Some tips for attempting to land that new job

1. Be known by the right people

According to some sources, over 80% of jobs are given to those with some kind of personal connection to the employer. That means those without connections already have the odds stacked against them 5 to 1. There’s no magic formulae that you will suddenly make you known by the right people but coming from a wealthy, well-connected family and/or a prestigious university can help. To quote a venture capitalist blog:

"The truth is, who you know matters more than what you know. This is not to say that being smart and knowledgable is useless. Knowing "what" is often an effective means of getting introduced to the right "whos". But ultimately, the people you know and trust (and more importantly who trust you) matter more than the factual knowledge you may have at your immediate disposal."

2. Include a photo with your resume

Conventional wisdom says you’re not supposed to supply a picture with your resume because some companies will pass over you because they don’t like people of your particular ethnic background. Include your photo anyway; you’ll save yourself the pain of visiting places where the idiots reject you because of the way you look.

Do you ever get the feeling that you would/wouldn't like someone just by looking at their picture? Employers get that feeling too and the smart ones take it seriously. A large part of a job involves getting along with employers and cowerkers.

3. Look good and use body language that conveys you’re interested in the position

The interview consists of two separate sections. The view, and the interrogation. The first 15 seconds of the interview is called the view. Looking bad and/or displaying incorrect mannerisms during this time period are surefire ways to be dropped from consideration for a position before any questions are fired.

4. Play up your skills and experience

Employers like to scare potential employees away from lying by stating that any deviation from the truth will be grounds for dismissal later on. What they fail to mention is that everyone they interview is exaggerating their skills and experience. By shooting straight you are just about guaranteed to be passed over. I would advise against outright lying unless you are extremely smart and believe you can learn the skills you lied about on-the-fly. Generally this won't work though because the same dishonesty that makes you lie about their skills will also cause you to overestimate your intellegence.

5. Realize that in a good amount of cases what lands you a job is how much the employer likes you as a person

Ask yourself this question, do I appear likable to strangers? Can I get along with many different types of people? Am I able to mute my negative attitude long enough to make it through a couple rounds of job interviews. A lot of business involves social or soft skills one can only learn by observing and mimicking those with more experience in the field. These are skills books and lectures could never teach even if they tried. You’ll see lots of job advice columns droning on about education but realize many of these columns are sponsored by online universities.

See also: how employers really look for staff and What do job interviews really tell us?

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