How to answer why should we hire you

How to answer why should we hire you

Almost every candidate believes they should get the job, but putting the “why” into words isn’t as easy as it seems. At some point in the interview process, the hiring manager is likely to ask, “Why should we hire you?” Your answer to this key question could be the difference between getting the job and losing out to someone else.

As career development guru Liz Ryan points out, there’s always an asymmetry of information in the hiring process. Unlike the hiring manager, who is speaking to multiple job candidates and can compare their skills and experience, the only information you have is about your own work history and your research about the company itself. In essence, “why should we hire you?” isn’t about why you’re better than other candidates, but why you are the ideal person for the job.

It might be tempting to focus your answer on yourself, but instead you should frame your response to highlight how your unique set of skills and experiences can benefit the company. When answering this tricky question, keep these tips in mind.

Match your qualifications to the job description

Review the job description again before going into the interview. What about it drew you to apply in the first place? The job description might include requirements such as a certain educational background (like a bachelor’s degree in finance), a set of technical skills (like Python or JavaScript), a certain number of years of work experience, or practice working in a leadership capacity.

For example, a recent college graduate applying for an entry-level marketing position might match her experience to a job description by focusing on her degree in marketing (educational requirements), a previous internship she had that taught her about relevant platforms like Google Analytics or Mailchimp (technical requirements), and her role as president of her university’s Marketing Society (demonstrated leadership experience).

Also read: How to Talk About Why You’re Leaving Your Old Company

Listen during the interview and adapt your answer as needed.

While the job description can be a great place to start thinking about your answer, the job description rarely encompasses everything you need to know. If you craft your answer based only on the job description, it can signal to a hiring manager that you weren’t really listening during the interview to what the role requires. Instead, be an active listener as the hiring manager fleshes out the role, and when possible, reference something specific from your interview conversation. Which brings us to the next point:

Tell a story to show how you can use your previous work experience to solve the employer’s problems

During the interview process, you should start getting a better idea of the employer’s pain points and how your role will solve a real need within the company. Use the STAR method to tell a story of how you’ve solved a similar problem in the past and why you think you can apply that experience to this new role. The STAR method follows these steps:

Situation: What was your previous work context?
Task: What was the problem you were asked to solve?
Action: How did you solve the problem?
Result: How did your efforts impact the company?

Let’s say the hiring manager explains that the company’s main goal is to launch a new ecommerce site. You might talk about how in your previous job at a retailer (Situation), you were tasked with launching a new ecommerce site within a year (Task). You might focus your answer on how you led the search for a new web developer, worked with company stakeholders to determine the new site’s needs, and performed quality control measures before the site went live (Action). As a result, sales doubled over the next fiscal year (Result). While telling this story, you would reference similarities to the company you are interviewing with, as well as what additional steps you could incorporate to ensure success in the role.

Also read: How to Respond to A Job Rejection Email

Quantify the impact you had in your last job

Numbers often speak louder than words, which is why the “Results” part of the STAR method is so important. Think about how your previous position led to positive growth in the company. What was the impact on the bottom line? For example, if you were in a sales role, talk about how your performance compared to the quota you were given. You might also quantify your impact by talking about how many people you influenced. If you were in customer service, how many people did you speak with in a specified timeframe? If you work in HR, how many new employees did you train or onboard? The more you can focus on clear results, the more the hiring manager will remember you.

[sc name=“Newsletter”]

Be confident!

There’s a reason that you were brought in for an interview. The hiring manager is looking for an opportunity to give you the job, and the “why should we hire you?” question is your opportunity to concisely convey what you bring to the table. Think of it as an elevator pitch designed to leave a good final impression. You don’t want your answer to sound “rehearsed,” but having a good idea of some talking points in advance will ensure that the question doesn’t catch you off guard.

Looking to switch companies in the near future, or want to position yourself for a new role at your organization? Subscribe to the Scouted newsletter for more career development tips.

Topics:

Career path im isnt good fit

Let’s say you’re a couple years into your career and you’re at the point where you’re thinking about what’s next.

Do you go into a management role or get trained to become more skilled at your position? What if you’ve gotten a chance to observe what a management role, or whatever the next step is for you, looks like and you’re thinking, “I don’t know if that’s what I want to do…”

Here at Scouted, we totally understand that sometimes jobs don’t turn out the way we thought they would. Or career paths, for that matter.

So what should you do if you’re on a career path that’s not a great fit for you?

Find out what you want to do

The obvious first step would be to figure out what you DO want to do. Are there other departments within your company that you’ve taken an interest in? Or a hobby that you’ve always wanted to develop?

Not to toot our own horn, but here at Scouted, we’re actually pretty good at looking at a candidate’s talents and preferences and thinking of what jobs they may be great at. And depending on the career path you’ve been on thus far, it may be something you haven’t even thought of yet! This is actually a big part of our founding story, if you’d like to read more about that, click here.

But – if you prefer to go it alone – try talking with some friends and family about industries and roles they work in. Maybe even take one of your lunch breaks to visit a friend a their work and see what it looks like from the inside.

Also read: A Day in the Life of a Sales Development Representative

[sc name=“Newsletter”]

Get training and experience

Once you get a bearing on the role you’d like to have, it’s time to get some experience. Some industries and roles will be easier to get experience in than others. If you’re looking to get into something like web development, advertising and marketing, or even sales, there are many online courses that offer training in those areas. A next step would be to start offering your newly learned expertise to friends or family or freelance clients to get some real-world experience under your belt.

However, if you’re hoping to enter the world of finance, getting experience might be a little more challenging. If you’re able, snagging an internship or entry level job that promises learning opportunities could be a great chance for you to enter into a brand new role. This might mean taking a pay cut for now, but if it contributes to your overall happiness and career aspirations, it might be a worthy sacrifice.

Also read: When You Should Apply for a Job Even If You Don’t Meet the Minimum Requirements

Cross-check your skills with other roles

You never know when a new type of role may ask for the exact skills you come with.

These days, not all titles and roles are created equally and while one Operations Associate job might look one way, the same role at a different company or even in a different department might look completely different. Instead of focusing on titles, try to filter through job descriptions that ask for skills that you can bring to the table, all while pointing you in the direction of the career you wish to pursue.

If possible, stay within your company

High turnover is a real problem in virtually every industry and managers are working harder than ever to keep they employees they currently have. It’s expensive and time consuming to replace good employees!

That being the case, you might not have to start from scratch when choosing to pursue a different career. Instead, think about having an open and honest conversation with your manager about transferring to a different department or at the very least, learning new skills that you’re passionate about.

Here at Scouted, we’ve started implementing regular development meetings that help our team gauge morale among our employees. We also use them to look for ways to be continuously growing into our positions as our company grows. While startups do offer lots of learning opportunities, larger companies also often have the resources available to educate and train employees in new and valuable areas. It doesn’t hurt to ask! You never know, the start of a new career path might be a lot closer than you think.

Topics:

How to ask for a raise

Asking for a raise can be really stressful, and many people avoid the conversation simply because they are afraid of upsetting their boss or having the awkward conversation. But the fact of the matter is, it is crucial to bring it up and advocate for yourself, especially if your company doesn’t have an annual review process in which cost of living raises are usually offered. Asking for a raise in your current company and role can also be crucial in terms of earning more money down the line when you switch companies or look for new roles. To take at least some of the stress out of the conversation, here are our top tips for how to prepare for and ask for a raise.

Do your research

It’s important to spend some time gathering information about how much people in your job in your geographical area usually make. You want to see not only where your current salary falls in that range, but you can use it as a reasonable goal for where you’d like to end up. Start by looking up average salaries by years of experience and industry on Glassdoor or Angelist. Then, maybe ask around to friends and family who work in similar industries if you happen to know anyone. Remember that not all companies have the ability to pay the same and that many factors go into determining salaries like the size of your company, your location, your experience, and responsibilities.

You also want to do some research about how and when your company handles salary increases. Do they have an annual review process that comes with a discussion of salary? Does that line up with the fiscal year or each individual start date? It’s important to understand how the money flows in your company so that you can time the conversation correctly.

[sc name=“Newsletter”]

Choose the right time

Speaking of timing, it is crucial that you are smart about when you are choosing to have this conversation. Generally speaking, you don’t want to ask for a raise if you’ve been at the company for less than a year, or you had a salary increase within the past year. Exceptions to this rule would be if the scope of your job has changed drastically since that last increase. If you know that you have an annual review coming up, that is the perfect time to bring up a raise request, and most employers will expect to have this conversation at that time.

If your company doesn’t have a structured annual review process, then timing the conversation after a big win is another good tactic. Did you just bring in a ton of new business? Solved a long-term organizational problem? Anytime you’ve contributed something massive to the company and made your value known is the perfect time to discuss your future with the company. You also want to make sure to avoid hectic times of the year for your boss or at the end of the fiscal year when money is tight.

Be prepared to toot your own horn

During this conversation, you want to focus on the value that you have brought to the company and why you deserve a raise based on the work that you’ve been doing. It can be a great idea to write out some of the things that you’ve accomplished over the past year, and how this added to the success of the company overall. You don’t want to focus on why you need a raise, because that’s not your employer’s problem. It is a much better tactic to emphasize the hard work and dedication you’ve shown to the company. It is also very appropriate to outline the ways in which you’ve stepped outside of your role to help the team succeed and use that as a justification for a higher salary. This can also be a good time to ask for additional responsibility if you’d like to take your career to the next level, in which case a raise would be very logical.

Keep the conversation simple and direct

While you want to be prepared, you don’t need to go in with a full PowerPoint presentation on your value to the company. To open the discussion, you can start with something simple such as:

I was hoping that we could discuss my salary. It has been a year since my last raise, and I feel that my work on X and Y has demonstrated my dedication and hard work. I would also be interested in taking on some additional responsibilities over the next year to grow my role in the company. Could we take a look at increasing my salary to reflect this?

You want to be specific about your accomplishments, but you don’t need to bombard your manager with a million reasons right off the bat. Just get the conversation started and see where it goes from there. But be prepared to go into further detail if requested. You also don’t need to come out with a dollar amount that you’re looking for right off the bat, as they will most likely negotiate, but it is good to have a number in mind as they will probably ask.

Don’t worry if the answer isn’t yes

Most likely your manager won’t agree to a raise right off the bat, as they will have to run the request up the chain of command. Your goal is to get the conversation started and let management know that you’re dedicated to the company and looking to move forward with them in a way that is beneficial to everyone. If your manager does come right out and say that a raise isn’t going to possible at this time, it is perfectly acceptable to ask for additional feedback about why. Maybe it’s because of internal things, and no one is getting raises, or maybe there are concerns about your performance that haven’t been communicated to you. It’s important to be receptive to any feedback that comes out of this conversation and it can be a good idea to ask what you might need to do to qualify for a raise in the future.

While asking for a raise is something many people dread doing, it is 100% normal and required in order to further your career. Salary increases aren’t only necessary to keep up with the cost of living, but can improve job satisfaction and help to keep you at the right level for the current market. An internal raise also shows future companies that you were valued and did good work, which can be instrumental in continuing on a path of upward mobility. We’ve all got to be better at asking for what we deserve.

Topics:

First year like early stage startup

I’ve written a lot about working at a startup. I’m a huge advocate when it comes to telling people that at some point in their life they should work for one – whether it be as an intern, your first job, or as a career change – because of the huge potential for growth and learning.

Yet oftentimes when I tell people that they should work for a startup, it’s easy to leave out the actual day to day, week to week, month to month aspects of the job. It’s without a doubt a shock to the system no matter at what stage someone is coming to a startup.

That being said, in this blog, I’ll do my best to explain what the first year of working at a startup is really like. I’ll throw in some insights, tips & tricks, and a few anecdotes to provide the most accurate and holistic view of my first year working at Scouted.

A humbling experience

Going into your first startup is a little like going into your freshman year of college. It’s a whole new experience with new and interesting people in a foreign place. You’re figuring out where your classes are, how to balance school and making friends, and realizing that there are a whole lot of different things to do.

My first year of working at Scouted was very similar to my first year at William & Mary (go Tribe!). I was pretty out of my depth for the first 6 months… I struggled, plain and simple. There was a lot of self-loathing and misunderstanding, stopping and starting, and doubt. I was trying to figure out what I was supposed to be doing and how to do it, all while on the job.

It wasn’t until 6 months in where I really started to realize I needed to calm down and take things one step at a time. I started to read more, sit in on other meetings, talk to mentors/people who were more knowledgeable than me. It was this realization that really resonated with me: I need to get over the hump and get my shit together, people were counting on me to do my job and do it well, one way or another.

[sc name=“Newsletter”]

New/learning things

Reading was critical in my first year on the job. Once I realized I didn’t know every single thing there was about my job, I made it my mission to learn everything that I needed to in order to be successful. On a typical day, anywhere from ⅓ to ½ my time was spent reading, listening, and consuming anything that was relevant to my job. I spent hours in the depths of marketing, business, and startup blogs.

As mentioned above, it was here I learned that people have spent a lot of time trying and failing in order to come up with successful methods. Testing was an integral part of being successful at a startup and failing (to an extent) was expected in order to find a greater outcome. By picking up these tips and tricks, I began applying them to my daily workflow, whether it be in metric tracking, building ad campaigns, or product improvements.

Testing and building

Testing has become and is an integral part of my life now – nothing I do now doesn’t start with some form of a test/experiment. But when I first started working, it took a while to realize that this was normal procedure. It wasn’t as simple as being told what to do it and how to do it, it was more along the lines of here is this very ambiguous goal figure out how we achieve it.

For example, one of my very ambiguous goals was “Double our users,” and as our marketing lead, this was an integral part of my job. Yet as a kid straight out of school – how the hell was I going to double our users while on a shoestring budget?

That’s where testing comes into play. I tried everything under the sun to see how we could double users. Everything from going to college campuses, Facebook ads, calling candidates to get them to convert, Linkedin, etc… I spent weeks working 80+ hours, and through a lot of trial and error, I was able to learn a lot of things and figure out a sustainable marketing strategy for Scouted with a lot of elements that we still use to this day.

Getting into a groove

Similar to a bicycle, I began to click through the gears and I found a rhythm that was sustainable and efficient. When I went to work every morning I knew what my, the team’s, and the overall business goals were. There’s something about this feeling of alignment that really gets me going. A collective and effective unit all simultaneously driving towards the same goal. My work felt meaningful and varied, there was no stagnation. Despite this being my first job I knew this was something special that a lot of people don’t get to experience, a job I truly enjoyed and loved.

Maybe I’m lucky, maybe it’s like this at a lot of startups, it’s hard to tell at times. Yet I knew that this was a role that I was really enjoying, I was learning, testing, and driving real business outcomes all within the space of a single year.

Autonomy and driving outcomes

When people think of startups, they think of a more open/relaxed culture, open-plan offices, cold brew and beer on tap. Yet there is a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes before any startup gets to that point. It took almost a year, but by this point, I was starting to enjoy more of the fruits of our labor. Things like working from home and team lunches were great, but the thing that I received by the end of my first year that I enjoyed the most was greater autonomy. 1 year out of college, I was given nearly free reign over an entire part of the business, something that is virtually unheard of anywhere else.

I want to remind you that while this experience may be shared at other companies, it definitely isn’t common. I was and am very fortunate to have founders that are extremely open to giving employees the opportunity to forge their own path and provide the tools necessary to be successful down that path.

Nonetheless, this is probably the best way I can describe the first year working at a startup, difficult yet rewarding.

Hopefully, my experience can offer some insight and informs you if you’re ever making the decision to work at a startup.

Topics:

Finish what you start lessons from camp

Lessons come from unlikely places.

I recently spent the weekend at my summer camp’s 50th reunion hanging out with close friends and reconnecting with people I hadn’t seen in over 15 years. We slept in cabins, ate in the dining hall, went water skiing, tie-dyed T-shirts… I got to be 16 again for 48 hours and it was truly magical.

Amidst the reminiscing, there was a lot of reflecting. What was 16-year-old Jacqueline like (no one called me “Jax” back then), how has she changed, how has she stayed the same? Camp was an extremely formative experience for me – perhaps my most formative. It was a place where I felt completely free to be “me” and as a result, I discovered who I was, what was important to me, and what made me feel fulfilled and happy.

Being surrounded by former campers and counselors – friends and mentors – I was reminded of some of the most important lessons I learned; principles that have stayed with me my whole life and now, as I am several years into running and growing my own company, two, in particular, seem particularly prescient.

“Finish what you start”

“Never stop at the bottom of the hill”

For context, at camp, I was a canoe tripping guide (in Canadian speak, we called it being a ‘Tripper’), which meant that I lead campers on extended, overnight canoe trips in the Canadian wilderness for up to two weeks at a time. The two principles above came from one of my favorite Trippers who took me out as a camper. He pushed me harder than anyone and made me realize that I could accomplish things I never thought possible.

5’ 1.5”, 16-year old me was portaging a canoe (and not those light Kevlar ones that exist today, but a 90lb, water-logged, metal Grumman as well as a 60lb pack) along a 1 km portage. Normally, I’d stop for a break every 300 meters or so, but he pushed me to walk the entire 1 km without stopping. He wouldn’t let me put down the canoe. It took over an hour to complete, I was moving so slowly by the end. “Finish what you start,” he said.

And I did. And I had never felt so exhausted and so proud.

Me taking a hatchet to the portage sign just after completing it

So why do you “never stop at the bottom of a hill”? Because the hill isn’t going away… it’s better to persevere over the challenge and wait to take a (well-deserved) break once you get past the hardest part.

Despite the fact that I currently sit in an office for ten hours a day and only find myself out in the wilderness on the rare vacation, these principles are exceptionally relevant to running (and working at) a startup, especially when the going gets tough (which sometimes feels like the rule rather than the exception).

In reflecting on my experience this weekend, I emailed my friend and former Tripper a note expressing how much he influenced my time at camp and beyond, how I’ve carried his teachings with me into the real world. He wrote back that people often overlook how much they also learn from their campers: “How I manage my team now is from lessons learned from [camp]. Although I can’t push them to tears with a canoe on their backs, from those experiences I’ve learned that people have an extra gear – just need to find the right trigger to help them find it. Thank you for teaching me that.”

Figuring out how to motivate a team to achieve the impossible, how to help people grow and achieve new heights is a big part of being CEO of a company and one of the hardest parts of my job. His thoughts are particularly applicable at this time in my CEO journey as I am actively working through how to find the right triggers for each member of my team. I never would have realized it at the time, but my summers in the woods were some of the best training for my years in the office.

Reflecting back on how I helped campers have the courage to carry their first canoe, how I created an experience that left them remembering the torrential downpour and wild winds as the best part of their canoe trip vs the worst, is helping me to think creatively about how to energize my team today. We all need to be reminded every once in a while that we’re tougher than we might feel.

Where have you learned some of your most important, if not unexpected, lessons? What were they? Please share them with me – I’d love to hear your stories and thoughts.

#finishwhatyoustart

Photos from Camp:

Jacqueline Loeb Scouted — 2019 – Jamie and me en route to our camp reunion

Topics:

How to Respond to A Job Rejection Email

You wrote a stellar cover letter. You aced the phone interview. You visited the office and interviewed with the entire team. Then after a few days of silence, you receive an email from the hiring manager telling you they chose another candidate.

Well, that’s not what you wanted to hear.

Even though the outcome isn’t quite what you were looking for, there are still ways to maintain the connections you built during the interview process. With a little verbal dexterity, you can show gratitude for the opportunity to learn more about the company, reiterate your interest, and build a foundation for applying to jobs in the future. Here are a few words of wisdom to keep in mind for how to respond to a job rejection email.

Tips for How to Respond to a Job Rejection Email

Being rejected from a job is an emotional experience, especially if you really wanted to work for that employer. It might be tempting to respond with frustration, but it’s always better not to burn bridges. Instead, remember these three things:

Be courteous

You may not have been the final choice, but the employer wanted to get to know you in an interview and they had the courtesy to let you know that another person will fill the position. Feel free to acknowledge your disappointment in your response, but also be courteous and thank them for their time and consideration.

Be specific

You know that feeling you get when five minutes after submitting your resume to a job posting, you get an impersonal auto-response saying that you didn’t get the job? You’re better than that! In your response, mention something specific to the interview, such as the company’s upcoming goals for the year or the company culture. Show that you learned a lot about the company during the interview.

Be open to future possibilities

If you are still interested in working for the company in a different capacity, say so! Let the hiring manager know you would want to be considered for future positions.

Taken all together, what might this look like? Here is a great example email to use when responding to a job rejection.

Job Rejection Letter Sample

Dear [Hiring Manager’s Name],

Thank you for letting me know about your decision regarding the [Job Title] position. Even though my experience wasn’t quite the right fit, I enjoyed meeting with you and your team at [Company Name] and learning more about your goal of [Mention a goal from the interview].

Although I am disappointed that I will not be joining your team as [Job Title], I am still very interested in [Company Name]. I would love to be considered for future positions that you feel would be a better fit for me.

Thank you again for the opportunity to interview, and I wish your team all the best.

Best Regards,

[Your Name]

How to Respond to a Job Rejection Phone Call

Suppose the company sends a rejection with a phone call rather than an email. Responding via phone call can be harder because you won’t have the same amount of time to compose your response as you would in a written format. However, the same rules apply. Just remember three key items: thank them for their invitation to interview, express your continued interest in the company even if the position is no longer available, and ask for permission to stay in touch.

Want a more in-depth look at how that conversation might play out? Job search guru Liz Ryan offers a suggested script to follow with how to respond to a job rejection phone call.

Moving on

If you still want to keep this company on your radar, continue to follow their social media updates and PR announcements. If the hiring manager seemed open to it, ask to connect on LinkedIn. Or, you could do what this 1970s Harvard law grad did and establish an ongoing mail correspondence with a hiring manager who rejected him (okay, maybe don’t go that far). These aren’t a guarantee that you’ll get a job in the future, but you will keep the lines of communication open. In the meantime, there are many more companies out there that would love to interview (and hire) you.

Looking for more job search advice?

Subscribe to the Scouted.io newsletter for more tips and tricks for navigating the job search, application, and interview process.

Janine Perri is a freelance writer and marketing professional based in New York. She has experience writing about topics in business, marketing, technology, education, travel, and language services. She has also taught English in South Korea as the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship.

Looking for your next dream job? Check out open roles on Scouted here!

Topics:

Need personal brand job search

Do You Need a Personal Brand For Your Job Search?

You’re probably familiar with branding as it relates to companies, products, and services. But the idea of “branding” can apply to yourself, too.

A “personal brand” is defined as the way you present yourself to others, both in-person and online. In other words, what do you want people to think of when they hear your name? More specifically, personal branding has become much more important to your job search, especially since the rise of professional social networking sites like LinkedIn. Whether you are a college student looking for an internship, or a professional at any stage of your career, here is a quick overview of how your personal brand can influence your job search.

Why is a personal brand important for your job search?

Suppose you are a hiring manager looking to hire for an entry-level PR position. You’ve interviewed two strong candidates, and you are conducting some final research before you make a decision. After typing each candidate’s name into Google, you see that the results for one candidate include a personal blog, a complete LinkedIn profile, and a few articles that she wrote for a PR company as part of an internship. The results for the other candidate only include a basic LinkedIn profile without a headshot, and an old high school newspaper article about the candidate winning a tournament with the track & field team. So which candidate would you choose?

If you are like 35% of employers, you wouldn’t even interview a candidate who doesn’t have an online presence. In other words, if hiring managers can’t find you online, it’s like you don’t exist. Maintaining a strong personal brand, especially online, can be the difference between getting the job or not.

Since personal branding is also proactive rather than reactive, you are more likely to have new professional opportunities come to you rather than relying on traditional job search methods like applying for advertised postings.

Laying the groundwork for your personal brand

The first step for creating your personal brand involves thinking about your personal and professional values, as well as what you want to be known for. Do you want to present yourself as a visual designer with a background in illustration? A marketing guru who has a passion for nonprofits? A writer who specializes in technology topics? Like a group of founders developing a company brand, you might benefit from writing a personal brand statement for yourself to use as a guide.

After asking yourself some deep questions about your mission, interests, and values, think about who your audience is for interacting with your personal brand. When it comes to a job search, your audience is probably recruiters, hiring managers, and prospective co-workers. Your audience will dictate the voice you use (friendly, professional, authoritative, funny, etc.) with any content you develop for your personal brand. Thinking about your brand statement as well as your audience will help you stay consistent across different social media profiles and marketing channels.

Once you have your brand statement and audience in mind, it’s time to start creating! Since a personal brand is especially important for your online presence, it includes content you create for social media and websites, which can position you as an expert in your area. Take these three steps to develop and curate content your personal brand.

[sc name=“Newsletter”]

Three steps for curating your personal brand

Optimize your LinkedIn profile

LinkedIn has more than 645 million members, making it one of the best places to start implementing your personal brand. To start, fill out your summary at the top of your profile. Your summary should be written in first-person and tell your professional story. Depending on how you’ve put together your brand statement, you can use this section to talk about your interests, experience, mission, or values. Your profile should also include a headshot. Compared to profiles without a profile photo, LinkedIn members with a photo receive 21 times more profile views and 9 times more connection requests.

Aside from your profile itself, your actions on LinkedIn also play a role in your personal brand. For example, you can write thought leadership pieces to publish on LinkedIn. This will establish you as an expert with meaningful contributions to your industry. It can also increase profile views. If you become an active participant in LinkedIn groups and comment on other threads related to your company, industry, or job function, this can also put you on the radar for companies that are hiring for positions that you would be qualified for.

You can also publish blogs and thought leadership pieces on LinkedIn. Along with this, you can use your profile to link to projects you’ve worked on and other places you appear on the web.

Set up a personal website

Creating a personal website is one way to put your personal brand on display. A personal website is particularly important for design-oriented professionals, writers, or creatives who need a way to present their portfolio to prospective employers. In addition to any portfolio work, your personal website should include your bio, links to your social media, and a way to contact you. Maintaining a blog related to your interests and/or your industry is another way to show that you are actively taking control of your personal brand.

Aside from content creation, use your website’s design (color palette, images, fonts, etc.) to convey your personality and brand. When possible, use your own name (like “www.janedoe.com”) as your domain name so that your website shows up at the top of search results when employers search for you on Google.

Think about your social media profiles

According to a 2018 survey from CareerBuilder, 70% of hiring managers use social media to screen job candidates and more than half have found content that caused them not to hire a candidate. We’re not going to tell you that everything you post on your personal social media channels should be completely professional and resume-worthy. But we will remind you that hiring managers will look. So go ahead, be yourself and post things you like, but remember to be kind and respectful. You know, things that hiring managers will want to see from you in the workplace.

More importantly, creating a personal brand is not a one-and-done. It involves carefully curating your online reputation and showing active involvement or expertise in your industry. Your personal brand should also evolve with you and be an integral part of your professional growth.

Looking for more job search tips? Subscribe to the Scouted newsletter.

Topics:

Youre getting ghosted job search

How many times has this happened to you? You just had a great job interview, promptly sent a thank you note to the hiring manager, and waited a week, then two, then three to hear back about next steps.

Nothing.

Sometimes not hearing anything at all can feel even worse than getting a job rejection email. Candidates often assume that they’re being “ghosted” because they weren’t a good fit for the position. But more often than not, it’s not the candidate’s fault that the employer is taking so long to respond. There’s a lot of working behind the scenes that goes into hiring that might take longer than a candidate expects. Rather than refresh your inbox every few minutes, quell some of those job search fears by remembering some of these factors that could delay hearing back from a prospective employer.

People are on vacation or out of the office

Sometimes a key person in the decision-making process is on vacation, sick, or responding to a family emergency. One absent person can hold up the rest of the team from making a decision or sending out an offer letter. This is particularly likely to be the case if the team is small, since it can be difficult to hand off the hiring process to another person who already has their hands full. Keep in mind that we’re also coming into the holiday season where many people are out of the office, so recruitment can take longer than usual.

[sc name=”Newsletter”]

There are a lot of decision-makers who need to weigh in

If you’ve ever had a panel interview or multiple rounds of interviews, you are probably familiar with just how many people can be involved in the recruitment process. Sometimes it’s an issue of getting everyone on the same calendar invite to talk about the different candidates and decide who should get the job offer. Aside from the team that is conducting the search, there could also be logistics and paperwork involved with human resources that will hold up the process. This is why the more information you have about the recruitment process at the outset, the better equipped you will be in case of delays.

Other interviews are taking longer than anticipated

In most cases, employers are interviewing several candidates for a position. While they may have initially scheduled all interviews to take place the same week, chances are that either a candidate or the hiring manager needed to reschedule. One shift in the interview schedule can delay the entire process for other job candidates. In fact, according to Glassdoor, the interview process lasts an average of 22.9 days. Research from MRINetworks also shows that it takes an average of five to six weeks to receive a job offer after the final round of interviews, a time span that has been gradually increasing over the past few years and reflects the complexity of the recruitment process.

A key employee is leaving the company and the job description is going to change

The position you are interviewing for may not be the only one that needs to be filled. If another employee leaves the company around the same time, the company could be restructuring the department or reimagining different roles as a result. For example, the position you applied for may temporarily absorb some of the other employee’s duties until a replacement can be found for him/her, too. This doesn’t necessarily mean you are out of the running, but it might take longer for the company to extend an offer or let you know that the position is on hold.

Other company projects are taking priority

In today’s world, business priorities are constantly changing. Maybe the executive team has just released new strategic goals that require current employees to make new changes to their operations. Maybe it’s the end of the company’s fiscal year and the team is pushing to meet a quota. Or maybe there’s a merger in the works, or a major new software that’s being implemented. The company probably didn’t forget about you, but filling the position might no longer be top of mind. This is where a well-timed follow-up email could work in your favor, especially if you are the only candidate who reaches out.

How to handle getting ghosted

If you suspect that you are getting ghosted by an employer, you don’t have to keep passively waiting for a response. Be proactive! If the hiring manager said they would have an answer for you after a week, it is appropriate to follow up after that amount of time passes. Send an email to the hiring manager to check in on the process and ask if there’s anything else they need from you in the meantime. In any follow-up correspondence, reiterate your interest in the position and ask if they have an updated timeline for their decision. If you still don’t hear anything back after your follow-up email, it’s probably time to move on. No need to spam the hiring manager’s inbox.

Remember, you shouldn’t put your job search on pause just because an employer is taking too long to get back to you. Instead, keep interviewing and searching for the employer that’s the best fit for you. If that uncommunicative employer does eventually respond with good news, you may even find yourself in the lucky position of choosing between two job offers!

Take control of your job search today by subscribing to the Scouted newsletter.

Topics:

5 skills every person works startup needs

If you are a young professional seeking a new job, there’s a good chance that you’ve considered working for a startup. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2015 alone there were more than 414,000 new startups created across the U.S., employing more than 2.5 million workers. Unlike more established companies that might have a more rigid or slower career progression, startups offer the opportunity to learn a lot and advance your career in a short period of time. However, startups can also require significantly more adaptability and a unique set of technical and soft skills. If you have your heart set on working for a startup, here are some of the top skills you need to succeed.

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence, or the practice of expressing your own emotions and understanding those of others in a healthy way, involves proficiency in managing stress, active listening, demonstrating empathy, and perceiving body language. Emotional intelligence is a highly valued skill in any company, but it’s especially true in startup environments in which you are less likely to be siloed into one specific department or working with the same group of people all the time. Depending on your role and the size of the company, you might be interacting with senior leadership, clients, sales prospects, or coworkers across different departments. So knowing how to exercise your emotional intelligence with each of these diverse audiences is essential to ensuring a harmonious work environment.

Analytical thinking

In many entry-level roles at established companies, employees have a set of clearly defined tasks and may not be involved in strategic decision-making. But at a startup, you could be given a lot more responsibility a lot faster. This is where analytical thinking comes into play. Analytical thinking might mean working with data or synthesizing other information in order to reach important insights, solve problems, and make key decisions. This could be about how to plan a product launch, how to expand to a new market, or how to optimize current processes within the office to improve productivity. And at smaller, newer companies, the stakes can be high so every decision carries a lot of weight.

Aside from brushing up on your problem-solving and analytical thinking skills, you will also need to be careful to avoid “analysis paralysis,” a phenomenon in which a person spends too much time researching or thinking about a problem without taking timely action. A few ways to avoid analysis paralysis include setting deadlines for making decisions, incorporating different perspectives by seeking feedback from colleagues, and creating a rubric or standard to use in evaluating choices.

Adaptability

Working for a startup requires adaptability, patience, and resilience. Especially in the early stages, startups may not always have a clear direction. That startup that began as an app might expand into a brick-and-mortar location, or that SaaS platform with one core offering may be changing its suite of products or its subscription model. Any of these changes can trickle down and affect your role in the company, whether you are involved in sales, marketing, customer service, finance, or product development. As a result, you will need to be able to pivot according to new changes, even if it means starting from scratch.

Growth at a startup can also be inconsistent, often coming short bursts or accelerating at a rapid pace after an influx of venture capital. In these instances, your workload may increase a lot. There may also be slow periods. Your team could contract or expand accordingly, and you might not know how far ahead of time. There may be setbacks or unexpected turns for the company, and you need to be able to adapt quickly and responsibly.

Being a self-starter

As a startup goes through its growing pains, you will need to be proactive, both in terms of moving the company forward and taking charge of you own career. Compared to a more established organization, you may not have much of an onboarding process at a startup, and you may experience “trial by fire.” Since startups are often short-staffed, you will likely wear many hats and be exposed to multiple aspects of the business. For example, even if your primary job is in content marketing, you may also be involved in market research, sales, and events. You may have to lead and manage yourself too, if your supervisor is responsible for many different parts of the business (or if your only “boss” is the CEO!). If you are someone who prefers to have a clearly delineated role in a highly specific field, then a startup may not be the best fit for you.

Managing up

Startups are known for being less rigidly hierarchical than many other established companies, so the lines between junior-level staff and senior-level staff can be blurry. Part of your job is making your boss’s job easier, and giving them some direction as to how they can help you too. This is an essential part of “managing up,” which refers to the way you adapt to your boss’s preferred method of management, decision making, and communication. Managing up can also take the form of leveraging other skills you have to assist your boss and the company in general. For example, if you are skilled in a software program that would improve project management, you could suggest this to your boss or take initiative in implementing it. Being proactive and communicative with your boss on a regular basis, such as weekly one-on-one meetings, can also help you stay in touch with each other and learn how to most effectively get the job done.

Working for a startup offers exciting opportunities, especially for entry-level employees. Those who exhibit these skills will not only make a positive difference in the company, but will also equip themselves with the experience needed for higher-level positions within the startup or at another organization. To learn more about how to get a job at a startup, explore some of our other blog topics or subscribe to the Scouted newsletter.

Topics: