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9 tips from recruiters and hiring managers for a successful job hunt
Along with a new year comes different things: new resolutions, new beginnings, opportunities to grow, and most of all, the courage and timing you’ve been waiting for to start anew.
Whether it’s first time job-hunting , or taking your first step to a career change, we have numerous tips from recruiters and hiring managers help you with nail that job. Good luck!
1. Assess your reasons
In a sit down with GMA News Online, Jake Go, CEO of Springboard Philippines, a recruitment and jobs consultancy firm, said people should first assess why they want to make the change.
“For what purpose? Para sa pamilya niyo ba? Do you want to add a skill or get to know more people? You have to know what you want before anything else,” said Go.
He said, “Know the company or industry you want to shift to. Saan mo gusto lumipat? Before you do anything else, do your research. You have to know sino ‘yung gusto mo apply-an at bakit.”
READ: Tips on switching careers from Springboard Philippines
2. Don’t just land a job, join an organization
Getting the job is great, but don’t focus on the job alone. Think about the organization you’re joining.
“When you go to an interview, you’re not necessarily only there to give a good impression. You’re also there to make sure that the organization is right for you,” Txabi Aboitiz, chief Human Resources officer at Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., a holding company of business operations that include power generation, financial services, food manufacturing and many more.
Aboitiz said, “Understand what you want, not just what the organization wants. It’s also very important that you come in with an understanding of what it is you want, what experience.”
He adds, “Don’t focus on that one position. Look at organizations you want to join, not jobs. Even if you find a job, the job will change. It’s more important to understand: Is this the kind of organization you want to join? Is this the kind of team you want to experience?”
3. Tailor-fit your CV to the requirements of the job
Noah del Rosario, human resource advisor at IRRI, the world’s premier research institute dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger through rice science, said applicants should edit their CVs to match the job.
“Ensure that the details you put into your resume are relevant to the position,” he said.
RELATED: How to make your CV stand out
4. Make a case for lack of job tenure
Most employers would prefer a work experience of three to four years, but most job seekers today have two years at most.
“Make a case. Why only two years? Were you not getting the experience you feel you needed? Did you know what kind of experience you wanted?” AEV’s Aboitiz said.
5. Know and play by your strengths
According to John Rubio, Facebook Philippines’ country director, Facebook Philippines offers a range of career opportunities from engineering to marketing.
READ: These are the things Facebook PHL looks for in applicants
“We look for people who are not only naturally great at what they do, but are also passionate about what they are doing,” Rubio said, adding that the company believes “people perform better if they are doing work that fits their strengths.”
6. Personality and attitude matter
Managing director of Education Lars Eltvik of Dusit Thani Public Co. Ltd., a Thai hotel brand in the process of expanding in Taguig City, said personalities are a crucial factor in the employment process, and companies can see more or less the personality of the applicant.
“When you’re talking about hospitality and hospitality education, it’s obviously very important that students and entrants into the job market have the technical skills,” Eltvik said.
Equally important is the necessary personality traits such as ambition, motivation and suitability to the industry.
Leah Yvette Alay-ay, Ayala Land’s hiring manager, added that beyond the technical and communication skills, companies are always on the lookout for the right attitude.
“Beyond the technical skills, beyond the communication skills we are looking for someone who has leadership potential, who has the learning ability or agility, who is resilient, who’s really bias toward results, and attitude matters over these technical skills,” Alay-ay said.
7. Create an account on job portals
Alay-ay suggested to create a profile in online job portals. Employers nowadays prefer reviewing job applications online as it’s easier to sort and monitor.
“With companies using LinkedIn ... to look for possible candidates ... I would like to recommend creating their LinkedIn profile because they will see in LinkedIn information about the company, different positions companies are hiring for,” she said.
8. Prepare, prepare, prepare
To help ace the interview, Go of Springboard Philippines prescribes a pre-interview practice like role playing—anticipating questions that might pop up during the interview and answering them—in front of the mirror.
“Tell me something about yourself. Where do you see yourself in five years? What’s your edge compared with other applicants?”
By writing those questions and trying to answer them in front of the mirror, you would be able to see how you look and put your best foot forward.
9. You only really have half an hour to make your mark
Globe Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing’s Maurice Ryan Bevera illustrated the deluge of applications they must to sift through: as much as 60 applicants with each getting only 30-45 minutes to impress the recruiter.
Among the applicants who stand out are the confident, the relaxed, and the articulate.
“Someone who’s very conversant, someone who’s comfortable when it comes to speaking their minds, someone who can articulate their good credentials and good background, someone who really converses with an interviewer,” said Bevera.
“If it’s more of a conversation, that’s how I like it as an interviewer,” he added. — LA/VDS, GMA News
