Career and turning back time

If I could turn back time…”, as Cher sings. Everybody has their regrets, that’s an inevitable part of life. The important thing is to learn from your own mistakes, but why not learn also from somebody else’s errors?

Career-wise, it can also be beneficial to reflect on what other people might have done differently in their job search so as to know thedon’tsof job hunting and avoid them.

The short BlueSteps article “4 Things Most Would Do Differently Job Hunting If Turning Back Time” gives you the opportunity to do so. So, what would your fellow job hunters would have done differently if turning back time was an option?

To quote Virginia Franco, an executive resume writer, member of the BlueSteps Executive Career Services team and the author of the article, “By spending time wisely and keeping your network and social media presence alive, you will see a far greater job search ROI”.

This sentence pretty much sums up the insights of the job search regrets that Virginia compiled interviewing many successful career professionals throughout her career. What does it mean in more detail? Here are the highlights we found the most useful:

Know which roles you want to target exactly: this one should be a no-brainer but it actually still isn’t for many job hunters. Yes, nobody likes being put in a box. But, as the text wisely states, “when your resume and LinkedIn position you as a jack-of-all-trades, no one will be able to figure out where to place you”. Self-positioning can be challenging for those with very versatile expertise and employers might end up really appreciating your diverse skills in the end, but until you get hired, position yourself in a clear manner.

Online presence? Spotless: here are some numbers. According to a 2017 Career Builder study, 70% of employers use social media to screen candidates. A 2017 Society for Human Resource Management study revealed that 85% of organizations recruit via social media. What does it mean for you as a job seeker? Control what recruiters can find about you online. Remember: no room for mistakes! Have a complete up-to-date LinkedIn profile, professional photo, customized tagline and well-put profile summary which clearly states who you are as an executive (include your areas of expertise and specific achievements).

The article also gives very valuable pieces of advice on networking and how many jobs get filled by referral. To read the whole text go here.

Are you an experienced manager looking for a job? Would you like to discuss your strategy and find out what you might have done wrong to date? Would you like to talk confidentially to a Career Angel about it? Send an email to Bichl.Sandra (at) CareerAngels.eu or click here. Please note: the Skype call of approx. 45 min is confidential, non-obligatory and free of charge.