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Gearing Your Job Search to Employers' Needs

11/17/2013

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It used to be common for job seekers to spell out what they were looking for. The place to do that was the “objective,” oftentimes an entire paragraph with earnest-sounding statements involving the likes of “grow in synergy with the rest of the team” and “take my potential to new levels of achievement.”

That was yesterday’s approach! Today, the common understanding is that the “objective” is to get the job; that hardly needs to be expressly stated, right? And what is more: the “objective” is all about what you want, and what you envision for your career.

But the job opening doesn’t exist to satisfy what you want. It exists because the company needs something done, they need it done the day before yesterday, and they weren’t able to fill the position internally.

That’s where you come in: the product that is you, with all the wonderfulness of you. Now allow the company to see how their team is going to be better and stronger for having you be part of it. Speak to their needs!

Instead of an “objective,” give your résumé a succinct professional headline. The headline should capture the role you are going for—it should suggest a close match between you and the position. Your professional headline probably is the first thing employers notice about who you are professionally, so let it be the first thing to identify you as a match for their needs.

Generally speaking, the vantage point you want to adopt in the entire application and interviewing process is that of a consultant: Make it a point to elicit and qualify the employers’ needs, then shift gears and discuss how you can help the employer with those needs. Adopting this type of a consultant’s approach will also help avoid making you look like another desperate applicant begging for a job.

Again, job openings exist because employers need things done. These things usually fall into one or more of the following categories:

  1. Make (more) money
  2. Seize an opportunity (or solve a problem)
  3. Save money, time, or both
  4. Recruit, train, and develop staff
  5. Develop relationships with other organizations or the general public
  6. Retain existing markets and customers
  7. Develop new markets and customers

In all regularity, it comes down to a combination of several of these—all the while keeping the boss and other team members sane.

Design the presentation of your relevant qualifications and accomplishments to show you understand the urgency on the employer’s part. That goes a long way in sending the right general message to the employer: instead of communicating desperation (“I need a job! You get it?”), you will be communicating assurance (“You need xyz. I get it!”).

Yes, being in need of a job is not pleasant. For employers to hire you, though, they first have to see you are actively aware of their needs. That will give them the confidence that you will turn out to be a good hire—someone who doesn’t just show up for the paycheck but someone who will take on each new round of challenges.

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    All blog posts are original articles by Wolfgang Koch.

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