5 tips for your job search as manager or specialist

Table of content:

1. Define Your Personal Goals
2. Create Your “Candidate Persona”
3. Keep Your Social Media Profiles Up to Date
4. Use The Power of Your Network
5. Get Support from Specialised Recruiters

You are looking for a job and have been checking interesting job postings for weeks and months? Finding a new job can be quite exhausting and take a very long time, especially for jobs within finance, IT, hospitality, office management, or real estate. This is true especially if you do not start your job search with a goal and strategy in mind.

We have prepared 5 tips for your job search to help you find your dream job and make the next career step.

1. Define Your Personal Goals for your job search

You need to know what you are looking for to finally find it. Therefore, start with a list and write down what is important to you. Are you looking for a job with a short commuting time, or would you consider moving? Even now, when working from home is the standard for many, occasionally going to the office is just as significant and necessary. If you are willing to commute, how far are you willing to do so? Which tasks would you like to take on, expand or develop in the future? Which responsibilities would you like to have, such as a team lead function? What does the right work-life balance look like for you? The more experience you have and for specialist jobs, there are probably only a few job listings that will match your expectations fully. Therefore, think about which points on your list are must-haves and which ones are nice to have for you.

2. Create Your “Candidate Persona”

Try to see yourself from an employer’s point of view: What is it that makes you stand out? Which qualifications and personality traits can you use profitably in the new job? And, above all, what is it that sets you apart from other candidates? Jobseekers often struggle in defining their candidate persona. Think about the feedback you got in the past, or you might ask former colleagues and managers about your key traits. This will help you to define your candidate persona. When writing or optimising your CV and cover letter, you should put a clear focus on elaborating on it.

3. Keep Your Social Media Profiles Up to Date

There is a good chance you can secure a new job offer beyond screening job postings and sending applications. One in seven jobs is placed by companies, that have actively sourced the candidate via the internet. LinkedIn is one of the major sources hiring managers use on an international level and for the German-speaking markets, Xing is also an important candidate source. That is why your profile should always be kept up to date. Again, think about your candidate persona and your goals when you freshen up your profiles. Think about which keywords your potential new employer will use and make sure to include them on your profile. Otherwise, you will not be found.

4. Use The Power of Your Network

Regularly checking job portals on the Internet or subscribing to relevant job alerts are significant parts of your job search. But you also need good connections. Stay in touch with former colleagues, fellow students, and people you met either at business events or in your personal life. These contacts can be a door opener for a new job at an attractive company and share interesting job openings with you. Make sure to keep this relationship both ways. Do not expect help for your job search if you never offered your support to your network. Do not expect help for your job search if you never offered your support to your network.

5. Get Support from Specialised Recruiters for your Job Search

Did you know that a vast majority of jobs are never actually advertised? There are different reasons for this, one being confidentiality due to internal considerations and competition. Another reason is the skills gap in the job market, especially for qualified specialists in IT, Finance, Real Estate, or Hospitality. The success of recruiting those candidates via job postings is expected to be very low. Therefore, employers hire specialised recruitment agencies to help them find the best talent.

That means for your job search, you should establish a good relationship with professional recruiting firms and headhunters that have relevant experience in your industry and region. Their service is for free for candidates, and they will take you through the whole job search process with minimal resources from your side, making sure to find the right match for you.

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