Job hunting is different at the start of your career compared to later when you’ve accumulated years or even decades of experience. What should you consider in job search as a seasoned professional, and how can you avoid common pitfalls?
1. Focus on skills instead of experience
It may be tempting to list your entire work history on your resume, detailing the responsibilities you’ve had in each role. However, in a resume, quality beats quantity, so aim to summarise your experience to what’s relevant for the position or organisation you’re applying to.
Provide context and scale by briefly describing your organisation’s industry and size, as well as the key internal and external stakeholders related to the role. Highlight the skills your work experience and any recent studies have equipped you with. A quality resume can even be one page long, supplemented by a more comprehensive LinkedIn profile.
2. Express what drives you and what you want to learn
Discussions occasionally surface on social media about whether traditional cover letters are outdated. Personally, I believe they can add a lot of value if used correctly. Before submitting your application, take a moment to reflect on what you want to do next in your career. Exploring potential employers’ websites and job opportunities can help with this.
The cover letter is a good place to share your reflections and current career aspirations. This process may feel challenging at first and might involve examining your values, but it’s important to remember that no one else can do this thinking for you. If you’re considering submitting an open application, be as concrete as possible about your interests.
3. Approach interviews as a two-way communication
From the employer’s perspective, a job interview is an opportunity to deepen their understanding of your skills, strengths, and preferences. The goal isn’t to go over your entire job history but rather to see the narrative within it: How did you make the choices you did? What successes and challenges have you experienced? What personal goals have guided you?
For your part, this is also an opportunity to create understanding of what it would be like to work in that organisation: How are the organisation’s values reflected in daily work? What is emphasised in the company culture? How are employees managed? Ask for details on aspects that, based on your experience, are particularly important to you.
4. Consider situational factors that influence hiring decisions
As you gain work experience, receiving rejections can become more difficult because, as experienced professionals, we often have a well-defined sense of our skills and strengths. It’s important to remember that a job posting is only a brief description of a position and the skills that are most likely to lead to success in it.
If the selection process doesn’t move forward for you, it doesn’t mean you lack valuable skills or strengths; it might simply mean that these don’t align with the organisation’s current needs. Often in consulting business also, there are more qualified candidates than there are positions to fill.
More and more organisations have nowadays made it possible for candidates to receive detailed feedback on factors that influenced hiring decisions. At Gofore, for instance, 90 % of those who responded to our candidate experience survey after interviewing reported that they received feedback and learned why the process did not move forward. If we saw you as a strong candidate but couldn’t hire you at that moment, it’s highly likely you’ll hear from us again.
