A job from a job seeker’s point of view
The average job seeker looks for a job this way:
- Something like a resume, an example here https://magictexts.com/.
- Responds to the job and reluctantly composes a cover letter.
- Does a test assignment.
- Comes in for an interview.
- Comes in for the job or gets rejected.
With each interview you pass (and even fail), it gets easier to move on to the next stages. But the earlier the stage, the easier it is to get out of it. Note, I’m not talking about getting hired, I’m talking about falling off because you didn’t make it to that stage for whatever reason.
Resume writing
You need a proper resume to get the attention of the job hunters in principle. Also you can buy resume. Even an experienced developer with good skills and several years of experience, but not enough quality resume can fall off at this stage. This is the stage where job seekers make the most mistakes, so let’s start with these. Citing multiple positions on the same resume.
Usually companies are looking for specific professionals, and multiple positions in a resume title can alienate HR people. More often than not, such a set means that the person himself does not understand what he wants, or knows a lot of things, but a little bit at a time.
How to do it?
One resume, one position. Even if you are in the same company, front-end and animated kittens, talk about your web development experience in your front-end resume, and for kittens create a separate resume “Animator” and cover the topic there. That way it will be easier for the employer to focus on what you’re good at and make the right decision.
2. Don’t upload a photo.
We have to face the fact that employers look at photos of job applicants. The photo is not for the selection on appearance, but to understand that the person is not hiding anything – here he is, in the palm of his hand, and it is clear with whom the company is dealing.
How?
Upload your photo to your CV. The picture should be of you and ± nothing more. You do not need to have a separate photo shoot, just ask a friend to take your picture on any modern phone. At the same time it is better not to make anything strange in the photo and refrain from photos that may contain questionable material or spoil your reputation even before the interview.
3. Hiding information on a resume
If a person hides certain information (gender, age, name, job skills, and work experience) on an open resume, HR might have logical questions about why this is the case. But given that the choice of candidates is usually large, no one will clarify the reasons for hiding information, and such a resume will simply be closed.
How should I do it?
If you don’t want your resume to be seen, hide it from the search and don’t respond to jobs. If you’re looking for a job, don’t hide information about yourself – openness is better than poorly motivated secrets.
4. Write “want to move,” but respond to jobs in your own city
There are usually two ways to write about moving. “I’m ready to move” and “I want to move.” In the first option, the job seeker is looking for a job in his or her own city, but is willing to consider good offers from other cities as well. The second option clearly indicates that the person is looking for a job to relocate.
There is a fundamental difference between these approaches. If the job seeker wants to relocate, then it makes no sense for him to offer a job in his hometown, as he will continue to look for opportunities to relocate. It looks especially strange when a person responds to a vacancy in his own city and his resume says “I want to move”. Employers definitely won’t want to invest in someone who can pack up and leave at any time.
How should you do it? If you really want to move, put it on your resume, but don’t apply for jobs in your own city.
5. Lack of Key Skills.
Key skills are usually used as the tags by which searches take place, and if you don’t include them, your resume may not be found. Also, by filling out this field, the job seeker shows awareness of their strengths. This is very important for people who are in the hiring business.
How to do it. List 6-7 key skills or techniques that you possess. Don’t list what you are learning or know in passing, better write about it in the “About Me” section.
6. Irrelevant Experience.
One of the hardest items to write about. You need to write exactly the work experience that is relevant to the job title in the resume title.
This means that if a candidate has worked as a layout designer for a year, but had been tuning water pumps for ten years before that, then their layout designer resume only needs that year’s experience – and the more detailed it is, the better.
How do you want it? Specify only the work experience that is relevant to the specific job. If you want to say who you worked before, write about it in the “About Me” section.
The exception is related experience. If you grew within the same industry from an entry-level specialist to an executive, this can and should be listed. If you have worked in different places in similar/similar positions, this is also worth including. For example, PR + marketing.