Get Noticed by Employers, Quick Tips

Have you been struggling to get employers to notice you? Do you have SO many great qualities but can't catch the time of day? Check out these quick tips to getting noticed by employers!

You don't have a lot of time to catch an employers attention, statistically speaking, you have about 5 seconds! Cybersecurity, and many professions like it are fast paced, and hiring managers have little time to make quick decisions. Job seekers need to be ready to pounce on opportunities! You may be wondering "how do I grab attention?"... I'm going to give you my top 5 crash course recommendations to grab attention, and pack the most value in a short period of time.

Know your audience!

This is a big one. You need to know WHOs attention you are reaching for. This will help you develop a strategy to get noticed. Are you looking to gain employment at a young. hip, startup type company or a structured, more traditional company? A young tech company may be impressed by a web based resume with lots of interaction and creativity, while a more structured traditional type company may find this method to be distracting and would prefer a text based resume with formal language baked in. If you will be going after multiple types of audience, have multiple types of deliverables ready to go.

Brand yourself

What I mean by this is think of yourself as a product that you want to sell. What are your key capabilities? Do you have a general aesthetic? Are you skilled in a particular section of your field? Develop a voice around this and start applying it to your method of deliverables. Extra credit - putting yourself out on social media with a specific brand can help your targeted audience become familiar with who you are as a person and potential employee. Are you upbeat and energetic? Methodical and stoic? Ensure you are staying on topic, hiring managers will want to see you in action, learning, and bettering your skills.

Get to the point

Like I said, hiring can be a fast paced time for managers, and they are trying to juggle 100 other tasks on top of hiring. Using the two previous topics mentioned, get to the point. You know your target audience, and your brand. Write your resume and other materials as though you have very little time to show that viewer you are THE PERSON for this role. Use strong keywords, and only put relevant experience down. Though you may have been a fabulous cake baker, those skills may not be transferable to a resume for SOC analyst. If you are applying for multiple job types, have multiple resumes ready to go but always be honest about your experience and be ready to talk about it.

Create a Clean LinkedIn Profile.

Linked in is a great tool for getting you in front of quality job offers. Clean up your profile to reflect the job that you want. The idea is if a potential employer comes across your profile they will be able to know what you are all about in 3...2...1...Ensure your picture is professional and on brand. Use lots of keywords in your profile that reflect your industry of interest. Updating your resume/profile often to keep your profile at the top of searches.

Stay positive be flexible

It can be a ton of work to find the right job for you. You may spend hours sending resumes to get no response. You may feel like you nailed that interview only to be met with a "we are moving in another direction" email. Don't give up, stay positive and keep driving towards those goals and audiences you set up in the beginning.

When you only have a short period of time to make a good impression, make it a lasting one.

If you want to read about my full career makeover in one year, check out this article!