Are You on Career-Search Overload?

It's no secret that finding a job can be a daunting process. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to improve your chances of landing the career of your dreams. Improve your odds while keeping stress at bay by reevaluating your approach to job seeking.

Update Your Resume

If you're not getting that elusive call back, it may be time to refresh your resume. After all, finding a job is a competitive endeavor, and standing out from the crowd is often the difference between successful or fruitless career search results. Besides updating your resume with the latest information and checking for spelling and grammar mistakes, you may want to try a new format and/or font. Sometimes, improving the appearance of your resume can make a difference in how the hiring manager views you as a potential hire.

Refine Your Cover Letter

Create a solid cover letter as the perfect complement to your resume. This letter is what really sells you as a person to the hiring manager. While it may be tempting to use the same letter for every application, it's important that you custom-tailor each one to the specific company and position for which you're applying. Hiring managers can tell when you're using a template, so take the time to create a unique cover letter that showcases your personality and makes it clear that you're a highly qualified candidate.

Do Your Research

Spend some time learning about the company. Your goal when finding a job is to prove that you would be a good fit for the company, and that means understanding its corporate culture, as well as the details of its products or services. Browse the company's website and social media profiles and include pertinent details in your cover letter and resume that show that you know your stuff. Once you have a better idea of the company's culture and what type of person they're looking for, you can do a better job of tailoring your resume and cover letter to the position, which is naturally going to give you a competitive edge over applicants with generic documents.

Improve Your Social Media Presence

These days, your online presence can make or break your career search. It's very common for hiring managers to look up social media and LinkedIn accounts before they even consider calling applicants in for interviews. If your online accounts don't portray you in a favorable light, you're drastically reducing the chances of landing an interview and finding a job. Populate your social media accounts with flattering, professional content, or simply make your profiles private. Make sure you also have a current LinkedIn account that clearly states what you bring to the table.

While finding a job may take time, taking these simple steps can really improve your odds of landing something fast. Be persistent and try not to let rejections get you down. After each unsuccessful attempt, reevaluate your strategy, and look for new ways to improve how you portray yourself. Finding a job is never easy, but as long as you keep at it, you'll eventually land the perfect position.

Photo courtesy of high5rowan at Flickr.com