Job Hunting In A Tough Market

It’s a wild ride out there and I only know too well seeing waves of CVs coming into my inbox every day. But there are always jobs aplenty and with a few tweaks you can achieve success securing that new job.

If you are currently on the hunt for a new role and finding yourself a bit lost or disheartened here are my top 5 tips to help you navigate the job-hunting scene….

Focus – So many people just apply for anything and everything and try to speak to anyone with the job title ‘recruiter’. This method just is not going to work. You need to focus on specific job titles, specific sectors or really look at your skills and see what job roles would complement your experience. Then after that you can look for the specialist recruiters that might be able to support you. A targeted search will always reap more success than a more scattered approach.

Know what your USP is – I must have seen thousands of CVs and thousands of job seekers over the years - a huge amount of people do not show their personality in their CV. Hobbies? Successes? What are you truly proud of? There are often icebreakers in the uniqueness of you and it needs to be celebrated in your CV. It will really make you stand out or give the read a sense of who you are.

Personalised Emails – You know how many personalised messages I get per week? One if I am lucky out of thousands. Run against the herd and find that point of difference. Whether you do a quick search and compliment the recruiter or employer of a recent event/article/accomplishment they have had recently. It really does make people stand out. Many a time I have sent a CV around my team and said ‘help this person’ because they wrote a great email.

Don’t take it personally – Yes, its tedious, yes it takes time and yes you may get a hundred no’s before you get a yes. But do not let this beat the enthusiasm out of you. Each application should harbour the same energy. Too many times I have received messages or replies from people who come across negative just because they had had a recent bad experience. It actually then puts me off if anything, so imagine what a potential employer might feel. If someone does not reply or does not treat you with respect, that’s them not you. Do not let that tinge the way you approach your job hunt.

Use a methodical approach – There is an art to job hunting and it involves many techniques to seek out your dream role. You must get out there, you have to network, stay focused, be targeted, get LinkedIn savvy, reach out to friends or old colleagues, speak to recruiters in your field and treat this like a 9 to 5 job in itself.

Finally please please please treat yourself with care and enjoy the moments, you might just learn something about yourself or at least make some new acquaintances, you just never know what they could bring in the future. And, good luck!

// Nicki Wilson, Owner and Managing Director of Genie Recruitment