8 Ways You Can Shine on Your Job Search in the New Year

The new year is almost here! With a new decade upon us, it’s that time of reflection on how to improve and continue growing in the days ahead! 

When it comes to the job search, it’s not all new tricks to get noticed and really shine in 2020. We asked 8 experts what tricks or trends will help job seekers get noticed in 2020. Here’s what they advise: 

Be visible and valuable

In a world of too much information, be visible. Attend industry events and development programs, volunteer at industry meetings and networking events, whatever gets you in front of influential people in your field. Don’t rely on getting noticed with an innovate resume format, font or trendy style. Get noticed by making genuine connections with people to help you stand out above the rest.

In those encounters, always be able to speak to the value you currently or recently brought your team, department, or organization. Many times we neglect to document and quantify the monetary value we are bringing to our employers, and clearly articulating that is key in effective interviewing.

David Armendariz, General Manager, Technology Division at Lucas Group

Focus on your accomplishments

Your resume, LinkedIn profile, and interview style should be accomplishment-based in 2020. Prepare a 3-column worksheet for yourself with the following headings:

1. Business Problem or Opportunity

2. Action

3. Results

Write bullet-points for your resume and LinkedIn profile based on this analysis. Create a more detailed page or PowerPoint slide for each based on your worksheet to discuss at interviews. Quantify your results. You will then shine.

Frank Grossman, Resume & LinkedIn Profile Writer at Resumes that Shine

Tailor your resume

Revamp your resume to reflect the job you want to have. It’s easy to list out previous positions like a collection of bullet points. The trick is tailoring it to reflect the sort of job you are looking to pursue versus what you’ve already done. 

Write out your resume almost like a story with a clear arc of what you’ve learned already, and how each position has prepared you for the job you want.

This makes it easier for a recruiter to understand your career trajectory and see if you’re in a place that will fit their needs better.

Shaan Patel, Founder and CEO at Prep Expert

Build a personal website

Get in touch with the decision-makers by building a personal website. Showcase specific skills or tasks in which you excel, in order to capture the attention of product owners, CEOs, hiring managers, etc. 

How? Using social and search ads can help you. For instance, Microsoft Ads recently launched Audience Network, which enables you to bid for certain keywords people in a specific company and position are searching for on Bing. A similar tool can be used via Linkedin Ads. However, you should avoid Linkedin InMail ads. In our experience, they haven’t been successful.

Marc Pitart Casanova, Product Owner & Co-Founder at cvonline.me

Highlight your remote-friendly skills 

With more companies hiring remotely than ever before, highlight the skills that enable you to succeed in remote roles, such as independence, time management, and communication. Although companies are embracing work-from-home roles more than ever, hiring managers still need assurance that new hires are able to thrive in a telecommute role (and won’t just spend their time sleeping in or watching Netflix). 

If you can showcase your abilities to excel in a location-independent role, as well as point to any past experiences working remotely, you’ll impress hiring managers and have a better chance at getting hired. 

Rebecca Safier, Founder at Remote Bliss

Volunteer

The biggest asset of our team is – cliche alert – everyone is a team player. The trust, rapport and respect amongst our team is incredible, so we look for someone that compliments not conflicts with that.

Anyone that has or does volunteer work ticks a big box, as we know they volunteer their time. Most people work as a team in the office, but they get paid for that. Volunteering is optional. We find people with this background seem to fit in quicker and easier with our team.

We will take on non-community workers of course, but charity work helps a candidate stand out. Put this on your resume, LinkedIn and any other documentation you use for business purposes.

Ethan Taub, Founder & CEO at Goalry Community Work

Get referred 

The top technique to get noticed by HR is to get referred by a company employee. Referred candidates who are even remotely qualified for roles will get a screening call, and you’re 20 times more likely to land the job if you were referred than if you applied online (assuming both candidates had screening calls). Get referred if you want HR to notice you.

Scott Swedberg, Founder & CEO at The Job Sauce

Come with actionable solutions 

Do your research on the company. That may sound standard but it’s crucial to really do your research. If you are interested in an organization, stalk it. Know the organization well enough to come with solutions. Display your personal value to the company, not just what you have done in your past and what can be quickly gleaned from your resume. Showcase your value with actionable ideas.

Allan Givens, PR Manager at Finder