Job Search Hacks Everyone Should Know

The economy has been booming for several years now, with wages growing and the unemployment rate staying significantly lower than average. But those general facts will not help the average person find a job. Many open positions receive dozens of applicants, while just as many do not receive any worthy applicants at all. How does the average applicant navigate the masses of job boards and lengthy requirement lists that they encounter throughout the job search process? Here are some job search hacks that every applicant should learn and use.

Tailor Your Resume

First of all, do not engage in mass emailing of your resume. With job boards and pre-filled forms, it is incredibly easy to send out a resume and a cover letter to many jobs in an incredibly short period of time. Users can send out their resumes and track websites to see if new jobs are posted at any time. Many companies and organizations receive dozens or even hundreds of resumes for lucrative job positions.

They start the process of filling the job by weeding down the vast majority of their resumes and simply discarding them after a cursory glance. These companies often recognize a resume that has not been closely considered or analyzed and they will most likely discard your resume if it is like this.

Instead, make sure to tailor-make your resume and your cover letter to whatever job you are applying to. Rewrite your cover letter for each job, emphasizing the strengths and interests that led you to that particular job. Tweak your resume as well. You may keep the same basic structure of experience and former jobs for each application, but resume writing also involves going into detail about different skills and responsibilities at each job. Make sure to tailor those details in your resume to whatever job you are applying to.

Emphasize Specific Skills

Next, emphasize skills over intangibles or general educational achievements. Companies can learn a great deal from your resume by reading just the simple description of your degree and where you received it from. There will often be many people applying for the same job with the same kind of degree, sometimes from the exact same school. The applicant needs to go beyond these basic requirements in order to have a chance at success.

The resume should be more focused on your skills. Make sure to describe those skills in detail. Do not just say that you are proficient in Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop, but describe the skills involved and the specific applications that you used for these pieces of software. Show how the skills that you have contributed to reaching goals or accomplishments. The company you are applying to will respect the ability to create a tangible product or reach a specific goal more than simply having a skill or taking a class.

Fill All Gaps

Also, make sure to show that you are working when you apply for a new job. Companies that receive applications are bothered by gaps in an employee's resume. They want to know that a person can keep and continue with a job, and also that they are desirable enough to already be employed.

Therefore, applicants should always focus on the current work that they are doing instead of leaving off an occupation. This work does not have to be a full-time job or even an official part-time position. You may currently identify yourself as a freelancer or a contractor in the gig economy. All of these avenues are possible and will help increase the chances that a resume is noticed by employers.

Conclusion

The job search process can be long, arduous, and frustrating. You may be sending out resumes and going on interviews for months. But make sure that you are not wasting your time or doing unnecessary work. Use these job search hacks to fine-tune your resume and keep it from the job-applicant paper recycling bin.