When I am coaching professionals and ask them when do they do in-depth research on a prospective employer company and the job, they say when they receive an interview call. So it means the research done at the stage of applying for the job is cursory. Right? I ask. To which they answer in the affirmative. So this is the biggest mistake and let me reveal to you the secret to gain interview calls. You need to do in-depth research as if you are already an employee of the prospective employer company before you make an application; not after you receive an interview call.
It means more work. That’s right however we have all heard of the saying – ‘No pain, no gain”. With my over 3 decades of experience in sales, recruitment & career transition coaching and having guided over 10,000 candidates and personally coached 3000+ job aspirants, I know that the job seekers who spend quality time and energy in doing research committedly before they send their application, do receive calls.
The general tendancy of most job seekers is to simply go through the job description, the company website and then hurriedly send in their application. The assumption is that once I get an interview call, I will do my detailed research. It is human tendancy to avoid pain (of doing in depth research) and remain in the comfort zone. If you need to get productive results out of your efforts, then start the research before applying for the job.
There is a difference in the kind of research that I am advising to be done. It involves a proactive mindset.
Following are the 10 steps involved:
Step 1] Study the job description
Study the skills and expertise required. Note both, domain as well as transferable skills. List down the key ones according your understanding and experience.
Step 2] List down prospective employers actively hiring
Make a list of say 15-20 prospective employer companies where you see active jobs. It is advisable to start making this list even before you see an advertised vacant position.
Step 3] Identify the key professionals in the prospective companies
Search on LinkedIn and identify 7-10 professionals within the prospective employer companies.
Step 4] Developing a network on LinkedIn
Send invitations with a brief cover note on LinkedIn. Talk about some point that impresses you about the professional or something of common interest and chances of your invitation getting accepted increases multifold. For those who have not accepted your invite, you can look at your 2nd connections and see if they are connected to your potential contact and request them to introduce you.
With these 4 steps, you would have made inroads by connecting with the prospective HR/Business Head/ Hiring manager professionals. Just imagine how powerful you would feel with accessibility to professionals within the companies who are hiring. Might be all would not have accepted your invitation however you would certainly be in a far better position than before when you did not know anyone. Then, let us move to step 5.
Step 5] Explore further for a better understanding
Send a message to the network connections who accepted requesting for some information about the culture of the company and gaining insight about what are critical business pain points in the role that they are seeking. The objective is to present yourself as a learner who is excited and hence doing his/her homework which helps in putting your best foot forward. This step also helps in marketing of your candidature by increasing your recall.
Step 6] Study LinkedIn company pages
Check out for the culture of the company indication of which you can get from the videos or posts shared. Any milestones the company has achieved?
Step 7] Study the company website
Study to pick up points which will give you some nuances about the organisation. What makes it stand out?
Step 8] Pitch letter
Develop a customised pitch letter on the basis of the critical information you gathered with the above steps.
Step 9] Tweak your resume
Include the core skills (include transferable skills too) required for the specific job that you apply for. You need to know how to customise your resume to attract recruiters. Also the stories of success need to be as per the job’s key requirement.
Now you are ready to send in your application which you must do.
Step 10] Follow up
In case you do not hear from the company, then send a follow up mail which needs to include some additional point that you found interesting during the research which matches with your skills.
So that is the secret to receive interview calls. Do in depth research by diligently following the above steps and you will find a dramatic improvement in your hit rate. Additionally, the sheer fact that you took so much effort before you made an application impresses an interviewer and he/she is motivated to call you for a meeting.
P.S: In case you are interested in developing a powerfully engaging resume or a 5 star rated LinkedIn profile or an effective pitch letter which attracts recruiters or in our career transition coaching personally conducted by Sarabjeet Sachar you may please send me a DM on my LinkedIn profile (35,000 + followers), Instagram (69,000 followers), Facebook (1,77,000 followers) and our team will reach out to you. Do follow us on LinkedIn for updates – ASPIRATION
Happy job hunting!!
Sarabjeet Sachar
Founder & CEO, Aspiration,
Experienced Career Coach