The Ultimate Job Hunt Moves That Will Make You Stand Out

The job hunt can be a pretty stressful activity, no matter if we’re just starting our career, or we already have some experience under our belt. During the job hunt, it can be pretty difficult to stand out in the pool of experienced and skilled workers, just as we are. Once teenagers where we just wanted to be like anybody else, career change makes us want to be different, outstanding, and noticeable to recruiters. That’s why we decided to compile a list of job hunt moves that will help us stand out and enable us to land our dream job.

Tip #1: Know the difference between cover letter and resume

Many people have a hard time telling the difference between a cover letter and a CV, and this confusion can impact future job searches and keep us away from landing a job.

CVs are here to show an overview of our past experiences. That’s why they should be short, punctual, and easy to see trough. And if we know that recruiters spend only five seconds looking at our resumes, we should do anything in our power to make our CVs perfect.

Making a perfect CV is a tough and time-consuming task, but it shouldn’t always be like this. Luckily, online CV builders like Applyya can help us cross this task off our to-do list and help us land the job of our dreams. This software will help us quickly make an effective, print-ready resume enabling us to customize it for any job we decide to apply for. With this app, creating a CV will be a blast, and after you finish it, all we have to do is to save it and download it as PDF. It’s that easy!

Cover letters, on the other side, should be an in-depth explanation of our CVs, and they should show how we can use our skills to fit a particular job description. Cover letters are here to enable us to pitch ourselves and explain how can we contribute to the team, even if we don’t have all the skills that position requires.

Tip #2: Instead of a cover letter, send a “pain letter”

In an article, she wrote for Forbes, Liz Ryan, a founder and CEO of Human Workspace, introduced the idea of “pain letter,” a new millennium alternative to cover letter that will help us land our next dream job.

Pain letters should be here to help us pitch ourselves as working individuals who researched the company they applied for, discovered a potential problem this organization might have, and offered a solution to this problem. Pain letters shouldn’t be sent to the hiring managers, but directly to the person responsible for the department, we’re applying for, because they are the ones who understand the organization’s needs in that area.

It takes a lot of time to write a pain letter, and its process can be divided into several stages.

The first stage includes research. When we determine which company we want to apply for, we have to research it in detail. Going on the company’s website can help us find out what they make or sell, their clients, and enable us to imagine all issues this organization is dealing with.

The second step is determining our role in the problem-solving struggle. That’s why, in this part, we should describe, in detail, how we could help them solve problems they are having.

The third step would be to find a person within an organization to send our application to. For payroll managers, that would be a CFO – the person who is most familiar with what you can do.

A pain letter should be short. It should contain an introduction where we can say something about ourselves and a compliment to our employer. For instance, if we see our employer got an award, we should include this in our introduction. Further, we should guess their problem and offer a solution, and then the short closing sentence about how we would love to talk with them more.

Tip #3: dress for a success

Despite what some people might tell us: we are what we wear. Various research indicates that there is a strong connection between our outfit and mood. That’s why we should always put on the clothes we associate with positive feelings. It turns out that the way we dress can set us apart during a job hunt.

Before going on an interview, we should make sure to research what is the dress code of a company we applied for (we can usually find it on their Facebook and LinkedIn page) and tune our outfit to match their policies. And even though our skills are a detrimental factor in winning an interview, proper clothing can show the recruiter that we can fit right in.

Tip #4: Use the STAR method to answer recruiter’s questions

When we passed the first stage and finally scored an interview, we should prepare ourselves on how to nail this stage too.
Interviews are not easy, and the truth is that they will never get more comfortable, no matter how many times we did it.

When answering the interviewer’s question, we suggest using the STAR method. STAR (or a Situation Task Action and Result) means setting up an elaborated story on how you completed the task to show the recruiter you’re the right fit for the company.

The first thing we should do is to set up the situation and a task we had to complete, then describe what action did we take to finish the job and the results we achieved.

Tip #5: Connect with the insiders

The fastest way to score an interview is by getting a recommendation by someone who already works there. If you have contacts within the organization you’re applying for, make sure you reach out to that person- it’s the fast train ticket for landing an interview.

Are you ready to apply?
Now when you’re armored with the knowledge that will help you stand out during your job hunt, make sure you use it in the right way. You’re just a few steps away from your dream job. What are you waiting for?