Career expert Amanda Augustine joined TheStreet to discuss effective strategies for job seekers.
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00:00So tell me, what are the most effective strategies for job seekers to differentiate themselves in a competitive market?
00:09Now, it's a great question. I think the first step is you really have to take a step back and define your goals.
00:15You want to be strategic about your job search. This isn't a let's throw every application out there and hope something lands.
00:22But you want to be really thoughtful and intentional with your job search strategy.
00:27So I always recommend taking a step back and saying, OK, what have I liked about what I've done in the past?
00:33What have I not liked? What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses?
00:37What am I great at and passionate about? And how can I take that and compare it to the job market to identify the opportunities that really make the most sense?
00:46Because once you have a very clear set of job goals to work off of, it makes the rest of your job search strategy that much easier.
00:54You know how to reframe or frame your resume, how to reevaluate your LinkedIn profile and other online branding materials,
01:04as well as who in your network you should be prioritizing, what events you should be prioritizing,
01:09and even what skills should you be developing, honing or emphasizing as you go through your job search.
01:17The worst thing you can do, especially in a competitive job market, is if you're just shooting out a generic resume when you haven't taken the time to take a second look at that job description.
01:28What are they really looking for? What do they care most about? Which skills seem to be the most important?
01:33And what are they? It's nice, but it's not not the most important thing to have.
01:38And I want to look at that information and then take another look at my resume and say, OK, are there words I should be swapping out?
01:46Is there an accomplishment I should be swapping in? Is there a skill I possess that's important for this job, but I didn't already have on my resume?
01:54How can I work that in? And what is the actual language that's being used in that job description?
02:01For instance, if I'm looking for a marketing communications job, how are they referring to that term within the job description?
02:07Is it Marcom? Marketing communications? How are they abbreviating it?
02:12And I want to make sure that I'm optimizing my resume so that I'm using the same language that I'm seeing in that job description,
02:21assuming I do possess those skills and it makes sense to incorporate it in.
02:25I know I went a little off track there, but what I really want to emphasize is that you want to apply for as many jobs as you can that are actually a really good fit.
02:35But you're wasting your time applying for roles if you don't meet the requirements and you're not taking the extra step to make a few tweaks to that resume before you send it out.