A smart woman, who I have come to know over the past couple of years, is looking for a job. She is looking for a leadership role.
To get a dream job, she needs to get an interview first.
I shared some advice with her, that I think would be useful if you are looking for a job, especially a competitive role.
First things first. The standard resume or cover letter approach won’t work because everyone does that. She has got it right. She is sending a video cover letter in place of text.
She also is trying extra, more than what many people do. She has made a 100-slide portfolio of her work. To top it all she has a go-getter attitude. So, pretty sure she’ll do well for herself.
If you are looking at a competitive e role, do a video cover letter and a portfolio. But do it right as I have shared below.
Mindset – How to Approach This
The best way to do this is to think of user experience. One of the best ways to improve user experience is by reducing friction.
Think if you are the hiring manager – will you take time to look at your resume and portfolio as someone – with whom you have no emotional, personal or professional connection? And when the only thing on your mind apart from self, family and other personal interests is to fill a role with as little pain as possible.
How to Think About Your Resume
Don’t mass apply. Customize your resume for every role. Remove obsolete terms or something obvious. Don’t make the resume the anchor of your application. Instead, share it as something that the hiring manager can look at if they feel like after they have looked at your portfolio.
How to Show Your Work and Capabilities
Aim to reduce friction here. If you have a PDF or presentation for your work showcase, convert it into a video, by talking about it over Loom, and upload that video to YouTube as an unlisted link. YouTube because of an easy playbook on any device.
In that video, don’t include too many slides, showcase your best work, across 2-3 projects, and tell the viewer that they can check out the detailed portfolio by clicking a link in the description.
What to Include in Your Message and How to Deliver It
Try two variations.
One, where your cover video and work showcase are included in one video (another way to reduce friction), and another where both are separate.
Great if you tell the time commitment upfront in your short opening note – something on the lines of – I can understand as someone who has hired before – how time-consuming it is to go through scores of resumes. So I wanted to make it as easy for you as possible and have tried to give you an overview of my work and how I fit in the role you are hiring for – in this short 4-minute video.
Then close the video by saying something on the lines of – hope this was worth your time, I would love to know more about the role and share how I can help overall. Let me know the time that works best for you – then give 2-3 time options
And in the end, create a strong vehicle to deliver this message, which is your cover video. Review it to see if your call to action is clear enough. Getting over a call or face-to-face on Zoom will be a good outcome for a job.
Hope this helps you in your job search.
