The good, the bad, the ugly. We've all experienced the full spectrum when it comes to job hunting advice.
Good advice is invaluable. It could help you get to the next level, whether it’s a revelation that leads to a critical “ah ha” moment or tried and true wisdom you just needed to be reminded of.
Bad advice, not so much.
We asked around Colorado tech to hear more from recruiters about job search advice — what works, what doesn't, and how it affects your career.
EMS Software is a resource management platform that allows educational facilities and enterprise-level business to manage meeting scheduling and events, collaborate and communicate. Eric Strathmann, the manager of talent and development at EMS Software, talked about finding the best fit and the benefits of networking.
What is one piece of job search advice you wish everyone would ignore, and why?
Jobseekers could ignore the advice of applying to any and every opportunity to find the next job in their career. For a jobseeker to find a great fit, they'll want to work smarter, not harder. Just because a company has a role open that matches your skills doesn't mean the company is a fit for your interests or aspirations. Do some research on the company, such as culture, technologies, core values, overall product or service, etc., and compare how it matches up with your own vision. A lot can be learned about a company that may not be included in their job description.
For a jobseeker to find a great fit, they'll want to work smarter, not harder.”
What's one piece of job search advice you wish more people listened to, and why?
Networking, networking and more networking. I can't stress this enough. People are willing to help more often than not. If you're interested in a particular company, a good start would be to reach out to former employees from that company to get the inside scoop on their culture, people and the overall feel of the office. You may get some helpful nuggets of information that you may not gather during the interview process. Also, in most cases, people leave companies on good terms. The people you network with will more than likely put in a good word for you before you head into your interview.
Colorado Springs-based Formstack is a solutions platform for online forms that automates business needs. Formstack allows users to build forms, collect data and better collaborate with their teams. Justin Flynn, the company’s talent acquisition team lead, weighed in job search advice — good and bad.
What is one piece of job search advice you wish everyone would ignore, and why?
The phrase “follow the money” is something I try to steer jobseekers away from. It seems to go against our natural reaction, but job satisfaction is often not heavily related to pay. You can certainly have an idea of your lowest mark, but if the role, the team, the project and the company blow you away, it should be an easy decision. Higher employee satisfaction leads to higher performance, and in turn, pay usually increases to more than what you were looking for elsewhere.
When you are applying for a job, you are marketing the brand of ‘you,’ so present yourself the best way to each of the opportunities you apply for.”
What's one piece of job search advice you wish more people listened to, and why?
A piece of advice that I like to give is, do not use the same resume for every job that you apply for. When you are applying for a job, you are marketing the brand of “you,” so present yourself the best way to each of the opportunities you apply for. Nearly every job has a few different skills they are looking for, so highlight those more in your resume. You do not have to have 20 resumes but have a couple that highlight some of your more applicable skills to different roles.
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