How to land your dream job — 6 experts offer tips

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Hello there, how are you?

Hiring is my favourite topic. The pandemic has been tough and many of the existing rules of recruitment have changed. Today, I bring you expert advice on how to position yourself during an interview.

Here are five tips that I liked and found very relevant for the times we live in. Hope they help you.

1. Be creative and deep dive before you apply. Don’t spray and pray

Kartik Mandaville (@kar2905), CEO, Springworks
What I have seen typically happen is that candidates take the spray-and-pray approach. They’ll apply to hundreds of open roles at the same time. You can see dozens of these ‘calls for help’ on LinkedIn with several ‘commenting for better reach’ comments. This is where desperation creeps into the process — the candidate might end up grabbing whatever comes on their plate first (most likely an average, low-paying job).

My advice is that candidates should get creative with their approach. Don’t apply for every single job that’s listed. Instead, carefully curate a list of 8-12 companies/individuals you see yourself working with.

Now, do a deep-dive on these companies/individuals. Follow their senior management on LinkedIn and Twitter. See what they’re talking about in media or on podcasts/webinars. This will help you figure out what’s top-of-mind for these people (and hence their organisations). Create a presentation/one-pager or a write-up on how you can help them solve for this. If you do this well, you’ll have leapfrogged 99 percent of the ‘spray-and-pray’ applicants.

Every time someone reaches out to me with this approach for a job opening at Springworks, they end up right in the front of the queue in the interview process. Add enough value and you'll be in a position to negotiate the salary/position etc.

2. Work on a project and add it to your profile. Learn new skills

Mallikarjun Krishna, Founder & CEO, EkPrice
The pandemic has shattered the dreams of many job seekers.
However, I believe that once the dust settles down, opportunities for higher-paying jobs will rise.

My tips to not sell yourself short are as follows:
> Companies love people who have done projects, irrespective of their size. Projects carry more weight than your marks per se. It is highly recommended that you do a project and add it to your profile. It will be worth more than the low paycheck you intend to take.

> On choosing a job offering a lower salary, you will have to inevitably work for it for a long time. Instead of getting underpaid in the short-term, you can learn new skills in your niche or continue to be a freelancer and take up gigs.

3. If you’re a freelancer, know your client and know your own worth

Chandrika Pasricha, Founder and CEO, FlexingIt
It is important for freelancers to research/know their clients as they would a full-time employer. Knowing your worth and how much consultants with your functional/sector expertise are charging is also crucial.

Do your research, cultivate referrals and build a trusted network. Breaking up the project payment schedule and building this into your contract helps ensure you get paid fairly.

Leveraging freelance platforms is also key. For example, FlexingIt’s tool FeeBee provides recent fee benchmarks for over 200 skill groups to help consultants price their services appropriately.

4. In an interview, provide context about your work and focus on what is within your control

Monica Pillai (@monicapillai), Head, People Operations, Obvious
Given the pandemic and economic slowdown, there is a sense of, ‘so many others are vying for the same role.’ Switch your thought pattern to focussing on what is within your control.

Step 1: Check if you sound tentative.
Even if you are confident and self-assured in general, some figures of speech might give away a sense of, “that’s all I have done.” In an interview, you are in a unique position to provide context, put yourself in that context and show the interviewer what you did well. Take responsibility to transfer all this information with a combination of honesty and humility. This is an interview-specific skill. It will be cultivated only with practice.

Step 2: Now, place this in the larger context of the personal values that drive your work and be authentic in your portrayal.

5. Play to your strengths. You don’t have to excel at everything

Praval Singh (@Praval), Vice president, Customer Experience and Marketing, Zoho
While applying for a role, always play to your strengths. You don’t have to be good at everything, but it’s important that you know what it is you’re really good at. That’s your leverage. And that’s what you can bet on!

6. Bonus tip — Relax during an interview. Your interviewer also wants it to go well

Shruthi Bopaiah (@shruthibopaiah), Head, Client Engagement and Communications, BridgeweaveMost times candidates are nervous (across levels) during an interview. My advice is to treat it like a chat as the other side is equally keen to make this work. Do not look at it as a ‘power equation’. It has to be a win-win for both.

There you have it. Hope you enjoyed reading these tips as much as I enjoyed compiling them for you.

PS: Even wizards have the same rules, I believe. Apparently, there ain’t no magic in landing a new job; just hard work!

(Nisha Ramchandani is Manager Outreach, Axilor Ventures and a writer focussed on Future of Work)