Are you applying online and you're hearing nothing but crickets?
Well, in this video I'm going to share with you three strategies to increase your odds
of success for obtaining an interview when you're applying online, so stay tuned.
Hi, my name is Bill Benoist.
I'm a certified professional career coach here in Silicon Valley and I upload new tips
and strategies every Tuesday.
If you're currently in career transition or you value career development, make sure that
you hit the subscribe button in the bottom right hand corner of this video, that way
you're not going to miss anything moving forward.
Have you heard the phrase 'Spray and Pray'?
It's where you sit in front of your computer all day long and you spray the job boards
with your resume and you pray that something is going to hit.
You know what, it's not going to work.
I'm telling you right now, it's not going to work and here's the reason why.
More and more companies are relying upon Applicant Tracking Systems, ATS for short, because they
simply don't have the manpower to be reviewing resumes individually as they come in.
Do you realize that, and this was according to a study by Glassdoor in 2017, the average
corporate position that becomes open will attract about 250 resumes.
If you have an internal recruiter with this company, they're not just handling one opening,
they're going to be handling many.
They don't really have time to be reviewing all of these resumes so they rely more and
more on Applicant Tracking Systems and using keywords in the Applicant Tracking System
to match what it is that they're looking for.
They'll bring up the Applicant Tracking System, they'll put in a keyword, and boom, they'll
start pulling out resumes in this fashion.
Tip number one, review the job description thoroughly and make sure that you have relevant
keywords on your resume.
By the way, if you don't have somebody that's walking your resume into the hiring manager's
office, then you need to make sure that your resume is at least a 90% match to that job
opening, if not a 100% match because otherwise you're just not going to be considered.
Now there are ways around that but that's in a different video and I'm talking just
simply applying online where nobody is bringing in your resume and speaking up for you.
You got to at least be a 90% match if not 100% and it also means customizing your resume
for every single position that you're sending to based upon maneuvering those keywords.
For example, if you were applying for a service desk management position and your background
is a help desk manager or a help desk lead, you need to tweak that name a little bit from
help desk to service desk.
They all mean the same thing, but again, Applicant Tracking System is going to be looking for
specific keywords out there.
Make sure that you customize your resume.
Alright, tip number two, I want you to consider the job board that you're using.
There's a multitude of job boards out there.
I mean, we have LinkedIn, we have Indeed, we have Glassdoor, we have Monster, we have
Career Builder, we have Dice, we have The Ladders.
It just goes on and on and on, and many companies will use multiple job boards out there.
There's one in particular that I would recommend you consider using and that is Glassdoor and
here's the reason why.
By the way, I have no affiliation with Glassdoor.
I'm not receiving any kind of commission or payment for marketing their name out there,
but there is a reason why I'm recommending Glassdoor.
Companies love to be loved and unlike all the other job boards out there, Glassdoor
allows someone to review the company.
Imagine for a moment that you apply for a position.
Let's say that you apply for a position at Stanford University and a couple of days later
you look at your LinkedIn profile and you notice that there was a recruiter at Stanford
University that reviewed your profile and you get a little giddy.
All of a sudden the next day you get a phone call from that recruiter setting up an interview.
Doesn't that make you kind of warm and fuzzy on the inside?
Well, this is the way companies could react as well because remember, companies love to
be loved too and if you're applying for a position online using Glassdoor, they also
have a pretty good suspicion that you have reviewed them.
You've researched them and that could be a real good mark on your favor.
If that position was out there advertised through LinkedIn or Indeed, Glassdoor, use
Glassdoor to apply because it does send that little message there.
Now if the position is not on Glassdoor, then my second recommendation is to look to see
if the position is on LinkedIn because there's an advantage for applying through LinkedIn
just as well and that is that it's very easy for that recruiter or HR person to be staying
on the same platform and taking a look at your LinkedIn profile, which another video
altogether and I'll link it in the upper right hand corner, you want to make sure that you
are absolutely maximizing your LinkedIn profile.
Okay, let's have a quick review.
Tip number one, you've customized your resume to the specific job opening, you've reviewed
the job description and qualifications, you've used the right keywords, and you've also ensured
that you're at least a 90% match, if not 100% to the skills they're looking for.
Tip number two, you were strategic with the job board that you used.
Now tip number three, what I want you to do, you've applied for this position, I want you
to bring up this company in LinkedIn and it's very easy to do, just simply bring up your
profile and in the search box in the upper left hand corner, rather than putting in an
individual's name, put in the company name.
It's going to be there.
LinkedIn has over 13 million companies in its databased.
When you bring up the company, there's going to be a link that says all employees that
work for this company and click on that.
That's going to give you a long laundry list of names, individuals that either have worked
with this company or currently work for this company.
Go ahead and click on that and then up along the top I want you to click on connections.
Connections is going to allow you to sort this by first connections, second connections,
third connections.
My guess if you had any first connections, you would have already been leveraging them
for this position.
I want you to look at your second connections.
Most people will have second connections at a company, even if they don't have first connections.
A second connection is someone who knows someone at that company, someone you know who knows
someone at that company.
I want you to take a look at those second connections and look to see who you can leverage
as either asking for an introduction or at least dropping their name as you reach out
and connect with an individual at this company.
Now when you send out a connection and you're going to say leverage or drop somebody's name,
I want you to use a personalized note.
Don't just use the default LinkedIn somebody is wanting to connect with you.
I want you to personalize this note and use your second connection as a reference point.
"Hi Jim, you and I have a mutual connection with Janet and I'd love to connect with you."
Just something short and sweet.
Don't be asking them for anything else, help with getting an interview or anything, just
simply a personalized note.
Once they connect with you, then you're going to be able to ask them for an informational
interview.
You can start out by saying, "Thank you very much for connecting with me.
I've known Janet for a long time.
Yada, yada, yada.
Hey, I'm very interested in learning more about this company, would you have 10 or 15
minutes to chat?
Tell me a little bit about the culture of the company and maybe what I could do to increase
my chances of becoming noticed with the HR or the internal recruiter?"
Very non threatening type of message.
LinkedIn is a professional networking resource, this is what it's used for.
Don't think of LinkedIn as Facebook, LinkedIn is a professional networking resource and
this is a great way to network.
I hope you found this video informative and useful and you now understand why the spraying
and praying method is not going to work.
You have to be strategic in your job search.
By the way, if you are currently in career transition, I invite you to download my free
e-book, The Top five Interview Questions That Any Hiring Manager Really Wants to Know About
You and Best Practice Answers to Those Questions.
It's in the notes section below.
Again, thank you for stopping by and I will see you in the next video.
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