Emphasizing Skills and Experience to Address Employers’ Needs

We tell job seekers to have an elevator speech ready at all times. What about the professional in charge of helping the job seeker? Having information ready to make a quick point or having a quick email topic to keep communication lines open is important for Career Services professionals, too. The following information is a succinct point for job seekers that is worthy of sharing:

To grab prospective employers’ attention, all of your communications with them—your resume, cover letters and elevator speeches—should emphasize how your skills and experience can help them address their specific business goals and challenges. Simply listing your past employers, your previous titles, the length of time you held each position and your responsibilities will not create enough interest for them to seek out a conversation with you.

If you have the opportunity to speak with an employee at a company where you would like to work, you need to clearly demonstrate that you know about the company’s business and possible skills the employer needs. Do some research on each employer to get a sense of what their issues are, and incorporate those items into all your communications. Consider the challenges you’ve faced, the responsibilities you’ve held and your achievements in each job you’ve held, and think about how you could apply these things to the employer you’re targeting. Present those achievement that are relevant.

The job search is not about you and your goals; it is about the employer’s needs and objectives. Make it easy for them to realize that you can help them by illustrating your abilities.

CareerShift is helping job seekers gather and organize this important information. Cross referencing jobs, company information and contact information within those companies in one place allows them to accomplish many things, quickly and efficiently.

It is always a good time to see what job search technologies are really making a difference. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see CareerShift for yourself, please contact me to schedule a concise 30 minute demonstration.