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How to Get the Job You Want

3 Keys to Success

 

ADVISORY ARTICLE

By Aina Aliieva

Vancouver, BC, Canada

 


 

The job search process was always annoying to me. I hated adjusting my resume all the time and write a new cover letter. It takes so much time! I tried to create a unique resume by listing all my skills in one place to describe all my experience briefly and just keep sending it to different job postings. This approach didn’t work well. I tried to figure out how to improve it and spend less time rewriting my resumes and cover letters until I realize a simple truth: I don’t know what I want.

  1. Know yourself

The job search might be very positive if you know what you want. But how to know this?

First, I listed all my skills and experience, volunteer work, certifications, blogs, education – everything might be related to my professional life. Then I started thinking about what types of jobs I am good at based on my experience. I did research looking at what job titles might need experience I already have.  It shouldn’t be a 100% match. I might need to expand my knowledge in some areas or have more years of experience but at least potentially it needs to be related to an experience I already have. After that instead of having one endless resume which matches all positions at once, I broke my list into 5 different resumes. Based on your personal experience you might have even more resumes. It is normal at this stage. The point is to identify your main areas of expertise and separate your experience. The recruiters will not dig into your endless resume trying to figure out how you can fit the firm. It is our job to make it clear for them. That’s why we need separate resumes. Don’t be afraid to skip some of your experience or certificates if it is unrelated to this specific position.

The next step I did is I wrote personal characteristics such as my temper, my values, what drives me, my ideal workplace and so on. Knowing my character and way of work helped me to understand that for example working for the government wouldn’t be the best option for me. This step helped me to narrow my search and keep just 3 resumes.

  1. Explore and work on feedback

Having in mind 3 different job positions, in my opinion, I might be good at I started exploring the market. I sent my resumes to all companies and recruiters I could found. The quantity has a meaning at this stage of the process. I had a table written in Exel where I had columns such as when I submitted my resume, what position, what company and if I had any feedback. You can use any other tool to keep tracking and any other titles for your columns.

This stage helped me to dig dipper into the responsibilities of each job offer, identify my knowledge gaps and what I need to learn. Also, it showed the interest from the other side. Which out of 3 resumes got more feedback and interview invitations, when I feel more excited during the screen calls, where I feel I can be a better fit.

So, at this moment I still explored myself based on the feedback from the others. After spending some time at this stage I understood what is the best position for me and left just ONE resume. I didn’t care about other job offerings anymore because I knew what position will be ideal for me and didn’t want to settle for less. I was ready to wait longer if needs but get what I really want because now I knew what it is.

Here are some questions you might have while reading my article:

 

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How to cite this article: Aliieva, A. (2020. How to Get the Job You Want – 3 Keys to Success, PM World Journal, Vol. IX, Issue IV, April. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/pmwj92-Apr2020-Aliieva-how-to-get-the-job-you-want.pdf

 


 

About the Author


Aina Aliieva

Vancouver, BC, Canada

 

 

Aina Aliieva is a Scrum Master with 4 years of experience in Project Management and 4 years in an Agile environment.  She is also CEO and instructor in Bee Agile Tutoring. She teaches Project Management, Agile and goal setting for organizations around the world. She has managed and consulted on projects for the technical, construction, and engineering disciplines.

Aina has a Masters’s degree in electrical engineering and an MBA in technology. She has PMP and PMI-ACP certificates.

Aina is an active member of PMI CWCC (Canadian West Coast Chapter), PMI Ukraine Chapter and UAE PMI. She is also a Program Manager, Disciplined Agile in PMI CWCC.

Aina is an experienced public speaker and coach. She also helps in personal planning and setting up goals.

In her free time, Aina participates in different mentorship programs, speaks at webinars and interviews people for her personal blog.

She can be contacted at https://www.linkedin.com/in/aina-aliieva/