As millions of professionals flock to popular job searching websites to apply for jobs, try to find other ways to get in front of recruiters that will make your application stand out. Now more than ever is the time to start being creative with your job search and more personal with your applications. How will you get the attention of a recruiter if you are 1 in 200 applicants for a job on LinkedIn? Why not experiment with alternative platforms that are also used by recruiters and get more results? The strategies you are about to read are unconventional and adapted to the saturated COVID19 job market. Use these and I guarantee that you will reach more recruiters and eventually land a job.
- Facebook Groups
Have you heard the saying that people attract others that are similar to them? Recruiters know this and will often rely on the network of their current employees to attract new talent. Facebook groups related to jobs, for example jobs in( insert your city) or expats in (insert your city) are where most recruiters post about an immediate job position they need to fill. Additionally, current employees of a company can also post about the latest open vacancies in these groups. Facebook groups are often more personalized than LinkedIn due to the social nature of the platform and often the time it will take to hear back from a recruiter in a Facebook group is much faster if you directly message the person that created the post. The best strategy to use in Facebook groups is to directly message the person posting and send over your CV to them by private message. This will avoid weeks of waiting to hear back from a recruiter on more traditional platforms and speed up your application time.
2. Direct Messaging Recruiters on LinkedIn
If you are not ready to reach out to recruiters through Facebook messenger, why not try out the same strategy on LinkedIn? Instead of applying using the traditional way to job vacancies, search for top recruitment companies such as Michael Page, People First, Randstad ect, look at their employees on their LinkedIn Page and reach out individually to the recruiters in your city through LinkedIn private message with your CV. This is a good strategy because you are proactively contacting the recruiters and providing your candidature for jobs they need to fill. It is also more personal than applying to one job position that thousands of other people are applying to.
3. Facebook Ads
Recently more recruiters are posting ads on Facebook for job positions they need to fill. The advantages of applying to jobs through Facebook ads is that there will be less people applying to the same vacancy. Instead of being 200 applicants for 1 position you will be no more than 50. You will just need to click on the ad and upload your CV. The wait time to hear back from a recruiter is shorter than a more traditional platform because Facebook ads create urgency for the recruiter to get back to you.
4, Referrals
Referrals are still extremely important. An applicant that arrives from a referral is much more valuable to a recruiter than a non referral applicant because they have already been pre screened by a member of the organization to fit the company culture and job requirements. If you can apply to a job with a referral from a manager or one of your friends who performs well at the company, it will greatly add to your application and chances of standing out as a star candidate. An easy strategy to get referrals if you do not have any friends at positions that are recruiting is to look out for posts in Facebook groups from current employees that are looking to refer someone for a position at their company. This strategy really works and can fast track your application over other candidates that are applying for the same position without a referral.
5, Going the Extra Mile After Applying on LinkedIn
Applying to jobs on LinkedIn is still a valid strategy however, you shouldnt only rely on LinkedIn when applying to jobs and adopt some of strategies outlined above to be more successful. If you do apply using LinkedIn, go the extra mile by finding the name of the recruiter for your region through the company profile you are applying to and reach out to them. You can message the recruiter to find out more details about the position and make sure it is suited for you, or ask questions about the project goals and work environment. The extra effort you are making to reach out to the recruiter and proactively find out more information about the job shows that you are interested in the position. This extra effort will be noticed by the recruiter and form a personal connection that will help you get ahead from other applicants in the screening process
I hope you got some inspiration from these creative job application strategies, please comment below and share your results. Good luck with your job applications!
