4 Ways to Be More Concise in Your Job Search

4 Ways to Be More Concise in Your Job Search4 Ways to Be More Concise in Your Job SearchIts a skill some people possess and others have to work toward, and its important to be aware of no matter which category you belong to the ability to be succinct. Some people are stream-of-consciousness talkers and writers, while others are briefsometimes too brief,so that the main idea is bedrngnis conveyed. Some people are a hybrid clear and concise talkersbut long-winded writers, or vice versa.There are ways to train yourself to get to the point quicker verbally and in writing, which can help you through the job search process and in your career.Job Search. There is so much immediately accessible information available now that its hard to cut through the clutter. Its difficult to know which job search resources are worthwhile. Almost no one has the time to sift through all that data and figure out whats useful and whats not. How can you work mora efficiently when searching for the right job? Set up free job alerts on several sites that will email you relevant postings at your specified frequency. You can do this on HotJobAlerts, Monsterand CareerBuilder, among many others. HotJobAlerts aggregates jobs from many different sites so that you can catch postings from some of the larger job search sites. Dont rely exclusively on the Internet for your search. Get out and meet people socially and professionally. There are postings you will never see online and jobs you will never know about until you start meeting people.Rsum. More is not better. Quality wins over quantity. This applies here as well as in your cover letters. A one-page rsum does not mean you have less worthy experience than someone with two pages. It usually is a positive sign to have fewer pages, because it tells hiring managers you can write concisely and apply what is relevant from your background to the job youre applying to. Hiring managers will look less favorably at a person with a lengthy rsum that in cludes unnecessary information. They want to know immediately that you can sift through a massive amount of data to highlight only the important accomplishments and value you bring to the organization. It makes sense Youll likely be required to do the same in your job, no matter what field youre in. Of course there are exceptions. In CVs for academic and medical fields, you are expected to include more information about your work as well as your publications. It can also benefit you to include more details of your work history when applying to federal government jobs. Cover Letter. Brevity does not mean ignoring the cover letter. It is mucksmuschenstill very important, and it is not a retelling of your rsum. If the hiring manager likes your rsum, hell read your cover letter. However, this doesnt mean it shouldnt be succinct. Rarely should a cover letter go past one page, unless youre in a more academic field and have the background to warrant it. A way to instantly attract someo ne to read your cover letter is to use bullets in part of the letter to showcase the accomplishments and qualities you offer. You should write the letter thinking, what do they want to know? Employers want to know how you can solve their potential problems and be a good fit for their team.Based on conversations youve had and the job description, who do you think they want as anemployee? Address the value you bring to the company and job. Interviewing. An interviewer, or even a person you just met at a networking event, is nottypicallyinterested in your whole life story. This person wants to know, how can you help me/our company? Not every answer you give will be along those lines, but try to remember that during the interview. Youll want to make sure that based on your answers, the interviewer has a good grasp of how you can help the firm. As you answer questions during an interview, try to use one or two specific examples to demonstrate a personal quality or situation theyve aske d about. You dont need to include every detail. Theyre most interested in the task you had, the action you took and the result. And as you speak, try to leave space. Just as your rsum and cover letter should have some white space and reasonably sized margins, so too should your speech. Practice taking pauses at the end of a statement or idea as you prepare for an interview. It gives you a chance to think (and breathe) and your interviewer a chance to process the information youve shared. The key in all unterstellung aspects of the job search process is to practice. The more you search, the more you write and the more you talk to other professionals, the better youll get at creating space and being brief. These are skills that extend beyond the job search and will help you tremendously at work as well. The best researchers know how to cull the right data the best presenters know how to get to the point and pause during speeches and the best communicators know how to convey a messag e clearly and concisely in fewer words. Its all in a days work. Marcelle Yeageris the president ofCareer Valet, which delivers personalized career navigation services. Her goal is to enable people to recognize skills and job possibilities they didnt know they had to make a career change or progress in their current career. She worked for more than 10 years as a strategic communications consultant, including four years overseas. Marcelle holds an MBA from the University of Maryland.