Human resource experts and researchers offered tips for trying to get an employer’s attention – and make the process less painful.

1. Crafting your application to suit the job

Each job is different, if only slightly, so it’s best to fashion your application with that in mind. Craft your cover letter and tweak your resume to best match your experience, skills and references to the requirements of the position. This can be critical in landing an interview.

Make connections between your work experience or education and the organisation you are looking to join.

“There is a lot of value in actually catering [your application] to the organisation.” — Michelle Brown, lecturer University of Melbourne

Michelle Brown, a lecturer in human resource management and industrial relations at the University of Melbourne, says employers shouldn’t have to search hard to see why you are the right person for the job.

“There is a lot of value in actually catering [your application] to the organisation,” she says.

This can work even if your experience isn’t related to the job on offer or if you haven’t worked in the industry before, she adds. For example, you might be applying for professional jobs but have only ever worked as a barista. In that case, you should emphasise the skills and experience you developed in the role that you could draw on for your new job, such as teamwork and the ability to work under pressure.

Evan Ortlieb, of Monash University, says job hunters should also be focusing on their best attributes. Find successes in your experience and emphasise those.

“Just as you would take a picture from your ‘best side’, you would highlight your best qualifications and related features,” he says.

2. Getting your resumé (and referees) to sing

There are many things that you might want to leave out of your resumé – especially when it comes to potential grounds for discrimination.

Details such as your date of birth, health history and headshots are touchy topics for resumés.

Research from the University of Florida shows that “good-looking” people are perceived to be more intelligent and therefore worthy of better employment and higher incomes.

But Dr Ortlieb says that deciding whether to add a photo depends more on the types of industries in which you want to work.

“Only include a small picture of yourself in the top right corner if you believe it is advantageous to the position you are applying for,” he recommends.  

Professor Brown also suggests thinking twice before including your date of birth.

“Age discrimination is an issue. It probably goes for young people as well as people at the other end [of the age scale],” she says.

Research shows that including your age or date of birth can reduce your chances of getting an interview. Leaving your date of birth out of your application is an option should this be of concern to you.

As well as deciding what to include in your application, how should it look? Karen Sutherland, a lecturer at the University of the Sunshine Coast, with research interests in Work Integrated Learning and internships, says typography matters, but it’s difficult nominating a specific font as best.

“No comic sans obviously,” she says. “It just needs to be really clean and clear for the person reading it. It needs to be probably 11 or 12-point, something that’s easy to read. It doesn’t have to be Times New Roman or Arial but it shouldn’t be anything too ridiculously ‘out there’ either.”

Spacing and formatting is important, too. “It shouldn’t be all crammed in together, but then it shouldn’t be spaced so far apart that you’re using up pages and pages.” She recommends using 1.5-line spacing.

3. The good, the bad and the ugly of social media

Once upon a time, candidates could cherry-pick the information they wanted to provide for job applications. But increasingly, employers will enter your name into Google and other search engines as soon as they receive your application. They can now see anything about you that is publicly available – whether you want them to or not.

A 2013 study by Careerbuilder.com found that 39 per cent of companies surveyed used social media to examine job applicants.  

“[Employers] look at photos. People forget to make their photos private and will sometimes have an unflattering photo, where they’re sculling a bottle of wine or something like that.” — Karen Sutherland, University of the Sunshine Coast

Ms Sutherland, who also has research interests in social media, says employers are checking LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter pages as standard procedure.

“They’ll look at photos,” she says. “People forget to make their photos private and will sometimes have an unflattering photo, where they’re sculling a bottle of wine or something like that.

“[Employers] will look at LinkedIn to see if someone has lied about their qualifications.”

She adds that they also check which pages you have ‘liked’ on Facebook to glean more about your personality. These pages will still appear on your page unless you have made every profile section private.

Deleting your social media accounts is probably not the answer (although making sure you understand – and are happy with – your privacy settings is essential). But having a carefully managed online presence can probably help you because employers are able to get a sense of your non-professional interests. All of this helps them see you as a ‘whole’ person, rather than just another resume in the pile.  

Ms Sutherland adds that employers are not Googling simply to find reasons not to hire you. “They’ll look out for good stuff too,” she explains. “Sometimes, they’ll look for an employee saying something nice about their employer or [if] they’ve won accolades or awards.”

Employers also tend to look at LinkedIn for evidence of previous successes at work. So spruce up your account – it’s the best social network for self-promotion.

4. So, you got the interview . . .

Interviews are your chance to talk to your strengths, and elaborate on your resumé. You’ll get to reinforce your skills by using examples. And you’ll have the chance to charm your inquisitors face-to-face.

Ms Sutherland says candidates should go into an interview with knowledge of the company they are looking to join, an understanding of how they might fit in there and what they will do if they are employed.

“Do your homework. Learn about the organisation. Learn about the clients that they have and some of the successes that they’ve had,” she suggests.

If employers are Googling you, the logical thing is to Google them, too. This could also help you if you are unsure about whether theirs is the best workplace — or role — for you.

When you’re looking at your potential employer’s website, keep an eye out for what they do and how they do it. You should also trawl for news articles about them, which might detail some of their past successes (or failures!).

Scoping out the organisation beforehand can also help you figure out how your talents would best fit and how you might contribute. It will give you an insight into the outfit’s workplace culture.

“Yeah, they’re looking for the right skills and education,” says Ms Sutherland. “But they’re also looking for the right fit.”

Lastly, be brave and imagine that you’ve been offered the job. This allows you to go into the interview already thinking about what you might do in the role. It can put you a step ahead of your competition.

Jotting down a few ideas beforehand and offering them up during the interview, Ms Sutherland says, is a great way of showing that you’ve gone the extra mile and that you are passionate about this particular job.

“If you actually think about the stuff you can do for them before you start, it shows that you’ve got initiative,” she says.

5. Job landed! Now what?

Congratulations, you got the job! But don’t get too comfortable. A study from Texas A&M University shows that employers often hire people because they have built a rapport during the interview – not necessarily because of their skills.

This might be good news if you’ve got people skills. But it also means that you need to meet the expectations you set up for yourself – especially in modern, competitive workplaces. 

“How good are interviews as a predictor of someone’s subsequent performance? They’re dreadful. But organisations don’t want to say yes or no to someone without meeting them in an interview first,” Professor Brown says.

Dr Ortlieb adds that being in the workplace can be just as competitive as applying for jobs.

“In the age of temporary jobs where security is often of grave concern, one must approach daily work life in a few ways,” he says. “Hiring and firing is always relative.”

His checklist of advice for new employees reads thus: “Assume nothing. Always outperform your peers. Show respect to everyone from the top of the ladder to the bottom. Be a team player but be sure to get credit for those efforts too.”

Of course, new employees need to be able to live up to their promises. If you said you’re organised, show them that you are. Write ‘to-do’ lists, keep a diary, check in with your colleagues regularly so you know what each other is up to.

If you pitched ideas during the interview, why not try implementing them once you start work? Doing so will confirm that your enthusiasm for the job was genuine. Your employer will probably respond well, too – they hired you, after all!  

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