A curriculum or a resume alone won't guarantee that you land a new job.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait...
She is a career consultant, she dedicates hours every week to write CVs,
she offers CV writes as a service, she teach people how to do that, she reviews people's CVs
and now she comes here to say a CV alone won't help you to land a job.
Yes.
That's exactly what I'm saying. Stay with me, I'm gonna explain why I'm saying that and 
how you can finally increase the chance to land a new job.
I'm Juliana Rabbi, I have more than 15 years of experience as recruiter and
believe me when I tell you that I really know about CVs.
I've been receiving curriculums from candidates all over the world, all kinds of formats,
colors, areas, position level. All of that. I've been working with CVs for years,
receiving them everyday, screening the CVs, giving feedback, doing job interviews,
telling people how to improve their curriculum. 
I also know, during my career progression that the way curriculums were used by recruiters 
and by companies changed, like most of the things in life change, the same thing happens with CV.
But our mentality towards that didn't change. Most of people still think that if I apply for a job
I just need to do that, there's nothing else to be done, just wait and probably, most likely,
hopefully, I'm going to land a job. It's not about probably, it's not about hopefully,
it's about doing everything that it takes to speed up the process and to increase the chance that
you land the amazing job that you deserve so...
Let me tell you straight away, only applying for jobs with a curriculum or a resume isn't enough anymore.
I know it was enough years ago when the job market was different, when the amount of people
applying for each job offer was lower, when there's not a pandemic, a crisis all over the place
where people are losing jobs, are scared, are trying to find a plan B.
Only applying with your curriculum isn't the solution anymore, I know it used to be,
but times change and it's time that you change your approach to the job search.
What if I tell you that some companies aren't even asking for CVs anymore?
Yeah, the traditional one or two up to three piece of paper curriculum, some companies
aren't working with that anymore, some companies are skipping this part of the process,
asking for example for a video curriculum, asking to do an interview straight away
or just trusting someone who referred your profile to that position, so, I don't recommend that 
you ignore the curriculum completely because I'd say most of the companies maybe 90% if the companies
still will ask for your curriculum at some point of the process, maybe at the very beginning,
maybe at the end, maybe just as a formality to put you in the system, in the database,
so don't ignore the curriculum, that's not what I'm talking about, but understand that's not
the main aspect that will guarantee that you land a job nowadays.
So, Juliana is it still important to have a good curriculum? Or a more or less okay whatever I have is enough?
No, no. More than ever is important to have a brilliant curriculum because although isn't the main
that will make the difference to help you land a job, still is one of the elements,
one part on the puzzle, that whenever people choose to dedicate time to your curriculum,
typo mistakes are a big no! 
If information is missing, they won't choose you, if they can't find a way to contact you,
they cannot see proof of your worth so, for example: your website link, your portfolio link,
or your profile on another social media.
All those things will look negative for you so, it's not about having a bad CV, no, 
it's about having an amazing curriculum, working on it, do a proof reading, put all the information,
give emphasis on achievement, keep it updated, put emphasis on your skills. 
All of that is still super valid, don't take me wrong. It's just that, it's not the only thing
you should be focusing when you're in the job search process.
Ok, let me see if I'm getting it right: CV isn't the only thing but it's still important in the 
recruitment process, right? Right. Exactly.
So, what else should be on the table? What else should you care about when you're on
a job search strategy?
My number one thing will definitely be: networking.
Ok, I know this word is kinda overused nowadays and everybody is like networking, networking, networking.
But again: connections will open doors for you that might not be open to other people.
Let me tell you a real example that happened with a client this week:
during our job search strategy session, we connected with a recruiter in the city he want to relocate.
He's currently living in the US and he's moving soon to Portugal so, we were searching
for recruiters in Portugal, and we sent a connection request to her.
She accepted immediately, talking about LinkedIn here!
So, she accepted his LinkedIn connection request, in about 3 or 4 minutes after he sent the connection
and then he sent her a follow up message, thanking her for accepting and telling her a bit more about
his profile and his career goals and all of that.
On the following day, she replied back to him and mentioned a position that is available
in that city in Portugal that he's moving to, but the thing is:
that position wasn't posted anywhere.
It's what we call the hidden job market and I'm gonna make another video about it,
but just for you to understand here: not all the positions are posted out there, on LinkedIn, 
on the websites, on the company websites, so, this is a real example,
there's a position that's not posted but the recruiter decided to share about this position
with my client and he's now on the process for that.
What does it mean is that not all the positions are out there posted openly for you to apply,
that's why only applying for jobs with your amazing curriculum won't give you the access to 
all the opportunities that actually exist.
So when you're network to people that are working in the companies you want to work for,
the country you want to work for, when you're letting people around know that "Hey, I'm available."
"I wanna do a career transition." "I wanna change countries."
"I wanna reconsider a plan B for my career."
People may know about some job offers that aren't posted anywhere but they exist, so...
Let people know, but do it in a nice way. It's not about taking advantage of people, definitely not,
it's not about reaching out to that university colleague that you don't speak for 10 years and 
then you're like "Hi, how are you doing, I'm looking for a job, do you know anything?"
No, don't use people. That's definitely not what I'm talking about.
Create connections, create stronger connections, add value first, help people, share useful content,
comment their posts, their articles, whatever, create a connection. And at some point,
when it feels more natural, you can let them know that you're available for a new job, 
that you're actively looking for a new position and then they might be able to help you.
Or they may know someone who can help you, it's about creating the networking,
it's a process, it won't happen like that, and it's not about using people.
It's about making your connections stronger, adding value and hopefully, this is gonna come back to you
from the people that you know.
The timing that you apply for a job offer is also important.
If the job was posted one month ago, the chances that the position is already covered,
or at least that people are in the recruitment process are very high, so, I wouldn't waste my time
with a position that's open one month ago, go for positions that were recently posted
because there are less people competing for that position and that increase the chance that
the recruiter will actually take a look at your curriculum.
You might have an amazing curriculum that fits 100% the position you're applying for,
but if there are other candidated who applied way earlier and they're already in the process,
doing job interviews and all of that, your chances decrease a lot, so the timing is important,
create a routine, create a job search strategy that everyday you dedicate 30 minutes, 1 hour
to your job search. Don't let it to be done in only one way of the week, because you're already behind
other people who are faster so timing is very important, apart from having a good curriculum.
The importance of LinkedIn, yes, here I'm again talking about LinkedIn...
Because I know how it works. Think about it this way: when you apply for a job offer
with your amazing curriculum, only people who are checking that job offer will have access to
your information, right? Or to all job offers that you're applying for...
But think about LinkedIn as a showcase that's open 24 hours, right now people may be checking
your profile, and headhunters that are looking for candidates for positions that weren't posted
anywhere, so the visibility that you get in your LinkedIn profile is thousand of times bigger
than the visibility that you have with your curriculum. 
If you apply for a job offer with your curriculum, recruiters will, I guarantee you, at some
point check your LinkedIn profile, but the other way around might also happen.
So, they found you on LinkedIn, they like your profile, they see your activity,
they check the previous experience you have and all of that and then later on,
they'll ask for you curriculum so: both ways work.
Don't underestimate the importance of LinkedIn, and when I say LinkedIn, I'm not only talkling about
your profile, I'm talking about your activities on the platform, all the interaction that you do with people
every comment that you do on a post makes a difference, every like you give, 
every content you post, so all those things will call attention from people, including recruiters
and headhunters to your profile and they might find on you the perfect candidate they're looking for
and they might invite your for an interview, even if you didn't use your curriculum 
to start the recruitment process.
Your curriculum might say that you have 10 years of experience in one area, that sounds amazing, right?
Definitely, but what if you can show the recruiter and the company, your future hiring manager,
how you did that? What if you could show more about it instead of just saying that in your curriculum?
And what I say by that is: how to use your other social media, including LinkedIn, but apart from that,
to showcase the things you've done, maybe you have a portfolio, maybe you have your website,
maybe you have a blog, so, all those things will prove that you're an expert and that you have 
knowledge in that area instead of just saying that in your curriculum.
People tend to do a very descriptive curriculum, just listing the things they've done, just like
job descriptions, and let me tell you that this won't make you stand out from the crowd,
most people do a descriptive CV, just listing stuff and that's not what will call the attention to 
the recruiters, so if your other social media can prove that you did what you 
said that you did in your curriculum, great for you.
Recruiters will check that and you can put the direct link on your curriculum to that other social media,
so you make it easier for whoever is reading your profile to find proofs that you did
what you said you did in your curriculum.
Have you heard about video curriculum?
Yes, more and more companies are asking candidates to grab the camera and speak to the camera 
and talk about their experiences, about their background, answer a typical question 
"Tell me a bit about yourself." or "Why should we choose you for the position?"
So that's what we call video curriculum. Sometimes there are specific questions that you have
to ask and normally a time, normally short, between 1 and 3 minutes, not longer than that,
but sometimes is just like "Make a video and tell us about yourself."
Get ready for that, get familiar with the camera, because you might apply for a job with
your traditional curriculum, but at some point companies might ask for a video curriculum,
which is another way to differentiate yourself and if they ask for that, it's amazing
because you definitely have the chance to stand out and show way more of you,
of your personality, the way you communicate, your energy, your motivation for the position
then only a piece of paper or an online version of your curriculum.
I need to go back to talk about LinkedIn to stress one more aspect.
I had several clients telling me that they were direct contacted on LinkedIn by the hiring manager
asking if they were available for an interview. What I'm saying here is that:
when the hiring manager contact you, you're skipping not only the "Applying for the position" part
but also the "HR first screening" part, so you're going two steps ahead in the process.
Most likely at some poing you're going to need to talk to someone from the HR,
you're gonna need to send your curriculum, but that's more like a formality.
If the hiring manager found you and contacted you directly, you're way ahead of other candidates.
And the good news is that this is happening. More and more.
I have real cases of people that because of a comment they made on LinkedIn,
they wrote something on a post, someone saw their profile and contacted them and invited them
for an interview. So, those things happen, believe me. You need to be smart when you post
something, when you share your content, when you comment. Because you're increasing
your visibility, you're attracting people to "Who is this person? Let me see who made this comment."
"Let me check his profile." So, those things happen. Be intentional about it,
but also understand the power of that, then the CV, the curriculum, the resume is still important
but it's gonna come way later in the process, more like a formality just to, you know, fill up our database,
but the hiring manager already told HR "Do whatever you need to you but I want to interview that person."
That happened to me already. And I was like "Where did you find this candidate?"
"Oh, I found the person on LinkedIn, we were already exchanging some messages and I wanted to
interview her, so do your thing, do your HR thing but schedule this interview for me."
So, understand the power of being connected or you connecting directly with the hiring manager,
because you definitely speed up the process and your curriculum will still be part of the process,
but a smaller one.
After all of that I hope that you understood that: one, curriculums and resumes are still important
in the process, that's why I keep offering that as one of the services that I provide, I keep talking
about that with clients, but they're not the only thing, or they're not the main thing anymore
that will help you to land a new job.
Still have a good curriculum, updated, choose your achievements that reflect your best version
that's still part of the game, but there are other aspects that definitely should be considered
when planning, when considering a new career, a job change, a career abroad or
even a promotion within your company.
What is the word here?
The sound again...
Corona virus...
What else?
