In a digital world, the range of career paths has grown, and so have the avenues for job searching. Edward Ovadia - nbn's Talent Strategy and Sourcing Specialist - shares his tips on what makes a candidate attractive to a recruiter.

Back in the day, job hunting used to be a much more straightforward exercise.

If you found yourself looking for a job, listings in print media or word of mouth were your starting points. Once you found a suitable option, you would print your CV, post it in, and wait for the phone to ring.

Careers used to be well-defined paths, based on qualifications and early experience, which everyone knew how to follow.

It wasn’t uncommon for people to stay in the same job for years on end - and sometimes for their entire career.

These days, career development is expected, and jobseekers are constantly looking for new challenges and lateral moves.

In a digital world, the range of career paths has grown, and so have the avenues for job searching. Leads can come from a number of channels, each requiring a different approach.

Companies post opportunities on mobile enabled job boards, share listings and content across social media, and often seek out seek potential employees directly.

Our reliance on all things digital is changing the talent landscape - and it can be hard to know how to best capture and present your hard work to get on a company’s radar.

Here are two ways:

The public option: First impression-proof your CV

Online and mobile job boards make up the vast majority of the publicly available external jobs. Once you have found the most suitable job and applied, making it past the first round comes down to your CV.

Research indicates that people spend a very short amount of time reviewing a CV, before deciding whether to read further. 

While understandable considering the staggering volumes of applications top companies receive, this means you need to make maximum impact in that first impression.

To do this, ensure the first page of your CV includes:

• Name
• Education
• Employment summary table, listing title, company, and start/end dates for all current and past roles
• Structured sections with clear titles and bullet points, outlining responsibilities and achievements

And avoid:

• Large paragraphs of text with no titles or bullet points
• Photos
• Multiple fonts or colours
• Extraneous information (marital status, date of birth, health, etc.)

Ensuring ease of interpretation and clear presentation is the best way to make your experience and skills stand out on paper.

Think about yourself as a brand, and what attributes you want associated with it. Like any corporate brand, you have avenues available to you - how you present in-person, on paper, and across digital and social media channels, are all very important.

The private option: Build your brand and network

While having a strong CV and on-paper profile is important, this is only part of what makes you an attractive candidate.

Think about yourself as a brand, and what attributes you want associated with it. Like any corporate brand, you have avenues available to you - how you present in-person, on paper, and across digital and social media channels, are all very important.

In shaping your brand, it’s important to understand your strengths, the skills needed in your target career, and demonstrate the link between the two.  For example, if you want to rise up in the world of technology sales, you likely want to be known for your sales ability, team leadership, and passion for cutting edge tech.

In-person options to promote your personal brand includes networking, being able to articulate your value and goals (or personal elevator pitch), and how you present yourself.

A great way to cover all three is by being active in your industry and meeting new people.

Join an industry group, go to events, or reach out to people on LinkedIn for a coffee introduction. The more visible you are, the easier it is to position yourself as a peer to senior leaders.

Equally important is your digital persona 

Review your online presence, and make sure everything is consistent, and representative of the image you want to convey.

If in doubt, look at successful people in your field and how they present their online brand. Think about what your photo, layout, and blurb say about you.

If possible, try to offer something of value in your industry. If you love technology, this could include following the latest tech companies, and sharing their content with added insights from yourself. Or contributing to a blog about latest technology releases, and linking it back to your LinkedIn profile. You’re guaranteed someone in the interview process will be checking your LinkedIn, or Googling your name.

A personal brand is also useful within your company. Take on side projects that might help you develop required skills, shape how you are viewed in your company, and introduce you to new people and areas.

If you’ve always wanted to work in a specific division, reach out to the division leader and introduce yourself. 

If you can demonstrate knowledge of the fundamental concepts and challenges in their area - enough for a meaningful discussion - and align yourself to their culture and ideal candidate skillset, you can make a powerful first impression.

Having a strong personal brand can open you up to new opportunities. Being active in your industry, and offering value to others, means you’re front of mind for opportunities that don’t go public – and it makes using your network for career opportunities much easier.

It also means recruiters are more likely to approach you directly, because they can see your online presence, and are willing to take a bet on the brand that you’ve developed. 

Ready to put your new interview skills to the test?  nbn is on a significant ramp up this year, so why not come and join us! Click here to check out all our latest jobs - check back often, we post dozens of new ones every week.