The average open corporate position attracts 250 resumes, on which recruiters spend an average of 7.4 seconds reviewing and of which only four to six submitters will be brought in for an interview.^{1, 2}

You could be the Lionel Messi or Serena Williams of your profession and still go unnoticed amid the deep pool of competition and seven second tryouts. The key to getting noticed is by taking proactive steps that help you stand out above the crowd.

10 Ways to Stand Out

Here are 10 actions you can take to raise your visibility with prospective employers.

1. Develop and maintain a professional online presence, such as LinkedIn or MeetUp Pro. A presence on LinkedIn is essential, as most employers and recruiters will look at your LinkedIn profile before reaching out to you.
2. Clean up your digital footprint. Prospective employers’ due diligence on job candidates often include a review of their social media presence, so clean up the postings, likes and shares that may be off putting to employers. Google yourself to determine what may be harmful to your reputation and take remedial action.
3. Networking is the ideal way to bypass the black hole of online resume submissions. Make a habit of attending industry conferences, join industry associations and maintain contacts with former colleagues.
4. Customize your cover letters and resume to fit the job. Emphasizing the qualifications and experience employers are looking for should help your resume get noticed.
5. Work with a recruiter or headhunter since they are a critical gatekeeper to who gets in front of hiring managers.
6. Build out your career credentials. Consider learning a new language, obtaining cross-cultural work experience, going for additional education, earning industry certifications and improving your technological skills.
7. Develop leadership experience by volunteering for special projects with your current employer and pursuing internal and external leadership training opportunities.
8. Follow-up on job applications and any interviews you have. A follow-up shows an interest and motivation that other job candidates may not have.
9. Have great references lined up before any job search.
10. Engage in self-reflection. Seek to understand what is not working (e.g., why your resume is not being noticed or why initial interviews are not leading to the next step). Only through self-critique can weaknesses be ameliorated.

Finding the right job is almost never easy, but persistence and remaining positive are essential to eventually landing that dream job.

Sources:

1. https://zety.com/blog/hr-statistics
2. https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/you-only-get-6-seconds-of-fame-make-it-count

Please reference disclosures at: https://blog.americanportfolios.com/disclosures/