10 Job Hunt Tips from Professional Career Coaches

1. Persistence takes priority

“Persistence trumps talent.

What’s the most powerful force in the universe? Compound interest. It builds on itself. Over time, a small amount of money becomes a large amount of money. Persistence is similar. A little bit improves performance, which encourages greater persistence which improves persistence even more. And on and on it goes.

Lack of persistence works the same way — only in the opposite direction.

Of course talent is important, but the world is littered with talented people who didn’t persist, who didn’t put in the hours, who gave up too early, who thought they could ride on talent alone. Meanwhile, people who might have less talent pass them by.

That’s why intrinsic motivation is so important. Doing things not to get an external reward like money or a promotion, but because you simply like doing it. The more intrinsic motivation you have, the more likely you are to persist. The more you persist, the more likely you are to succeed.”

― Daniel H. Pink, career coach and author of ‘The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need’

2. Promote your personality

“The focus should be on becoming a strong and influential personality – cultivate compelling communication skills, focus on building trust and learn how to expand and leverage your professional network.

…In the present day corporate world, it is utmost important to build a personal brand for yourself and anyone who knows the basics of brand-building would know that it is impossible without proper self promotion!”

― Abhishek Ratna, career coach and author of ‘No Parking. No Halt. Success Non Stop!’

3. Connect with people, not positions

“Chase career relationships, not job postings.”

― John Tarnoff, career coach and author of ‘Boomer Reinvention: How to Create Your Dream Career Over 50’

4. Believe in your goals

“Be clear on what you want, why you want it and what qualifies you… Without clarity from the very start, virtually every stage that follows will be based on little more than a hunch — and that is an extremely fragile foundation for navigating a dynamic job search. You begin by engaging in some form of assessment. It could involve taking a standardized assessment instrument, keeping a journal or talking with people whose advice and feedback you value — friends, family, or a career coach. The goal is to achieve self-awareness in the form of a career target. The next, and equally important, step is a reality check. Here is where you determine that the goal you selected makes sense. Is it appropriate for you and is it attainable?”

— Roy Cohen, career coach and author of ‘The Wall Street Professional’s Survival Guide’

5. Define your career narrative

“A branded career story helps differentiate you from the competition, provide clarity for yourself and showcases your unique value proposition to the employer. The people that are most successful in their job search are those people who are able to first clearly articulate what they’ve done, how it’s been impactful and how it can benefit a future employer. From there, the resume tweaking, network building and LinkedIn optimizing become a lot easier and more effective.”

— Jena Viviano, career coach

6. You don’t have to meet 100% of the requirements to apply

“Job seekers (especially women more than men) may be underestimating the value they can bring into a role. For many roles, hiring managers are looking for people who will be quickly deployable to do the work and usually the tasks you need to complete on a regular basis are learned or refined on the job. If you meet the majority of the qualifications for a job you are interested in and are confident you can quickly learn the remainder, apply for that job, but make sure your resume demonstrates your past success in learning new skills.”

— Mary Grace Gardner, career strategist at The Young Professionista

7. Network online, and off

“Sites like Glassdoor provide so much great information about job postings, salaries and company reviews. We’ve never had more good information at our fingertips. But, don’t rely on the internet [entirely]. Hiring managers are bombarded with hundreds of resumes that come in through the internet. When you’re searching, apply online. But, then think about what you can also do offline. For example, do you have contacts at the company that you could network with? Could you reach out to the hiring manager directly? When you connect to the company offline, you become a real person… These straightforward offline steps will put you in the fast lane when it comes to hiring.”

— Angela Copeland, career coach

8. Excel at your current job to get an excellent job

“Assuming you can do the work, the most important differentiator that will land you a sought-after gig is to establish yourself as the positive, collaborative, authentic and trustworthy co-worker/boss everyone would love to have. And you only do that by cultivating professional relationships and acting from a place of authenticity and integrity. Like attracts like, and people who are themselves authentic and trustworthy are looking to hire and work with people who show the same commitment to a positive work environment… show in every interaction you are the type of colleague or boss who keeps her word, values the team and contributes to a positive work environment… Focus on people and opportunities will open up.”

— Aurora Meneghello, career coach and founder of Repurpose Your Purpose.

9. Make sure your resume gets seen

“Companies today receive a high volume of resumes. With the increased use of online applicant tracking systems even among smaller companies, it means the recruiter or hiring manager may not see your resume unless you use just the right keywords… Referrals [also] increase the likelihood that a recruiter will see your resume. If you don’t have a personal connection, use social media to find out who does. Don’t be embarrassed to ask someone to make an introduction on your behalf, people do this all the time. If you’re uncomfortable asking for favors include an easy way for them to say no, like ‘If you’re not comfortable connecting me, I completely understand.’”

— Mikaela Kiner, Founder/CEO of UniquelyHR

10. Realize your potential to become indispensable

“Ultimately, all this work to become indispensable comes back to you. Indispensable employees know that the workplace is simply an arena for their own development as people. They measure their worth not by how indispensable their organizations judge them to be but by how fully they live out the full potential of who they truly are.”

― Meredith Whipple Callahan, Indispensable: How to Succeed at Your First Job and Beyond