Josh Elledge - Chief Executive Angel
5 Practical Secrets to Landing Your Dream Job
In today’s competitive economy, landing your dream job can seem like just that – a dream. However, if you are diligent in using the tools available to you to showcase your talents and communicate your willingness to serve, you can stand out from the crowd.
Here are 5 practical secrets to landing your dream job:
1. Show confidence.
Most interviewers decide within the first few minutes of meeting you whether or not they want to hire you. Put those odds in your favor by making a great first impression. Dress nicely for the interview, and be confident in your body language and facial expressions, too. Take care not to frown or look annoyed when answering questions as this can be an off-putting, unconscientious reaction to difficult questions. When you’re confident, the interviewer will pay more attention to your skills and qualifications.
2. Indicate how your skills can serve the company’s needs.
It’s not enough to just list off all of your skills and qualifications. Determine the types of skills that would be useful to the company. Then, indicate your skills in a way that emphasizes your desire to help the company meet their goals. Personalize your qualifications as much as you can, too. Tell a personal story that illustrates and demonstrates your abilities and how they can serve the company you’re interviewing to work for.
3. Proofread all documents.
You’ll fill out a lot of paperwork over the course of the hiring process. Even if the job has nothing to do with writing or education, make sure all written forms of communication, including emails, are free from grammar and spelling errors. When there are glaring errors in these documents, it makes you look both unprofessional and uncaring, and it distracts from your overall message of competence and reliability. Many employers take what you send to them as a sign of how you’ll be on the job. If you don’t seem to care enough when you’re trying hard to land the job – how much are you really going to care when you actually have it? So have another person proofread your documents. If there’s no other person around to help you out when you need it, use one of the many free grammar and spelling tools available online.
In connection with having professional written communication, avoid using emoticons or emojis in your messages. Even if it is your personality to use them, and even though in today’s society most people do use them, you don’t know yet if the employer views them as acceptable and fun or unprofessional and out of place. Best to err on the side of caution and leave them out.
4. Ask questions.
At the end of an interview, the interviewer will likely ask if you have any questions. It’s important to use this time to show your genuine interest in the job, the company, and the industry. However, resist the temptation to ask self-serving questions about pay and benefits. Instead, focus your questions on the needs of the company. Ask about the future of the company and how you can help them reach their goals. This reiterates not only that you’re genuinely interested in the job, but you are also a service-oriented individual who will work well as a part of a team.
5. Curate online portfolios.
In today’s digital age, potential employers look at more than just your resume. They look at online profiles like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or even personal blogs to get more of a picture of who you are and what experience and skills you bring to the table. So use this to your advantage and cultivate a multi-dimensional representation of your abilities. Make sure your online profiles include a curated portfolio of your work so employers can see your qualifications first hand. Present this portfolio in a creative way so employers see you are more than just a set of skills and are a person who would be enjoyable to work with.
One caution about online social media and portfolios: Just as potential employers will use them to see suitability for their business, they will also look for potential red flags about your tendencies and personality. If you’ve ranted too often or have posted yourself acting in dangerous or unbecoming ways in the past, clean up your social media by removing old posts that could hurt your chances of landing that dream job.
