Job search secrets from a top Google recruiter

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Pssst. May I share a secret with you? Actually, may I share eight job-search secrets with you from a Google (GOOG) recruiter? Get the inside scoop from somebody who has seen thousands of resumes and who is responsible for hiring at the Internet giant.

The job outlook for 2012 is brighter, but high unemployment rates remain an issue. It's not uncommon for companies to receive thousands of applicants for a single position. When you're one applicant out of thousands, how do you make your resume stand out? How can you get prospective employers to notice you? What does it take to get hired in 2012?

If you're a frustrated applicant, there is hope. The top 25 companies to work for (at least as adjudged by the media) have more than 56,000 available jobs. At Google, which topped the list this year, there are 701 openings. If you're ready to apply for one of these coveted positions, how do you ensure your resume isn't deleted, sent to the recycle bin, or trashed?

Bryan Power is a hiring expert who has worked in various areas of recruiting at Google for more than six years. In my recent interview with Bryan, he discusses what major companies look for in applicants and how you can make your resume stand out from the crowd.

Whether you're unemployed, a recent college graduate, or unhappy at your current position, you can learn what it takes to get hired with these eight job-search secrets and then listen to the full Google job search secrets interview:

Secret #1: How to stand out from the crowd

Robert: Share with us some of the things that you've seen job applicants do to break through the noise. You always hear about a company posting a job, and they get thousands and thousands of resumes. So how does that person stand out from the crowd? What have you seen that worked in the past?

Bryan: It's a great question. One thing that has changed a lot with the the Internet is you feel much closer to a lot of information that's out there about jobs. If you just look at how things have changed with companies that have been able to post all of their openings online, this was information that was much harder to come across 10 to 15 years ago. And so there's this idea that you can send your resume out to a thousand companies in one day where, again, 15 to 20 years ago you would have been sending a thousand envelopes.

It's a different feeling today -- it's very easy to click "send" and get your resumes out. People can spend a lot of time doing that over and over and over again, sending their resumes to every job that is posted on the Internet. I think that's a very difficult strategy.

People who I've seen "break from the crowd," as you put it, focus far more energy around a smaller set of opportunities. The way to think about it is that there's a certain group of companies or specific roles that you're probably really good for, and you want to spend more energy around that smaller group of roles and companies than on trying to make yourself attractive to a wide range of people.

To take it back to the real world if you take it offline, I live in downtown Manhattan. If I were a job seeker and I knocked on a thousand doors, I don't know if that would be a good strategy to get my foot in any one of those doors. But if I identify 10 to 20 companies that I could inform myself about -- roles I felt strongly that I would be a good fit for -- and spend more time trying to get in just those organizations, that would be a much better and more efficient use of my time than trying to cover as many companies as I can.

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[DiverseyHarbor]

Great points. My first job out of college I was constantly making a list in my head of what to ask my next employer (things I didn't think about asking in my first interview, I just wanted a job!) but now (I agree with eiworld), office culture is huge. In an interview I asked how many of the staff had been there for over a year (it was a new company of 9 years) and they said only a fraction. This was a red light.

Thought with the millions of job seekers (as Vic mentions) it's an employers market. You may have everything but if you don't have the networking secret mastered, it's a hard road. I also think people get scared that even if the job isn't exactly what they want when they are offered it, they may not get another opportunity in this market.

[vicnapier]

This article has lots of good info for people still looking for traditional jobs in traditional ways. Read between the lines, though, and you see the process is really about being included into a social group. The resume has to convince the reader that you and the people in the company share the same values. The best way to do that is to cut and paste phrases from the job announcement into the resume. I am not suggesting falsifying experience, but rather using words and concepts used by the employer to describe yourself and your experience. Of course, if your values do not match those of the organization do not bother trying to talk you way into it - you would never be happy there.

One other thing. The article mentioned the tens of thousands of available jobs, but failed to point out that there are millions of job seekers. There simply are not enough jobs to go around, nor will there be for years to come. Developing the skills for free agency or self employment is the only avenue to self sufficiency for most people. Also, consider moving to a different state or country or figuring out how to sell your intellectual skills online. It is a global economy now and an American brick and mortar education is highly prized throughout the world.

Vic Napier
www.JoblessEconomy.net

[eiworld]

Great article! Very useful information. I agree with chosing a career and not just looking for a job. When I am being interviewed, I like to ask questions about the culture of the organization. Is this somewhere I want to work? Is this a team I want to be a part of and contribute to? When interviewing candidates, I really get into selling the organization to ensure the candidate knows what they should expect. Too many times, if you don't make it clear, you will have turn over which is costly to the applicant and the organization.