Applying For a Role – What Are The Options?

1. Job Boards

Job Boards have a mixture of advertised jobs from both hiring companies and recruitment agencies.

While not as popular as they once were, Job Boards are still a go-to resource for people wanting variety when searching. The main ones are Indeed.com, Irish Jobs and LinkedIn Jobs

Pros? By having this mixture of companies and agencies advertising jobs on their site Job Boards give you the benefit of having lots of choice all in one platform. Perhaps you are someone you who is not necessarily looking for a specific line of work but feel you can turn your hand to a variety of more general roles, or just want to keep your options open and know what’s out there.

Cons? The downside of job boards is that they get a lot of traffic, so you are competing against a high volume of people as well as the CV screening bots.

So, what do you need to do to get noticed?

• Make sure your cv stands out (see our previous post on CV Writing Tips)
• Ensure you put in the right keywords to fight off those bots

This means tailoring your CV to the specific job you are applying for and ensuring you highlight your experience and achievements that are relevant to that role. For example you may have a broad spectrum marketing background, but if applying for a digital marketing focused role make sure your CV reflects the application of your digital skills more so than POS or direct mail

2. Apply directly to a company – submit an application on their career page for the job you are interested in.

Have a specific company you want to work for? Go directly to their site and avoid spending hours scrolling through Job Boards.

Pros? Generally you will also get a more detailed job spec and better overview of the company culture and values than you will on a generic job site.

Cons? Your application can get lost in the black hole. Generally, the application will get picked up by an internal talent recruiter that will be shortlisting a number of candidates (sometimes out of several hundred applicants) who they will pass up to the hiring manager. However, with the volume of CVs coming through the recruiter won’t always get through all of them, depending on their bandwidth so again, your CV needs to stand out.

3. Using a recruitment agency- applying for a job that an agency has posted on LinkedIn or on their own website site.

Pros? You get to form a relationship with your recruiter who will get a good insight into your experience and determine if you are a good fit for what the hiring company are looking for. They can also prepare you for interview and brief you on what is important to the hiring manager.

Cons? When you apply through an agency you often won’t see who the company you are a applying to -just a job description. You’ll need to speak to the recruiter to get further detail.

Different recruitment consultancies or firms will have varying ways of working, so speak to different people and get a feel for who you work well with. They might be able to advise you on other upcoming job opportunities or help you network to other hiring managers in your field. An ethical recruiter with your best interests at heart will help you find opportunities outside of the existing job post, even if they aren’t benefiting financially.

These are the main ways to apply but there is also often the option of going through an employee referral programme, which many of the larger companies now offer. If you know someone working in your company of choice, they can put you forward to their internal recruiter and earn a bonus if you land the job. This is a much quicker way for you to get your cv pushed to the top of the pile so it’s worth reaching out to your network and seeing who you know in your company of choice. They might also be able to give you some insight on what’s coming down the line if the jobs aren’t open and advertised just yet.

If you are looking for help in making your next move then please get in touch – tracy@spiritexec.com