The Observatory

We all know looking for a new job can be incredibly difficult and stressful on its own. Pairing this stress with a global pandemic and mass unemployment, looking for a job in 2020 has become even harder. 

Carimus is lucky and fortunate to have been able to hire 10 people (yes, 10!) in the last six months of 2020. This has been possible because of the hard work from our whole entire team – from our interns to our executives.This year would not have been possible without the whole company rolling up their sleeves to put in the hard work for our creative and development projects. 

This has been a hard year for everyone, but we would like to make it a little easier by providing some tips for people who are currently searching for jobs. 

Below are some tips from our People and Culture Manager, Karen Small.

 

1: Number one tip: if you aren’t on LinkedIn, get on LinkedIn! This is your key to networking and finding roles. 

 

• Your LinkedIn profile is your resume. Make sure to add information about your roles, keywords, etc. Ensure your title is related to your role or what you are looking for.

• Recruiters use LinkedIn to search for specific skills and roles so if you do not have any skills related to your experience, they won’t find you. (There are lots of great articles on how to create a great LinkedIn profile – do a Google search for “Writing a LinkedIn profile or Attract Recruiters to my LinkedIn profile). 

• Ask for recommendations from former co-workers and friends.  

• Network! Use your network to help you get connected to companies you are interested in. It’s perfectly fine to connect with people you don’t know on LinkedIn – the key is your introduction. Recommended: “I’m interested in [Company], would you be willing to answer a few questions about your experience working there?” or “My co-worker [name] recommended I reach out to you to ask you a few questions about working at [Company]”. Not recommended: “I know you don’t know me, but would you refer me to a job at your company?” 

 

2: Resume

 

• Have a few people review your resume for grammatical errors or suggestions. It’s easy to go cross-eyed looking at your own resume so it’s helpful to have another set of eyes look over it. 

• Make sure your resume is in a “ATS friendly format”. This is important because a lot of companies have ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) that scan your resume and if it’s hard to read or missing keywords there’s a high chance it might not ever be reviewed by a Recruiter. 

• Keep it simple! Include keywords, important statistics (ex: if you are in sales, quota attainment, quota goals, etc), achievements, highlights, and things you are really proud of. 

• Make sure your resume tells a story. Why do you want this job? What do you bring to the table that others don’t? Show off your achievements and successes!  If you are looking to change industries or roles completely, include a statement at the beginning of your resume on what you are looking for. This will help provide context to the Recruiter and Hiring Manager. 

 

3: Do research on the company 

 

• We are in a unique time where there are more people looking for jobs than there are jobs. This means you have more competition for each job you apply to. It’s important to do your research on the company so you can stand out on your interview. What does this mean?

• You should be able to do a brief elevator pitch on what they do. You should have a clear response to “why are you interested in [company]?”

• Have they been growing this year or have they had to do layoffs?

• How have they handled COVID? This is a question that I have been asked on almost every phone screen I’ve done and it’s an important question to ask a potential employer. 

• See when the role was posted. If it was posted months ago, they might be at the end of the search or it might not be something they are looking to fill soon. 

 

4: Other tips

 

• You should plan on applying for more roles in general, but networking is really important. Try to spend a good amount of time researching companies, applying for jobs, and networking. 

• Practice for video interviews! Most companies are doing interviews via Google Meet, Zoom, etc. right now so it’s important to practice your virtual interview skills before the actual interview. 

• When you have interviews, make sure you are in a quiet place with no distractions. That might be hard with a lot of people working remotely but it’s important to help you focus and do great on the interview. 

• Learn new skills or perfect skills. If you are unemployed, take the time to do some online classes or get a certification. These are things you can talk about during interviews to show you have been working on self improvement even if you are looking for a new job. 

 

Good luck! Stay positive during your job search. This is an incredibly difficult time for everyone, especially if you are job searching. There are a lot of companies hiring and hopefully your next role will be your best role yet.

If you are interested in learning more about working at Carimus, please reach out to careers@carimus.com. We are already planning for 2021 hiring and will need more talented people to join our team.