Searching for a job is arguably more stressful than it has ever been. There are more companies, more types of job roles, more job listing websites and a lot of applications that are needed to even get an interview. The way to refine this process down so that it imposes the least amount of stress is to up your tech game. Here is a rundown on how to utilise technology and the internet to help get the job you actually want, without having to search through endless listing sites.
Make use of recruitment agencies
It can be difficult to navigate, monitor and keep track of endless job listings on a plethora of different sites. Online platforms such as LynxPro have a fully managed search centre instead, making it less of a headache to find roles for which you want to apply. After all, quantity is just as important as quality when it comes to finding possible roles. Such platforms also accommodate remote job seekers, making it much easier to communicate through WhatsApp and Skype calls as opposed to physical meetings.
Clean your social media
Employers have no reason to believe you’re going to behave differently than you have done in the past. If they see awful holiday photos of you partying and almost passed out, why would they assume you have grown up since then? They don’t need to take any risk – they have many other possible candidates to choose from.
68% of employees are estimated to search you on Facebook, and many will also check your Twitter too. If you don’t fancy purging your post history (it could take weeks), simply go into the privacy settings and make your account both as undiscoverable and as private as possible. One in five employers have turned down a candidate after a social media check.
Mirror big companies
It comes as no surprise that organisations are turning to AI in order to refine their recruitment process. Tracking systems are used to scan CVs and pick up on keywords in an attempt to quantify the quality or potential of your CV. So, how do you fight this? One way is to do it yourself. There are online sites that will scan your CV and give it a score, along with some constructive feedback. The only way to beat them is to fight them at their own game.
Be CV-ready at all times
You may think that physical CVs are a thing of the past, but so is storing one digital copy locally on your PC. Most of us will search for jobs on our mobile intermittently throughout the day (or at least, in unpredictable moments). You want to be ready to send your CV as soon as you see a new, appropriate listing. This means having a PDF version of your CV saved in the cloud (i.e. Google Docs) so it can be accessed on your mobile. It also pays to integrate it into LinkedIn so you can make use of their one-click apply function.
Make use of alerts
If you decide against an agency and wish to go about the search process all by yourself, at least be prepared for it. Creating alerts is the best way to collate all job listings into one entity/area and be the first to see them. You can do this through most job listing sites (“create job alert”) or through your own means (website trackers). This means that you can collect the latest job postings from hundreds of websites for specific roles and/or skills, all on your email feed. Closing all those tabs down is extremely cathartic, too.
