initiated the process by sending an email to one of my investment managers. Notably, he didn’t have a direct pitch but knew everything about our business, including every single recruitment business in our portfolio. He had identified a gap and found an opportunity to create value for us. His research was so impressive that we called him for a meeting, and things worked out. He started his own company in less than a year.

Show Value:
What’s the one thing or one sentence that showcases your core skills or value that you bring? Once you master the tagline that sums up everything you offer, you will be able to clarify your ideas and attract attention from recruiters. Don’t overcomplicate matters, instead keep it simple and rise over the temptation of including everything under the sun about you in your application. Structure your accomplishments and the transferability of your skills.
Too many people save their job pitch or elevator pitch for mega interviews or meetings. But it is all about creating opportunity. Applying for jobs can be difficult during recessions. But if you can demonstrate your commitment and passion, you might get that dream job. You never know where the opportunity comes from.