„The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.“ – Steve Jobs
People who work in HR can sing a song about it: they are often asked by family and friends for help when a job interview is coming up or when they just need to revise their resume. And every time, they have to disappoint the person asking. There is no golden rule that applies to every application!
This is due to the fact that as an applicant, you don't know who will process your application or who will be sitting across from you in an interview. Nevertheless, there are a few things to consider to increase your chances of getting a good job.
A.B.C. – Apply, Build, Connect
To people who think they are currently unemployed:
One is not unemployed, one is job-seeking! This term is often used by the Public Employment Service (in Germany, the Employment Office) to give unemployment a more positive touch. But for those affected, there's actually a lot more to it.
+ "What are you doing for a living?"
# "I work at Fuck My Life Inc. and am in project management of the ABC team. And you?"
A tough job and quite demanding on top of that! Working at FML Inc. means setting the alarm clock for the same time as if you were still employed in your last job. The routines remain the same, you just work 100% from home now and occasionally go on shorter business trips. And this every day, every week, if necessary, every month.
Admittedly, after some time, it becomes more difficult to invest eight hours every day in job hunting. The resume is revised, the cover letter is created in a few minutes thanks to ChatGPT, the latest jobs on the biggest job platforms have been reviewed, and the applications sent. There's not much more one can do, right? Wrong.
The first point is to proactively contact companies! Unsolicited applications have a significantly lower success rate than applications for specific job postings, but you have eight hours a day, five days a week! Even if only one interview comes out of 50 unsolicited applications, it might still be worth it.
Once you have landed an interview, you need to invest time in preparation and not just briefly skim the website on the way to the interview. Are there newspaper articles online? Who are the key people in the company? Have they given interviews or received awards? What does the social media presence look like and what comments are found under tweets and posts?
The fact that one can also use the working hours at FML Inc for serious further education is not even taken into account. Getting up every morning and treating job hunting as project work will surely lead you to a new job much faster.
Your Network
Anyone who sends out a few "fire and forget" applications and thinks that's enough is not using the most powerful tool: their own network.
In addition to family and friends, you usually have old school or university classmates, neighbors, former work colleagues, and a bunch of people on social media whom you might not even know personally. If so many people find their partners through friends and acquaintances, why shouldn't the same approach work for finding a job?
Assuming you know 100 people (a very conservative estimate), and each of them also knows 100 people. That gives you a reach of 10,000 just one step away! If you go another step further, you're already at 1,000,000. (Side note: If you go another 4.7 steps further, you can theoretically reach every person in the world.)
It might feel like you're asking for a favor. However, hiring is always in everyone's interest. Many companies even pay their employees bonuses for recruiting new people to the company. But even without a monetary incentive, many will be more helpful than one might initially expect. It's simply in our nature.
So, get the word out that you're job hunting; it's nothing to be ashamed of! Your own network is the biggest lever and more important than a good cover letter or the perfectly formatted resume could ever be!
The good cover letter and the perfectly formatted resume.
Alright, of course, that's important too. Especially when you've applied for a job through regular channels, without any connections, it's usually the only information the company receives from you in advance.
Short and simple: You visit http://www.canva.com and there, one can choose a CV template. Even without the pro version, there are plenty of resume designs that are perfectly adequate to leave a professional impression.
It's not important to cram the resume onto one page. It can be two pages if necessary. However, anyone who currently has a resume that's 3, 4, or even 5 pages long should consider which information is truly relevant.
In some countries, it's uncommon to include a photo on the resume. However, in the German-speaking region, I definitely recommend it! You don't need to go to a professional photographer; it just shouldn't be a snapshot from the last party. A nice profile picture with an authentic smile is more than what we recruiters expect. Cheese!
The Interview
There are countless online tips on what to do or not do in an interview. Therefore, I won't go into details about punctuality or how firm a handshake should be. The motto is to be self-confident but not arrogant. However, one must be aware that the line between these two traits can be very narrow.
My recommendation is to go to as many interviews as possible. Even I occasionally go to job interviews when a company reaches out, even if I don't intend to switch jobs. It's not so much about evaluating whether the position might be interesting, but rather about staying in practice (and in my case as an HR professional, not forgetting what it feels like to be a candidate). The more job interviews you've been through, the better you become at them. And why not invest the time in 5-6 interviews, even if the job isn't of interest, so that you have a bit more experience and can shine in the crucial interview?
My second piece of advice is to trust your counterpart. You have to trust that the hiring manager knows who fits the company, the team, and the position. If you don't pretend to be someone else, if you're authentic, and then you receive a rejection, then you probably wouldn't have been happy in that company in the long run anyway. GG, go next.
As the third and final tip: One must prepare for the interview properly. By that, I mean less about thinking about what three strengths and weaknesses one has, should that nonsense question be asked. What I mean is to reflect on why you really want this role. What added value you could bring to the company, but especially to the future boss. Also, gather as much information about the company as possible and, of course, prepare your own questions.
If a candidate doesn't ask questions, or if their questions are only about salary and working hours, it doesn't leave a positive impression. We spend an incredible amount of time at work. Someone who is interested in staying with a company for several years will hopefully try to get a clear picture of the work environment, the tasks, and the company culture.
A mini-excursion because I often hear this tip: No, it's nonsense to mention weaknesses that can also be interpreted positively. One must be honest with oneself. Have you recognized your weaknesses? Yes? Good! What are you doing to compensate for them? Have you found ways to successfully combat these weaknesses in the work context? If you can answer "Yes" to these questions, then you can be honest and mention the solutions as well.
To better understand the types of questions that could be asked in an interview and what these questions aim to achieve, I recommend reading TNT Recruiting This buff is intended for hiring managers, but of course, as a candidate, you can also make use of this knowledge.
Extrabuff
Not needing the job
This tip is especially aimed at people who are currently employed and are only seeking a career change. No matter how frustrated you are with your current job, no matter how annoying your boss or colleagues may be: as long as you're not on the verge of a complete breakdown, you should never quit on a whim before having a new job offer in hand!
I've seen it so many times where people first quit and only then start looking for a new job. Sometimes even at the end of the notice period. This is not only pure procrastination but also a classic mistake that you should definitely avoid.
Even if you don't mind a few weeks or months of unemployment, it puts you in a much more challenging negotiating position. Not only in terms of the tension for an interview but especially when it comes to salary negotiations, you argue from a much stronger position when you're not dependent on a job. The need for employment becomes a nice-to-have, and if a company doesn't meet your expectations: There's plenty more fish in the sea!
Furthermore, many people underestimate how long a job application process can take. Even if the company is interested in you, especially in larger corporations, it can take weeks or even months to receive a concrete job offer. That's why you should always follow this rule. Without the pressure to accept an offer or find a job, you usually end up in a better-paying job in the end.
For more tips and feedback on your resume or job interview, send me a PM on Twitter or use the Contact form
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