Applying for a Summer job is getting closer and it brings certain challenges for many of us. Finding an interesting position, writing application documents, different interview types and at the same time you have to compete with dozens of people, maybe even hundreds. There’s no key to happiness and every recruiter concentrates on different things when finding the best candidates. However, there’s still a few guidelines that can help you out with applications. Here are a few tips to stand out in job search!
Different tools to help you stand out
There are only a few tools that you can use in order to stand out from other applicants. In most of the applications processes a way to a recruiters heart is through CV, cover letter and your LinkedIn profile.
The Recruiter gets both your cover letter and CV, therefore, it’s not necessary to repeat the same things in them. They are supposed to complete each other and argument why you would be the right choice for the job. The cover letter can be seen as the other side of a coin to the job ad. A company describes the person they are looking for and you reply to them with your application. How does your experience, persona and expertise suit for this specific profile? Although, The cover letter gives you more space to highlight your motivation and stand out.
The Cover letter does not have a mandatory structure that you should follow. Extremely often all cover letters start with telling a) Who you are b) where did you find the job ad c) Why did you decide to apply for the position. These are all facts that the recruiter already knows and 9 out of 10 applicants, will start their cover letter like this. Therefore, it is important to start your cover letter in a unique way that states you are interested in the position, especially, when there are lots of applicants you might lose the recruiters interest if you start with the same way as any other person.
There’s only a certain amount of space in the application documents, therefore, it’s important to concentrate on relevant things. Concentrate on answering the pre qualifications and wishes that are mentioned in the job ad. In other words, always target your application to a position.
What is targeting?
A job ad is usually carefully thought out and every aspect that is mentioned is important. By targeting your application you’ll answer these aspects and tell how you would meet the qualifications. A good way to start looking at the job ad, for example, is like this:
- Save the job ad to your computer. By doing this, you’ll ensure that you have the application if you don’t find it online after the application period has closed. (e.g. before the interview it’s good to repeat the important facts that the ad highlighted)
- Go through the ad and highlight the keywords. (Usually job ads are written in the way that the most important things are mentioned first)
- When you have found the most important things, you can think how your expertise matches the company’s qualifications. Have you done something similar in your previous jobs, hobbies or in voluntary work? What personality traits you have that suit the role? How are your personal traits showing?
When you have gone through the whole application, listed the most important criteria and your suitability you can start to write these down. Remember that the recruiter does not know you, only way to get them to know you is to argument with concrete examples about your expertise and suitability for the role. It’s good to use the same keywords as in the ad itself, which shows that you have read the ad carefully. In addition, this helps you to pop up in search engines if filtering is done automatically.
Pay attention to company and the field they work in.
Unfortunately, it is very common that people don’t mention the company or the field in their application documents. The good way to stand out is by mentioning the company,field, company culture company’s product etc. You’ll show the recruiter that you are genuinely interested in job and company. Different companies and fields require different kinds of application documents. If we generalize fields we can conclude that in the field of banking, it is good to have formal documents. However, when you are applying for a Customer Happiness Specialist job, you can have more “relaxed” documents. The job ad, company’s websites, social media are good channels to search information about company’s own communication. This will give you hints about company’s own communication and how much leeway you have with your documents.
Targeting in every step of the way
In order to stand out and get the recruiters attention it is important to aim for a targeted application documents. Your documents should be aligned and message the company that you are interested in working there. Besides targeted application documents, you can also use the colors of the company with a moderate touch or add the company logo. By using keywords in your application documents, you will leave a good impression for the recruiter and show that you are motivated for the role. This shows that you have not sent the same application and a story to a every single company.
Do you need more tips? Here’s a site for job seekers, where we have put together some tips for you!