Crowdsourcing Job Search Advice From Recruiters
I like to give job search advice, you'll find a lot of it in this blog and on my TikTok channel .
But you should never take advice from just one person I reckon, and it's best to get advice from some different people to help you decide which advice you're going to listen to.
So that being said I asked my network of Recruiters and Talent Acquisition Leaders on LinkedIn the below question and then captured all of the comments to give you as much well rounded advice as possible.
Recruiters & TA Folk of LinkedIn.
What's the one piece of advice you'd give to somebody looking for a job?
Whether that's practical search/CV/Interview type advice or more mindset advice?
I'll take the comments and put them in an article and maybe even a video to try and help out folk currently looking for work.
Benn Nicholson Talent Acquisition Specialist - CSM, Lead Gen, Sales, B2B, Technology
I speak to a lot of junior sales candidates. And often see this huge mistake on their CV's that also applies across every job hunter.
3/4 of the CV is filled with irrelevant experience, Customer service, Odd Jobs, Landscaping. etc. And then there will be one sales job, and they only have 1 generic bullet point. the hiring manager then has to imagine your skills in relation to this job.
Focus your CV and the hiring managers attention to the specific skills required for the job and literally delete the irrelevant bullet points (leave the job in there, just remove the distracting details, or tailor them to focus on what the hiring manager is looking for). (Pro tip: Its literally written in the job description, most important at the top of the list, least important at the bottom of the list).
Chris Middlemass (He/Him) • Talent Leader @ Sleeper | Exec Search | Employer Branding
Network, network, network. Unfortunately, you can update your resume all you want, apply to as many jobs as you want, but if you don't have an 'in' your chances are slim right now. Do whatever you can to establish relationships with key hiring decision makers.
Network and build a personal brand.
Stand out from the crowd, and showcase where you add additional value.
Any one can ‘do’ the job or role, but the exceptional people exceed and add additional Value.
Treat it as a job. It's your job to find a job. Don't half arse it and blanket spam everything. Make an effort.
Caroline Hunter(She/Her) • Manager, Talent Acquisition at Stryker
- Sign up for Job Alerts on the Career Sites for the companies you are interested in working with - see their job postings before they hit LI.
- Diversify your strategy - check out other job boards, join groups, Slack channels, attend webinars, comment & engage, connect with people with similar interests/skills/roles.
- Ensure your profile clearly states what you have to offer and what you are looking for.
*Offer to help others - it's fulfilling, makes you feel useful and you may find the karma comes back around for you (but don't do it for that reason).
*Remember it IS NOT YOU, this market is brutal and doesn't care if you are an excellent candidate & doing all the right things, it will still 💩 on you from a height. Be kind to yourself and know there will be bad days but will you prevail. Keep strong and go again - every ghosting/rejection is fueling your fire to make TA a better place once you get into your next role and every 'No' is one step closer to the 'Yes' you really want.
Just realised I've given you 5 when you asked for 1 Lee Harding, I'm feeling generous today 🤣
to map out 10-15 companies that they’d like to work for, based on what they do and whether that aligns with where you see yourself. Connect with everyone in the organization relevant to the position or department you’re keen on getting into and use one of these contacts to refer you for a particular positiok they may have. It’s just good practice to network with the future you in mind and not just settle for the jobs you see on LinkedIn …. And consider ChatGPT to help improve your CV if you’re not getting interviews ( DM for the prompts )
Don’t feel the need to share over presentation’s and strategies you have put together for organisations until after your successful 😬 there are alot of businesses out there that are using your ideas and thoughts in order for others to implement. It’s a two-way process!
Network network network. Your CV, even if it’s really well put together, probably won’t be enough for this job market. Get out there, connect with hiring managers and recruiters, and get involved in their online conversations. Get yourself seen part of a network rather than just a jobseeker. It will pay off.
This is specifically because you're asking on LinkedIn, so it's a fair expectation that the people seeing the advice are jobseekers on this platform!
Disregard ANY "blanket advice" to job search - and approach the person dispensing blanket advice with caution moving forward!!
Examples:
"Cover letters are useless"
"Only apply to jobs where you meet 100% of the qualifications"
"Green banner makes you look desperate" 🤢
It's not that any one of these pieces of advice is bad!! (Except the one - you guess which 😉 ) - it's that it's being delivered from a very limited viewpoint, and doesn't factor in the diversity in companies and job seekers.
Same note + Bonus tip - never follow any one "influencer" as a source of truth - end of day, we're all subject to our own limited experience and biases!! Reading thoughtful exchanges between opposing opinions is a good way to get a better landscape of the actual hiring terrain.
Liam Clarke I❤️TA | Senior Talent Partner @ JOINTalent 🚀🚀 (TA Geek 🤓) | Tech Talent Catcher 🔥🔥
One piece of advice I would give actually ties into our own Join Talent core values "You do You". Be nothing but your authentic self in the interview process, no pretences, you-do-you. You want an employer who accepts you for being YOU!. I spent too many years myself being the SUIT persona in corporate environments, that just wasn't the real me!! Be nothing but your personable self in the interview!
Catherine Bishop •Hiring recruitment talent - Herts and London
The interview process starts when you apply for a role or receive an approach from a recruiter or company hiring. Put your best foot forward, reply quickly to phone calls and emails and demonstrate credibility from the beginning by turning up for agreed phone calls and being prepped. If you applied for so many roles you cant remember whats going on you need to create a spreadsheet!
Yasmin Russell Building brilliant teams at Unibuddy | Ask me about becoming a buddy
Remember a "no" is a "not right now".
Whatever hiring stage you made it to, if you really liked the company/job then make sure you:
- Follow the company page on Linkedin (you'll be more visible in a LinkedIn recruiter search).
- Set up a job alert - Linkedin or some ATS's do this.
- Connect with the hiring manager/recruiter - drop them a note.
As a recruiter I always look through previous applicants when starting to source for a new live role.
Stuart Downing Head of Talent Acquisition @ Divido | Fintech Hiring Leader
Prepare for the interview. Seems obvious, but always amazing how many folk aren't.
Brendan Walker-Rogers (He/Him) • Talent Discovery Leader at VMware
After writing about your job, ask yourself whether you sound like a doer or an achiever. If you sound like a doer, then use more active language and demonstrate results (overachieved X target, led a team to achieve X etc.).
Don’t just be the interviewee. Also be the interviewer. When you have a conversation about potentially taking a new position, of course you need to share all your relevant skills and experiences. But you also need to ask your own questions about the company, the team, and the boss to make sure they meet your standards. Interviews are a 2way street.
Be clear about your north star. If you don't know what you are looking for, you...
- won't know when you find it.
- Emotions kick in and you end up losing sight of the bigger career plan.
- Can't tailor your CV/Personal Brand accordingly.
- Can't target your search.
Matt Cartwright • Senior Talent Acquisition Manager
Be relentless in identifying, contacting, and chasing people that aren’t just adverting jobs but people that might not be but in a position of seniority to you in your industry
Be professionally relentless
Don't rely on adverts, build good relationships with specialist recruiters and network. Many roles are exclusively placed with a recruiter so you're increasing your chances of securing the best role for you by working with recruiters. For my TA and HR community, Alderson James secured me a number of interviews and my dream job.
I appreciate it is hard but stay positive when you receive rejections, it means there is something better coming your way.
Failing to list your key achievements. Don't treat your CV like a job spec. Yes it's important to include some key responsibilities but the results are what hiring managers are often interested in the most.
Ashwani Bhat • Founding Recruiter @Avoma | Always Hiring!
Nothing impresses recruiters more than you doing a bit of research about the company.
It shows your intent & believe me the person interviewing you is equally invested in having a productive conversation & a hope to eventually hire you!
Jack Shannon • Facilities Management & Engineering Consultant UK & International
I would contact 2/3 agencies who specialize in the same industry to get my CV in the hands of various recruiters for the best chance of finding something tailored to my abilities. Simple, effective and time efficient.
Nic Cuthbert • People & Talent champion - scaling growth businesses in the right way
Get someone who's not in your industry to review your CV and info. If they can't tell what you've done, what you're skilled at and what value you've added, you need to change it.
Hugo de Burgh Mound • Associate Director @ Salt
Personal brand.
Think of yourself as a brand. Take all your professional content (CV, LinkedIn, Website, Twitter etc... ) and give them consistency. Keep them up to date. And always, be present and engage with your community.
Engagement builds recognition.
Recognition builds trust.
Trust rules above all.
Seb York MCIPD MIEDP (He/Him) • People Partner | Employee Relations | Recruitment | DE&I
'If the job is not right for you, do not take it'. It is hard at times, especially as we all need to work to pay bills, but if we can wait a little bit longer for something suitable then there is no reason to take the first role offered to us.
Time yourself for 8-10 seconds, to see how much you can "scan read" your CV, objectively see how close it matches the JD.
Reset your timer for another 10 seconds, then read properly / thoroughly, see how much you get through on your CV and again does it match the JD?
Dont waste "Prime" real estate on your CV, the first 50% of page 1 is your written elevator pitch to make the impact, to take you through to stage two.
Understand what your non negotiables are, be considered about your nice to haves given the market and work from there when looking at roles
Jodie Scott • Founder & CEO, Hubudio Group
Ensure you are interviewing the client as much as they are interviewing you, and ensure you have a good understanding of the role you are undertaking and your responsibilities. You might also want to grow within a business so good to understand a roadmap of how you can progress and move up the ranks.
Lee Harding awesome question...
Learn how to sell (yes sell.. interviews = sales) how you made an impact in your previous role, and how you think that impact could translate into how you'd add value in the next role you're applying for...
For example... In role X, I took over a team of remote TA Partners and created a structured model including process reviews, stakeholder alignment and structural change. This resulted in an overall reduction in time-to-hire, better stakeholder engagement and a team of high-performing Recruiters.
Your role involves setting up a new TA team in X, so my ability to scale something from scratch could come in handy for X, Y and Z reasons..
(Something like that, but with detail)
James Symonds • CORE Senior Account Manager at CORE Powered by BPM
Follow up every application with a phone call. Whether that is to an internal recruitment team or a recruitment agency. In today's market you need to get yourself known. I post a role and can have 100 applications within 12 hours due to the number of people looking for work.
That call will ensure your CV being looked at, and gets your name in the head of the person. So even if you're not right for that role, you will be remembered.
Call the client to follow up your cv. Check its landed, introduce yourself. Shows you are genuinely interested and committed & not just a keyboard warrior.
Rose King • Business & National Manager | Cyber Security & Tech
Don't give up
Use your network would be my 1 piece of advice. Talk to people you've placed, colleagues that have moved on, former managers etc
- Any email you receive from a recruiter, save their email address on Word - that can be your point of contact for when you are back on the market.
- treat this as a job. I am up at 9 with Jobservem CWJobs, CV Library etc opened and ready.
- look at your CV, get rid of the wheat from the chaff ( I am still not happy with mine)
- Make recruiters your best friend. You didn't get the...so what, thank them for the time they spent on you and tell them you didn't get... but you got a friend.
- anytime someone views/becomes a contact on your LinkedIn. send them a polite message. Thank them for viewing/connecting and tell them what you can offer.
- Look at a role. If you can hand on a heart tick of 80%of the lines in the job spec, start your search for direct contact with the recruiter...AGAIN, BE POLITE, but find an email/phone number. This world is tiny.
Interviews - Take a 30-minute walk just prior to the interview, this gives you time to reflect and ensure you are in a calm place.
If nerves are a real issue for you, tell you interviewer, something along the lines of “so sorry I am a little nervous, I am just excited to meet you to discuss this opportunity as it seems ideal” This can just break the ice, give the interview some empathy towards your interview.
It is a two-way process, they are interviewing you but also you are interviewing them so ensure you have some questions prepared, not around salary or benefits, more around say a typical day, what they like about working for the company.
Be prepared, be clear on what you can bring to the role, thoroughly digest the JD.
You should have a good understanding of the company; its values and its culture so ensure you express how you align with these.
Self-belief, you are the right person for this job, you have the skills, like what you see in terms of culture and the business so go into the interview with the belief that you are the right person for the job. Not arrogance but self-belief
LinkedIn – ensure you connect with your interviewer, look through their profiles as sometimes there is some common ground.
Reach back out to past employers, colleagues and managers as this can often lead to opportunities (providing you left on good terms and would want to return!)
It's a numbers' game. The more you apply, the more you maximize your chances to not only land a good job but also to understand the market better.
Always remember that when applying for jobs, you want to market what makes you stand out compared to other applicants. Sure, there may be other applicants that had the same roles and responsibilities like you, but what is something about you that someone most likely couldn’t replicate?
Chris Beattie • Founder | Cloud and Infrastructure Services | Maximising Value and Minimising Cost
Not one piece of advice, but a few I'd recommend!
Ask friends/colleagues (ideally with a similar skillset) which recruiters they've had multiple positive conversations with. You can be lucky and get a job through a recruiter, that doesn't mean they're any good, it means you were in the right place at the right time. If you have someone that presents regular opportunities or even better secures you multiple roles, that generally means they specialise in your space. If you get close to these sort of people, they can be worth their weight in gold. I know a lot of very good recruiters that don't advertise roles, they use their own network so try and be a part of it. And be a part of as many as you can (providing they're very good recruiters).
CV - It's personal preference but I don't like to see pages and pages of skills or intro or tech or education before I see where they've actually worked. A page of these things is suffice.
Search - Pretty basic but on Linkedin in the search bar you can type things like "outside IR35 contract devops engineer" and filter on posts, and that will show you anyone who's posted those words so you can find opportunities.
There's no greater search technique than using your own network.
Annika Sanderson Co-Founder @ Vulse | Inspiration Lives Here 📍
Focus on your personal brand!!!!
Luke Eaton • Head of Talent Operations @ WellTech | Data-Driven Talent Acquisition
be proactive. dont just wait for a vacancy , find the people with the jobs you want, make a list of their companies, message the people in those companies you think would be your boss and ask if there is a role for you there. puts you in the drivers seat, shakes loose more opportunities and can reduce your stress if you are out of work as you feel more in control.
I've been doing a lot of this! Always good to build relationships this way too. A lot of no responses but some valuable connections made this way and some have even directed me to other connections who could help.
Craft a compelling CV showcasing quantifiable achievements and tailor each application to the role. Maintain a positive mindset throughout the job search journey.
Mitch Sullivan • copywritingforrecruiters.com
Cut your CV in half. If you haven't started to solve the reader's problem by halfway down the first page, it's probably going on the 'no' pile.
Ian Sutherland (He/Him) • Business Development at Simucall Limited
Better to apply for 10 roles that you are a good fit for with a tailored approach than 1000 with a blanket one size fits all application
📌 Give your CV to someone else to read. A mate, family member... and if they can't understand what you do, what problem you solve and who for within the first 10-20 seconds... you aren't being specific enough, so most recruiters and managers will move on.
Make it super super easy to know what you do, the problems you solve and who for in the opening line of your CV and the opening line of each job role. 👍
Think about the ways in which you differentiate yourself and stand out from other candidates with similar experience - what makes you unique?
Includes areas of your life outside of your career where you build valuable skills and experience, e.g leading your church youth group which contributes to building your leadership and listening skills.
Leverage AI tools to assist you with creating your application.
Use your network. Message people you used to work with, people who are at companies you are interested in, people in your world, take them for a coffee... It's a long game, and you never know what might be useful.
Hannah Houlbrooke (She/Her) • Talent Attraction Manager at UK Research and Innovation
Make sure the job and company is right for you, over trying to prove you are right for it. Don't be afraid to ask questions at all stages to ensure you have the information you need to make the best decision for you and your career.
Paint a picture with your CV and introduction, "Never Assume" the individual reviewing your CV or application will know what your roles have involved.
COMPANY MAPPING: Identify the companies you 'WANT' to work for, if you believe in their product or mission then that authenticity and genuine interest will shine through naturally.
There are no ATS Bots out to block your CV, the only people who peddle that myth are people selling CV Writing services. Think about why that might be…
Agree with Margita’s comment: learn the mechanics of the recruiting process in general and it’ll help you get an idea of what companies are looking for when applying. You can work backwards then and tailor your CV to what you know from the advert the company needs to see.
Network, network, network. If you have done some great work there will be someone in a previous role that is aware of this who may be hiring or know someone that is. So ask the question, put your name in the conversation instead of sitting back waiting for things to come to you
Do your research and sell yourself! Also have questions ready for the interviewers!
Chris Hine 👋 (He/Him) • I❤TA | Senior Talent Partner
Don't rely on LinkedIn's job search function 👀. A lot of companies will not spread their job vacancies across multiple platforms, sometimes choosing just 1 site, and LinkedIn is not the priority site for a lot of those companies. BUT if you are applying for multiple vacancies across different platforms, have a document set up listing the company, role and date you applied in the unlikely (or in some cases highly likely) event that the role is advertised across multiple platforms, so that you do not apply for the role multiple times.
Margita Lauder CertRP • Senior Consultant - Facilities Management and Engineering at Carbon60
Probably the easiest thing to say and the hardest thing to do - not to take it personal as it will eat you up. Candidates who understand the mechanics of recruitment usually seem to be able to stay focused during their job search and not get too disheartened (hard to do as you literally put your life choices up for review).
Most people need to come to terms with the way they apply for jobs, is actually causing them more damage than not applying for them. Focus on the jobs you are skilled at, and if you don't like them, find the jobs that will teach you new skills - which will mean a wage drop and potentially starting at the beginning. Hammering applications out 100 a week, to all jobs, isn't job hunting. It spamming your CV.
New comments are being added daily so do make sure to check out the entire thread on LinkedIn:
Lee Harding
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