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8 Ways To Refresh Your Job Search For Spring

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Spring has always been a time for renewal. But this year as the weather warms and vaccines roll out worldwide and the job market stabilizes, there is more hope on the horizon than ever. It’s the perfect time to get your job search on track and reassess your long-term career goals. From networking to resumes to tips for every kind of interview, we have a blog for everything you need! Here are just a few to get you started on refreshing your job search just in time for spring.

How To Get Noticed By A Prospective Employer

Do you feel like you are failing to get noticed by your target companies during your job search? It can be challenging to earn the attention of competitive companies when the job market is so tight. If you are looking to make a splash with your job search this year, here is how to get noticed by a prospective employer.

How To Address Salary Requirements During An Interview

One of the most panic-inducing parts of an interview is addressing salary requirements. To best tackle this question, you need to prepare ahead of time! Here are three steps to take in order to share your salary requirements with confidence.

Five Video Interview Mistakes To Avoid This Year

As employers begin their return to the office or working onsite, virtual interviewing is here to stay. Even when the virus is in the rearview mirror, most employers will rely on video interviews to streamline the hiring process, cut hiring costs, and expand their talent pools. With this newly adopted interviewing format, here are five video interview mistakes to avoid this year.

How To Answer Interview Questions About Remote Work

If you’re interviewing in 2021 and beyond, chances are, interviewers will ask you questions about remote work. The modern workforce is rapidly changing, and many managers are rethinking their previous aversions to working from home. So, how do you address it during your interview? First, there are two different situations we must examine: if you have experience working remotely and if you do not.

Four Activities To Master During Your Job Search

Searching for a new job is much more than just scouring online job boards and refreshing your inbox every five minutes. There are many ways you can bolster your search in the background of your job hunting journey. If you are looking for better results, here are four activities to master during your job search.

How To Evaluate A Job Offer In 2021

Receiving a job offer is one of the most exciting feelings imaginable, especially if you have been unemployed for an extensive amount of time. However, before you sign your name on the dotted line, you must review the offer; this is a major decision, and you must understand if this is a good fit. Here are three aspects to consider when you evaluate a job offer in 2021.

Interview Questions For Every Stage of The Interview Process

If you’ve spent any time on our blog at all, you know you need to ask questions during your interviews. However, it can be challenging to determine which questions to ask at which stage. Modern interviews feature anywhere from one to eight different interviews for one job. And the questions you ask during the initial phone screen should be different from the questions you ask at a final interview. Today, we’re breaking down the differences and laying out interview questions for every stage of the process.

Should You Include References On Your Resume?

If you are currently searching for a new job, you may be wondering if you should include references on your resume. Should you put your references directly on your resume, submit them as a separate file, or not have any at all? The answer depends, and here is what you need to understand about including references on your resume.

Three Surprising Reasons Why You Didn’t Get the Job

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You recently finished a lengthy interviewing process and are patiently waiting for that offer letter in your inbox. You tailored your resume, you thought your interview went well, and a new job is almost in your grasp. But instead of an offer letter, you receive an email with the subject line: “thank you for your time.” What went wrong? How did you not receive the job you thought you had in the bag? Here are three surprising reasons why you didn’t get the job.

There is a more qualified candidate

One surprising reason why you didn’t get the job is that the market is too competitive. Not too long ago, it was a candidate-driven market. Almost every employer was hiring, and job seekers had plenty of power (and opportunities!). Fast forward to 2021 and we are still recovering from the pandemic. Employers are beginning to hire again, but with unemployment numbers soaring, your competition will be fierce. So, you could be a great candidate who is perfectly qualified for the position; however, there is sadly just someone with more experience or a stronger skill set in today’s competitive market.

Your transferrable skills didn’t translate well

Many job seekers are transitioning into new careers or a different industry, with better hiring prospects in the post-pandemic world. As a result, hiring managers and recruiters are looking for transferrable skills, which you acquire from previous positions or education, and transfer them to a new position. They are current skills that you can shift to another position. These skills will allow you to transition into a new career, even if you don’t have direct experience in the industry. For example, you can transfer management or leadership skills from one job to another. So, since your current occupation may not be hiring due to the pandemic, you might be in the process of entering another. Thus, if you fail to express how your skills set can be transferred to the position you are interviewing for, it may be a reason why you didn’t receive the job.

You didn’t ask good questions in your interview

Job interviews are typically not one-sided. At some point, you will have the opportunity to ask your interview some questions about the role, the company, or something else you discussed in your meeting. If you leave your interview without asking engaging questions that reiterate your knowledge and interest in the position, you likely won’t receive a job offer. You must ask some insightful questions if you want to make a lasting impression. These are questions that can give you more insight into the job’s day-to-day duties, the team dynamic, department goals, and other valuable information. These questions will likely come naturally as your conversation progresses but if you need some excellent questions to have in your back pocket, here are four questions you should ask in your next interview.

Need more job search tips?

These are just three common reasons why you didn’t receive the job. There are obviously many different reasons you didn’t get an offer; however, these three reasons are things to be conscious of before your next interview. If you are looking for more career advice or job searching tips, review our candidate resources for tons of helpful advice. Good luck!

How to Shorten Your Resume

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Have you ever spent a decent chunk of time updating your resume only to review it and ask yourself, “Is my resume too long?” Most of us have been in this position before; it can be challenging to shorten your resume without removing crucial skillsets, achievements, or working experience. Here are a few easy tips to trim down your resume.

Keep your resume objective short

More and more job seekers are including a resume objective, and that’s great. We encourage it, especially if you have been unemployed due to the pandemic. A resume objective is an excellent means to express your career goals, share what you are looking for in a new job, and explain why you may be out of work or transitioning into a new career path. However, an objective should be brief, just a sentence or two in length. If you feel the need to explain anything else, you can easily do so in your cover letter. Keeping your resume objective concise will help you shorten your resume without trimming any of your work experience.

Reduce your education section

Another easy way to shorten your resume is to slim down your education section. Your education is essential, and you should be proud of it, but you can keep it relatively short if you are an experienced job seeker. If you are 5+ years into your career, you can safely remove your GPA, course work, and other details. In most cases, all you need is your university or program’s name, the degree or certificate you received, and the date you completed your education. That’s it! Hiring managers and recruiters don’t care that you took a Macro Economics class if you are applying for a leadership role that has nothing to do with econ.

The only exception here is if you are fresh out of school. If you recently graduated, then you can leave some more details about your education.

Cutback irrelevant working experience

If you still need to shorten your resume, try cutting back some of your more irrelevant working experience. Many job seekers feel obligated to put every single job they have ever had on their resume. Instead, only include relevant work history if you are further into your career. A great example of this is internships or summer jobs. If you are 15 years into your career, you don’t need to put your four-month job at Dairy Queen on there. Remove any unnecessary work experience to make your resume more concise, giving you more room to elaborate on your more relevant work experience.

Remove your headshot

If you are one of those who have a headshot on the top of your resume, you can eliminate that to save some space. Your headshot has no place on your resume, and it can actually hurt your chances of advancing through the interview process. Also, with an increased emphasis on diversity, equality, and inclusion efforts, a picture of yourself can hinder your chances of securing an interview. Plus, it frees up some valuable real estate on your resume!

Does my resume have to be one page long?

So, those are four easy ways to shorten your resume. If you are trying to shorten because you feel your resume needs to be on a single page, stop right there. It is acceptable to have a resume longer than a single page in most circumstances. By keeping it under a page, you can be leaving off valuable skills and experiences. For more details on the one-page resume, check out our blog here.

2021 Resume Must-Haves

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If one of your new year’s resolutions is to secure a new job, know that it is a dog-eat-dog world out there. The job market is more competitive than ever, and employers are faced with difficult decisions when it comes to hiring people for their team. In order to set yourself apart, you must make some changes to your application materials. Here are three 2021 resume must-haves.

An Updated Skills Section

If you’ve been unemployed throughout 2020, hopefully, you’ve used that time wisely! Maybe you’ve taken an online course, taught yourself a new technique, or polished something you’ve been trying to add to your toolbelt. These new skills might not fit under an existing umbrella on your resume, so a “skills” section is an appropriate addition. Feel free to arrange them in a brief list using commas, or even bullet points if space allows.

A Resume Objective

It’s true that in the past, we have stated that resume objectives are unnecessary. However, everything has changed due to the global pandemic and multiple economic shutdowns. Many job seekers are venturing outside of their comfort zones, pivoting their careers, or applying for jobs that might not quite fit their surface-level qualifications. If this is you, it’s invaluable to explain your reason for applying to this specific position.

A Link To More Information

In such a competitive job market, it’s essential that you stand out on your 2021 resume. One great way to do this is by including a link to more information. This link could be to your LinkedIn profile, a website you designed, or a personal website featuring your portfolio.

One thing is for sure, navigating the job market in 2021 won’t be easy. But the good news is, you don’t have to do it alone! Explore our resources for more advice on job searching, resumes, interviewing, and more.