The same applies to job hunting. I'm sure we remember our parents telling us how hard it is to look for a job during their time. "Kelangan naming magbilang ng poste at magpudpod ng sapatos," my mom told me several years ago. Now, we can search and apply for millions of job openings out there through job portals like JobStreet. A click of a mouse has indeed saved millions of job seekers from the burden of miles and hours of walk.
JobStreet has indeed made job hunting faster, but not necessarily easier.
Imagine this: a company can receive up to 100 job applications per position per day, and that statistically means that technology has just diminished your chance of getting hired to at most one percent! Take note that we are not yet counting the other online applications for the same position that the company have received in the previous days AND will receive for the next coming days! And at that rate, it's more than easy for any overworked yet underpaid recruitment officer to overlook any applicant's credentials.
With that stiff online competition for jobs, most people still find it hard to land a job despite technology's help.
So in that case, I will be sharing you some tips on how to increase your chance of getting a job with the help of the JobStreet site.
Of course, before submitting your application, please make sure to it that you have the skills needed for the job. I still know people who showcase their skills that are unrelated for the position, so I hope nobody here would commit that mortal sin in job hunting.
Now let's begin. Let's take this job ad from Accenture as an example.
Do you know that there are three ways for you to apply for that job? Yup, not one, not two, but three! And for you to increase your chance of getting hired, you need to utilize all the available job application channels.
First is by clicking the Click Here to Apply button. This option is the one used most by job hunters. The Click Here to Apply feature requires you to have a JobStreet account and be logged in to the JobStreet site.
But then again, do not place all your eggs in just one basket.
The job ad that we used as an example is for the position of BPO Data Assistant in Accenture. As of press time, if you would make a Job Title search in Jobstreet using the words "BPO Data Assistant", here's how it looks like:
Their missing a very important point.
Remember the stats that we talked about moments ago? A company can receive up to 100 job applications per position per day, in that case you need to augment your probability of getting noticed by increasing the chance for your resume to be viewed. Yes, you MUST apply for the said position again through the other job ads that the company posted in JobStreet for the said position. So in case of a job vacancy appearing in JobStreet as multiple ads, I would advise to submit your online job application through up to five job ads.
Now why five? Some would argue that if a job vacancy appears over and over again in JobStreet to the point that 100 ads are posted for the same position, then you must submit your application through all those 100 ads. Hmmm... that does not sound good to me. Why? Imagine playing a Lady Gaga song over and over again. Poker Face perhaps. How does it feel? You're right! It's very annoying! When it comes to applying through multiple job ads, please use good judgment when it comes to deciding how many job ads would be enough to give your resume more recruiters' viewership so to speak. If your resume pops up too many times on the recruiter's end, they may think you're making a mockery out of the recruitment process. Of course we don't want that to happen. I think five job ads is enough.
I hope these tips would work on you as it worked for me. Right now I am working as a Customer Master Data Analyst for a multinational company. I applied for the said job in 2008 through three job ads in JobStreet. I failed on the first and second job ads, but passed on the third one.
Sometimes recruiters need to take a second look at our resume for them to recognize our worth.
(Images courtesy of JobStreet)