Five-Point Guide to Landing Your Dream Job
Hello there,
How are you?
Hiring is my favourite topic. Today, I bring to you expert-advice on how to position yourself during an interview. The pandemic has been tough and many of the existing rules of recruitment have changed.
Here are five tips that I really liked and found very relevant for the times we live in. Hope they help you, if they do, please share!
Nisha
Kartik Mandaville (@kar2905), CEO of Springworks
“What I have seen typically happen is candidates take the spray-and-pray approach. They'll apply to hundreds of open roles at a time. You can see dozens of these 'calls for help' on LinkedIn with several 'commenting for better reach' comments. This is where desperation creeps into processes and the candidate might end up with whatever comes on their plate first (most likely an average, low-paying job).
My suggestion is for candidates to get creative with their approach. Don't apply to every single job opening that's listed. Instead carefully curate a list of 8-12 companies/individuals you see yourself working with.
Now do a deep-dive on these companies/individuals. Follow their senior management on LinkedIn and Twitter. See what they are talking about in media or on podcasts/webinars. This will help you figure out what's top-of-the-mind for these people (and hence their organisations). Create a presentation/one-pager or a writeup on how you can help them solve for this. If you do this well, you'll have leap-frogged 99% of the 'spray-and-pray' applicants.
Every time someone reaches out to me with this approach for a job opening at Springworks, they end up right in the front of the queue in the interview process. Add enough value and you'll be in a position to negotiate the salary/position etc.”
Mallikarjun Krishna, Founder & CEO of EkPrice
The pandemic has shattered the dreams of many job seekers. I believe once the dust settles down, opportunities for higher-paying jobs will rise. My tips to not sell yourself short are:
1. Companies love people who have done projects irrespective of their size. It carries more weight than your marks per se. It is highly recommended to do a project and add it to your profile which is worth more than the low paycheck which you intend to take.
2. On choosing a job offering a lower salary, one will have to inevitably work for it for a long time. Instead of getting underpaid thinking about the short-term scenario, one can learn new skills in their niche meantime or continue to be a freelancer and take up gigs.
Chandrika Pasricha, Founder and CEO of FlexingIt
“On a related note, it is important for freelancers to research/ know their clients as they would a full time employer. Knowing your worth and how much consultants with your functional/ sector expertise are charging is also crucial.
Do your research, cultivate referrals and build a trusted network. Breaking up the project payment schedule and building this into your contract helps ensure you get paid fairly.
Leveraging freelance platforms is also key. For example, FlexingIt’s tool FeeBee provides recent fee benchmarks over 200 skill groups to help consultants price their services appropriately.”
Monica Pillai (@monicapillai), Head People Operations at Obvious
“Given the pandemic and economic slowdown, there is a sense of, ‘so many others are vying for the same role.’ Switch your thought pattern to focussing on what is in your control.
Step 1: Check if you sound tentative.
Even if you are confident and self-assured in general, some figues of speech might give away a sense of, "that's all I have done." In an interview, you are in a unique position of being tasked with giving context, putting yourself in that context and show the interviewer what you did well. Take responsibility for all this data getting transferred with a combination of honesty & humility. This is an interviewing specific skill. It will be cultivated only with practice.
Step 2: Now, place this in the larger context of personal values that drive your work and be authentic in your portrayal.”
Praval Singh (@Praval), Vice president - Customer Experience and Marketing at Zoho
"While applying for a role, always play to your strengths. You don’t have to be good at everything, but it’s important that you know what is it that you’re really good at; and that’s your leverage. That’s what you can bet on!"
Here is a bonus.
Shruthi Bopaiah (@shruthibopaiah), Head Client Engagement and Communications at Bridgeweave
“Most times candidates are nervous (across levels) when attending an interview. My advise is treat to it like a chat as the other side is equally keen to make this work. Do not look at it as a ‘power-equation’. It has to be a win-win for both…”
There you have it. Hope you enjoyed reading these tips as much as I enjoyed compiling them for you.
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P.S: Even Wizards have the same rules I believe. Apparently, there ain’t no magic in landing a new job, just routine hard work!
Bye.
Oh, by the way, a couple of my posts are now being published on Moneycontrol.com, do take a look:
Thank you for sharing this so many insights :)