Top 3 Job Application Hints
When it comes to submitting job applications online, there are a few simple things that you can do to give yourself a small edge over others. Some of these are really easy to implement, too. In fact, they are quicker than almost any other “fix” you can make during your job hunt, and can drastically increase your chances of getting noted. Let’s go over a few.
Apply Early
Most hiring managers stop looking at applications after they find what they’re looking for. It doesn’t matter if there’s an application at the bottom of the pile that portrays a far better candidate, because they will likely have made their decision far before they ever see that application. Even if that application is yours! So, that gives a certain priority on the applications that are received sooner. The lesson to take away from this is that you should apply to a job opening as soon as you can, rather than putting it off. If you aren’t one hundred percent sure if this is the right job for you but you are interested, then it’s better to apply and figure it out later, just to give yourself a fighting chance. Obviously you shouldn’t waste your time if you don’t want the job, but if there’s a chance, applying sooner is better than never. To help make this easier on you, subscribe to the alerts that most of the big job sites offer. Make sure that you customize what you can so that you are getting relevant information and not the generic emails that they send out to everyone. The few minutes that you spend doing this will give you a huge advantage over other applicants.
Apply Completely
A lot of online applications have optional sections, or they have a lot of things that you need to click on that can be easily skipped over. Don’t ever skip these, even the optional parts. Think about it from a hiring manager’s point of view: would you want to hire someone that took shortcuts or only did the bare minimum? Absolutely not. So don’t do the bare minimum on your job application. It’s a really simply thing, but most people don’t think about it from outside their own viewpoint. This is a big hindrance to your ability to get a job, and it’s rather simple to avoid. Spend five extra minutes on every application you fill out, and your odds of landing the job go up. It separates you far above the people that skip the optional sections. In fact, some employers put the optional questions in for precisely this reason. It weeds out those that aren’t as serious about the job.
Apply Simply
Some people like to get fancy. They do this with their resumes, with the language that they use, and with other aspects of the application process. This has a time and a place, but when you’re trying to purvey simple information to a prospective employer, it’s just not the right place for these kinds of flourishes. When you’re filling out your resume, keep it simple. Avoid fancy formatting, fancy fonts, and other embellishments. These look cool, but they actually take away from what you’re trying to do: show why you’re the best person for the job. Rather than focus on making things look fancy, focus on presenting yourself as straightforward and in as qualified of a manner as possible. This is what your prospective employer really wants to know, after all. They want someone that can excel at the tasks that they are given, not someone who can make a fancy resume.