Perhaps now more than ever it’s crucial to really utilize the technology at our fingertips, especially when searching for a new role. Although social distancing has removed our capabilities to shake hands in-person, there’s still a significant number of opportunities online – and what better time than now to get started?
Rather than worrying about the next time you’ll be able to congregate at your neighborhood bar or gather in groups larger than ten, put your extra free time to use by preparing for your next professional opportunity. Who knows? It could be closer than you think…
Update Your LinkedIn Profile
In years past, your resume has been the token to the job hiring process, but as technology has developed you will find more and more organizations allow LinkedIn profiles to act in place of the traditional resume.
Here are key tips to ensuring your LinkedIn profile is hiring authority approved:
- Make sure your work experience is up-to-date and includes a short summary of your responsibilities in each role.
- Include a professional head shot when you can – otherwise, a nice picture does the trick! Hiring authorities will be wary of a profile that doesn’t include a profile picture.
- Spend time crafting your summary statement – think of it as a general cover letter and be as detailed as you can be about your overall experience and skillset.
- Ask for professional recommendations from individuals you’ve worked with in the past.
Be Prepared for the Virtual Interview
If you’ve never done a video interview before, there are a few things you should prepare ahead of time in order for the virtual event to run smoothly. While phone interviews and in-person interviews hold their own quirks, a video interview is less familiar to most, so it’s important to spend extra time ahead preparing for it.
- Find out which platform is being used for the interview and make sure you have an account set up on the app well ahead of time.
- Do a trial run on the selected platform – make sure both your camera and audio work and try to test a real call with a friend or family member a few days before.
- Clean the area you will be taking the interview in, so it looks tidy in the background of your video. Also make sure that your lighting is good so there are no dark shadows cast on your face.
- On the day of the interview, act as though you’re going to an in-person interview and take care of your appearance.
- You can also leave a few note cards near your screen in case you’re nervous about your answers. Overall, you want to be as comfortable as possible.
- Log in to the platform at least ten minutes before your scheduled interview just in case!
Send a Thank You Email
Many hiring managers will agree that the follow up from a candidate is an important step in the hiring determination process. Be sure to include all names of the people who interviewed you and send individual emails to thank them for their time. If you’re unable to find email addresses for each of the interviewers, you can send a note of thanks to your lead contact (or recruiter) and ask them to pass along the message to the others. These emails don’t need to be long or wordy. A simple thank you for their time and reminding them that they can reach you at any time with further questions is more than enough.
Overall, the hiring process is going to be adjusted during this time of social distancing – but with the power of technology at our fingertips, there’s a good chance this change will become more permanent over time. The most important thing to do is be prepared at every step of the process – from beginning to end. After all, technology was meant to make things easier!
Curious about how Biotech Partners optimizes their use of technology during the hiring process to connect top tier talent with the best organizations in the industry? Schedule a consultation today!
