A finance job search requires intense focus, a lot of legwork, and plenty of personal resilience. It can take weeks or even months to find a job that actually aligns with your goals and when you do finally uncover your ideal opportunity, you need to take every step you can to market yourself as the ideal candidate. With so many things to think about, it’s easy to inadvertently sabotage yourself without even knowing it. If you’ve been at your financial job search for a while, you could be standing in your own way. Here’s what to do if you are, in fact, sabotaging your own search.
How Often Are You Updating Your Resume (Both Online and Offline)?
When you decided to start looking for new opportunities, you likely sat down with your resume and LinkedIn profile to give them a facelift. But have you updated things since? Ideally, you should update your online and offline resume on a regular, ongoing basis so that you’re adding achievements, certifications, skills and accomplishments in real-time. This ensures you can send off your resume as soon as you spot an opening you’re interested in and guarantees that recruiters and hiring managers are seeing the most updated information any time they pull up your profile.
Are You Quantifying Your Achievements?
Which of the following statements so you think is more impactful?
- Developed processes to improve reporting accuracy.
- Developed processes that improved reporting accuracy, resulting in a 30 percent reduction in errors and 3 percent reduction in taxes for reporting year 2015.
Answer B has a more “teeth” than answer A, wouldn’t you agree? On your resume and during in-person interviews, it is important to quantify your achievements whenever possible with verifiable data so that the hiring manager can clearly see why you are an asset to your team and to your employer.
Are You Really Being Honest About Your Strengths And Weaknesses?
Do you fall for the old cliché of telling a job interviewer that your biggest weakness is that you are a perfectionist? It is important to be genuine when it comes to discussing your strengths and weaknesses with a hiring manager. They need to determine your fit for the job and the team, and dancing around these questions makes it seem like you have something to hide.
How Well Are You Communicating?
The way you communicate throughout the hiring process is critical to your ultimate success. When a hiring manager or recruiter contacts you via phone or email, swift and professional response is of the utmost importance. When you are in contact with the hiring team, make sure that you always use professional language.
If you get nervous in an interview – and most people do get a little nervous – make sure to practice with a friend, colleague or recruiter to help you build confidence and craft well-planned answers to ensure you’re putting your best foot forward.
If you are a talented finance professional in the Buffalo area looking for new career opportunities, the expert recruiters at Systems Personnel are ready to hear from you. We match top talent with top organizations in the region. Contact us today to learn more about the ways Systems Personnel can help you achieve your career goals.
What’s your next step?
Send us your resume today and one of our top recruiters will be in contact to help you find your next role.