How to get a new job in 20 days ?
Looking for a change or for a new job? Not sure how to start? Want a complete Job hunting process with best Practices? Don't worry! In this article you will get easy to follow guidelines that will land you to your dream job. So why wait read on!
This article is for those who are currently looking for a change and for those who don't have a job and looking for one, for experienced as well as fresh graduates.
This article based on my learning over past few years in the IT industry, leveraging expertise of some best recruiters in the industry, numerous interviews I conducted, methods me and my friends implemented when we looked for new opportunities.
Please remember there is no substitute of hard work, but sometimes a hardworking professional or a fresh graduate might wonder why opportunities don't knock their doors. In today's throat cutting competition only hard work isn't sufficient; SMART WORK is what it takes.
Right from the resume preparation to marketing yourself to getting your dream job, it takes some processes and practices.
Here I will explain every step involved in detail. For ease of understanding I have broken down the process into 3 parts:
I. Employer identification:
Every experienced professional as well as a fresh graduate knows what kind of job they want i.e. their Dream Job; take 15 minutes and jot down everything you want from your dream job (like where it should be, what should be the salary).
-
Identify Employers (Companies) you see as best fit to your expectations that you have just wrote. Companies list can be huge. Now we need to filter them out. How? Collect 5 types of information on each company and they are: Website address, Contact information, Contact Person, their expertise (Like technology they are working on) and current openings. -
Now make your preferences like if you are ready to relocate then no issues, but if not then filter out those companies that don't fit. -
Again filter out those companies not working on similar expertise as yours( e.g. you are an experienced java professional and looking for a same kind of job and a company say A do not have projects related to java). -
Now you have a company list according to your preferences. Let's head for current opening section in more detail:- To get current openings of a company the very first information source should be their website.
- Job Portals, News Papers, Magazines, Friends are very important resources for current opening in the companies you enlisted.
- Sometimes you won't find current opening information on company's website; it's not because they aren't recruiting, it might be because they are recruiting through a Consultancy. So gather current opening information from consultancies.
II. Marketing:
By this step you have list of opening in you selected companies. Now What?
1. Before marketing yourself, following two things are extremely important:
Resume:
It is like a packaging of a product (i.e. you) which one sees and perceives about the content inside. So you should take care of following things while preparing a resume:
- Meticulously prepared and should be error free.
- Experience and education should be in chronological order.
- Must explain how you benefited your current and last employer (e.g. sales increased 20%).
- Last but not the least, include keywords. Every company searches millions of resume through keywords. Include keywords related to your expertise, but at proper places (e.g. while mentioning your project you can include technology keywords or even better you can have a separate Expertise section also).
Cover letter:
This is you first window through which you are going to interact with your future employer. Extreme caution must be taken while designing a cover letter.
This is you first window through which you are going to interact with your future employer. Extreme caution must be taken while designing a cover letter.
- No grammar mistakes please.
- Include all keywords mentioned in the current opening requirement because from the thousands of Emails that a company gets every day, it is impossible to read every one; so what a company may do is filter them out on the basis of keywords mentioned in opening with the keywords mentioned in the cover letter.
- Please note resume may be designed once and can be reused as it is for several times but cover letter would be different for every employer. Like the keywords may keep changing depending upon the requirements mentioned in the opening.
- Do let your potential employer know "why you are best suited for this job?"
- Do not make reader sleepy. Keep it short let's say 2-3 paragraphs.
2. Networking:
It is one of the important factors that could provide you numerous ways to reach to your potential employer.
We all know preferences are given to those resumes that are referred by own company's employee. So let's be friend with that sweet employeeJ. You can increase the chances of getting noticed manifolds.
Join sites like Siliconindia.com, linkedin.com etc. there are numerous similar sites also that are for professionals.
3. Job Portals:
We all know about this. Apply to the relevant opening that you have listed through these job portals. Take extreme caution while applying, like modify you cover letter for keywords and do not apply more than once.
Please follow the model below to increase your chances of getting an interview call:
C# Corner offers a Job Board where you can post your resume or also apply for existing jobs.
III. The Interview:
So finally after much effort in getting an interview call you are just one step far from your Dream job. Things that should be taken utmost care in interview are:
- Always reach at least 15 minutes early. This will give you necessary time to look around, reading company magazine, in short to familiarize yourself with the surrounding which will help in keeping you calm.
- Always wear formal attire. Even before you actually say a thing your attire already have spoken a thousand words.
- I know it's your dream job so you must be having good knowledge about the company like origin year, founder, management personals, expertise, strength, turnover, etc. just reminding :)).
- Always take permission before getting in.
- A firm handshake with greetings in stable voice (not nervous) shows the level of confidence.
- It's OK if you don't know a question, don't panic. Interviewer isn't expecting you to answer each and every question.
- Do not disrespect your previous employer.
- Do negotiate the salary if you feel it's lower that what you deserved.
- It's a nice thing to get prepared some questions to ask to interviewer in the interview end.
- Collect interviewer contact information like email.
- Reassure the interviewer that you are the best suited candidate for this job with a firm handshake.
- As soon as you come out either leave a handwritten note for the interviewer (e.g. "it was a great experience") or email it to the collected email, to show your thanks. Hand written notes are more effective.
- If you do not hear anything from them next day, follow up and enquire about the status.
Hope you will be benefited from these guidelines. Here are some more Interview tips Interviewing "Must DO's and Please DON'Ts"
HAPPY JOB HUNTING!!
What "Must Do's" and "Must Not Do's" ?
In my experience over the years in the IT consulting industry, I have seen and heard all the right things and the wrong things people do when interviewing for a new position. In this article I have pulled together a handy list of the "Must Do's" and the "Please Don't' to help you land the position you are going after.
Interview "Must DO's"
* Dress appropriately for the client. Always dress professionally even if you know they work in a casual environment. First impressions are lasting impressions. This will help show you are taking the interview seriously. And if you have on a dark suite, wear dark socks!
* Know where you are going and arrive early. You should know the exact time and location of your interview. Know how long it will take to get there, find a rest room to freshen up. Back to the first point, if you smell food and there is no restaurant around it is probably you, so give yourself a shot of something that smells nice.
* Bring a copy of the same resume that the manager/client has been sent. If you added something new, it is not a good sign of your credibility. You can always bring it up during the interview.
* Offer a firm handshake, make eye contact, and have a friendly expression when you are greeted by your interviewer.
* Listen first. Listen to be sure you understand your interviewer's name and the correct pronunciation.
* Always maintain good eye contact during the interview. If you keep your head down or roll your eyes it is a sign that you are not interested.
* Sit still in your seat; avoid fidgeting and slouching. Try mimicking the interviewer.
* Respond to questions and back up your statements about yourself with specific examples whenever possible. Be thorough in your responses, while being concise in your wording.
* Ask for clarification if you don't understand a question. Answering a question that was not asked is a sign that you are not a team player.
* Be honest and be yourself. Dishonesty gets discovered and you will have no job offers. You want a good match between yourself and your employer. If you get hired by acting like someone other than yourself, you and your employer will both be unhappy.
* Treat the interview seriously and as though you are truly interested in the employer and the opportunity presented.
* Always exhibit a positive attitude. The interviewer is evaluating you as a potential co-worker. Behave like someone you would want to work with.
* Have intelligent and business related questions prepared to ask the interviewer. Having done your research about the employer in advance, ask questions which you did not find answered in your research.
* Make sure you understand the employer's next step in the hiring process; know when and from whom you should expect to hear next. Always ask and know what action you are expected to take next, if any.
* When the interviewer concludes the interview, offer a firm handshake and make eye contact. Depart gracefully.
Interview "Please DON'T"
* Don't make excuses. Take responsibility for your decisions and your actions.
* Don't make negative comments about previous employers or professors (or others).
* Don't lie on the application, resume or answers to interview questions.
* Don't treat the interview casually, as if you are just shopping around or doing the interview for practice. This is an insult to the interviewer and to the organization and could come back to hurt you on the next interview. Remember people talk.
* Don't give the impression that you are only interested in an organization because of its geographic location.
* Don't give the impression you are only interested in salary; don't ask about salary and benefits until the subject is brought up by your interviewer.
* Don't act as though you would take any job or are desperate for employment even if you are. That may cost you money or put you in a position that you can never get out of.
* Don't make the interviewer guess what type of work you are interested in. Tell them!
* Don't be unprepared for typical interview questions. You may not be asked all of them in every interview, but being unprepared looks foolish.
* A job search can be hard work and involve frustrations; don't exhibit frustrations or a negative attitude in an interview.
* Don't chew gum or smell like smoke.
* Don't allow your cell phone to sound during the interview. (If it does, apologize quickly and ignore it.) Please, do not take the cell phone call.
These tips are just some basic steps you should take when you are interviewing. I will have more business tips to share as well as technical training.
