02.15.2020

Posted in Talent Acquisition

Over the past twenty years, the wide acceptance and use of the internet has changed everything — including the job search. You search for jobs online, you research the company online, and you apply online. The days of handing in a paper resume to the hiring manager are long gone. 

If you find yourself back in the job-hunting game for the first time in years, a lot of things have changed. In order to be successful, you will need to understand the major changes that have taken place. Continue reading to learn more about how to be successful with your job search. We will explain how today’s job search differs from years past and how you can change your approach to land that new job!

If you own a company and are looking for some new talent — look no further than American Recruiting & Consulting Group. We will recruit employees who have the hard skills and education for the job, align with your company culture, and will contribute to the success of your company. Contact us today to learn more!

Online Job Search

Twenty years ago if you were looking for a job, you were probably looking in the newspaper classified ads. You would scan through and highlight or circle anything related to your field. You would then call and inquire or stop into the business and drop off your resume. Maybe you would ask for the hiring manager so you could hand your resume directly to them to make an impression and hope for a call for an interview. 

Today’s job search is much different. You go online, type in your field or job title and location and you get thousands of results in seconds. You sign up for automatic alerts so you’ll receive an email or text when something new in your field opens up. If you don’t like the results you can try to expand your location, search on a different site, or even ask for a recommendation on social media. Finding available jobs in your field is no longer a daunting task, however knowing how to navigate this new world has its own challenges. 

Resumes Are No Longer on Paper

In the past, it was important to print many copies of your resume and cover letter on nice paper so you could hand out your resume to every company that’s hiring, and maybe even some that weren’t just so they could keep it on file. 

This is no longer the norm. While it’s still recommended that you bring a copy of your resume to an interview, realistically you won’t need it. If for some reason the employer has lost your resume, they still have a digital copy, and you could always email them a copy from your phone. 

Company Research

In years past, you would find job opportunities in the newspaper and you may or may not have been familiar with the company. You could ask around and do some limited research to find out if this was a company you would like to work for. Realistically, it wasn’t like you had thousands of other job openings at your fingertips. You’d apply, and part of the interview process was the employer introducing you to their company. 

Today, when you find a job description that looks promising, the first thing you do is google the company. You want to know who they are and what they do. You want to see their reviews and comments from employees and customers. And you are expected to. 

During your interview, you will be asked what you know about the company and questions about why you would be a good fit for the company. You are expected to give personalized answers about how you believe in the company’s mission and how you’ll fit their culture. 

In today’s job market, it is imperative that you do your research before you apply for a job — not only to make sure that you want to work for that company, but also so you can tailor your interview answers to the company’s goals and mission. 

Reviews from Current and Past Employees

In the past, if you found a job you were interested in, the only way to get current or past employee opinion on the company was to ask around. If you happened to know someone that worked at the company or used to, or if a friend had a brother or a cousin that worked there, you could ask those people how they felt about the company. 

Today, there is no shortage of people posting their opinions online. There are websites specifically for grading companies based upon current and past employee experiences. If you want to know what a company pays, what questions they ask during their interviews, what the company culture is like, or if their employees enjoy working there — simply ask google.

Keywords in Resumes

Twenty years ago, it was common practice to have one resume that you would hand out for every job you applied for. You would update it occasionally to include any new jobs or skills, but it was a one-size-fits-all resume that was used regardless of the company or the job description. And once that resume was handed in, a real person would read through it and make a decision on whether or not to grant you an interview. 

Today, this couldn’t be further from the truth. You don’t want to hand in the same resume to every single company. You should have a master resume that includes your work history, skills, and education, but that resume doesn’t get submitted. This is a source for when you are building your resume for a specific job. Its main purpose is so you don’t forget anything and you don’t have to research what year you worked at each job or when you graduated college every time you put together a new resume. 

You should create a unique resume for each job you apply for because you must tailor your resume to the job description and company. You want your resume to reflect the company’s goals and mission as well as the job description. You’ll want to include any keywords that the company uses to describe their perfect candidate. 

When a company posts a job online, they receive hundreds, sometimes thousands of resumes, and they are not looking through every single resume. Many times, your resume is scanned for specific keywords before it moves to the next level where it might be reviewed by a real person. If you don’t include the right keywords, the resume you worked so hard on will never even make it to the hiring manager. 

Allow American Recruiting & Consulting Group to Find Your Perfect Job Candidate

American Recruiting & Consulting Group has stayed up-to-date on all of the changes to the job search and hiring process. We understand that the perfect candidate shows dedication, consistency, and is hardworking, and that those qualities are just as important as hard skills and education. 

We specialize in finding talent for industries and roles including: technology and IT, healthcare, executive leadership, risk solutions, accounting, finance, administration, human resources, sales, marketing, insurance, supply chain logistics, and more! Contact American Recruiting & Consulting Group today for more information!