Hiring doesn’t come to a screeching halt over the summer months, but many job seekers take time off to reassess their goals, spend time with family, and recoup from the hard work and effort they put in the rest of the year.
With the evenings getting a little cooler, it won’t be long before sweater weather is upon us. Here are a few things you can do now to kickstart your job search this fall.
- Personalize your LinkedIn URL. This will take 30 seconds. Go to the account settings of your LinkedIn profile. Remove any hyphens or numbers from your existing URL that might look like this: linkedin.com/in/your-name-b8304cfe. Update it to look like this: www.linkedin.com/in/FirstNameLastName. Not sure where to go to make the change? Look to the top right corner of this page of your LinkedIn account.
- Update your socials. Now is a great time to post content that demonstrates your knowledge and expertise in your industry. You might share articles, posts and videos with your network from trusted industry sources. Or you might create content and share it with your followers. Each ‘share’ puts you in front of your network (which is great) but also leaves a trail of relevant posts for future employers to review when they look you up online (and they WILL look you up online!)
- Prime your network. Casually start reaching out and connecting with people, letting them know your plans to look for work in the fall. Be as specific as possible. You might say something like: “I’ll be reaching out to people at companies like XYZ and ABC in the fall. Your sister worked at XYZ, right? I’d love to talk to her about her experience working there. Think you could connect me with her?”
- Develop your key messaging. Begin reviewing job posters that interest you. Your job here is to learn what employers want from a candidate. Use this research to design your key messages. For example, if the job poster is looking for someone who can “lead organizations and build alliances with both domestic and international partners.” Then include this in your message to employers. “Senior executive with 15 years of experience building strategic domestic and international alliances.”
- Colour code your application. Stay with me for this one. When you read the job poster, colour code these three areas using three different coloured highlighters:
- What the job entails (i.e., increasing revenue)
- What the company is looking for (i.e., charismatic CEO with experience in lobbying government)
- Keywords used in the job poster (i.e., Strategic Planning, Alliance Development, Government Relations).
When your resume has been updated, use the same colour code system to verify that you have addressed each item from the job poster (what the job entails, what the company is looking for, keywords). If your resume doesn’t have as much colour as the job poster, you have more work to do to prove to the employer that you have what it takes to do the job they’ve advertised.
If this seems like a lot of work, you just as easily visit jobscan.co enter the job poster and your resume and they’ll tell you precisely what you’re missing.
Next Steps.
If you’ve completed all five, congratulations! You’re well on your way to kickstarting your job search this fall. If you could use some help setting up your job search or analyzing your resume, book a consultation to discover where you can improve your job search efforts to land the right job faster.
Related Categories: Job Search
About The Author
Maureen McCann is an award-winning career coach, master resume writer, and master certified interview, employment, and career strategist whose clients include C-level executives, managers, and professionals in all industries including the Canadian banking, oil and gas, healthcare, IT, and government sectors.