How to Make your Job Hunting More Effective

With the quick spread of the novel coronavirus, many businesses had to rapidly adjust to the new reality and overcome remote working challenges. In addition, the shutdown of many cities’ services led to new difficulty for those who are in the hunt for a new job.

According to this Glassdoor market report from March 2020, a lot of companies are choosing to pause or reduce the job openings they have available.

However, there is also an increasing number of job openings in the tech industry (+0.5%, to be specific). This means that if you’re looking for a job in technology, this is the right time to continue your pursuit.

Many IT companies, such as Growin, are still hiring. In fact, Growin not only has its entire team 100% working remotely, but it’s also actively looking for talented people to join the team. Our recruitment team hasn’t stopped— they’re just interviewing in a different way.

This blog post is meant to give you actionable advice to help you get the brand new job you want and need in these uncertain times.

The first thing you need to do is to update your resume. After all, this is your ticket to getting an interview. Check if the information is accurate and valuable to those who will hire you and if it is presented in the most appealing way. If your design skills are limited, there are plenty of tools that can help you to create an awesome and well-structured CV (e.g.: Canva).

Make sure you have your work experience (the most important one for the job you’re applying to—there’s no need to put your summer job in the local coffee-shop from 2017 in there) in your CV, your educational and training background as well as your technical and soft skills. Along with that information, you should have a personal statement/motivational letter specific to the job offer you are applying to.

Another important aspect of this step is to keep working on your CV. This means constantly investing in your education with courses you find interesting and valuable. There are plenty of online classes you can take right now, you just need to do some research and choose the ones that best fit your interests. Knowledge is power, remember? You are your biggest and most important investment.

Secondly, you have to research who is hiring, for what position, and if the offer meets your needs. Choose wisely which companies you want to apply to, and don’t waste your time sending your CV to job offers that aren’t a good fit. Put all your efforts into those you really want to get. And if you want to keep track of all the jobs you’ve applied to, you can always create a spreadsheet to document them. This way you will always know which companies you’ve reached out to, when, with which version of your resume, and what the status of the recruitment process is.

To help you better understand if a company is suitable for you, check their website and follow them on social media, especially LinkedIn. This is where you will find valuable information about their internal initiatives and about the job openings they have available. Don’t be afraid to interact with them! It might be useful to stand out from other candidates. You can also check your connections on LinkedIn and see if you know someone who is currently working at the company you’re applying to. This way you can ask them for references, advice, and even share some thoughts.

Besides this, a good way to know more about how it’s like to work at a company—and understanding if it will be a good fit for you—is to read some employees’ reviews. You can find this type of content on platforms like Glassdoor, where you can know first hand how a company works. However, things might not be 100% accurate and there might be some important details missing, so it’s good to dig a little deeper in order to be really informed. The more info you have, the better decision you’ll make.

If you're not active on your social networks, this is a great opportunity to invest some of your time and energy on them. Having a strong presence on LinkedIn, for instance, can help you meet the right people to help you grow personally and professionally.

Share your conquests (e.g.: a certificate from the course you’re taking), your thoughts, and articles you find interesting. Comment on posts and interact with your connections. Just because we can’t be present at physical events doesn’t mean we can’t be present in each other's lives—and in online communities/events where we can network.

Don’t forget that the building of your personal brand is still important—you may be in quarantine, but it isn’t and these tips might do the trick to help you land your dream job. After all, this is how you can show everyone what you’re really made of, so what better time to strengthen your professional image than right now?

In every step of the job search you’re building who you are as a professional, so be true to yourself. Companies appreciate transparency and honesty from their candidates. And when you’re working at a place, you will spend most of the week with them, so why pretend to be someone you’re not?

Trust yourself, be ready to adapt to any circumstance, and good luck! It’s time to send in those applications and grow your career.

If you are in the search for a new IT challenge, you can always check our job openings here. We’re always looking for talented people to join our team.

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