Job hunters: your 2016 to-do list

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Hoping to land your dream job in 2016? Here are four new recruitment tips worth actioning in the next year…

Get the real picture of a company 

When you’re going for a new role, it’s natural to want to find out as much as you can about the company you’re applying to.

Swiping social media profiles and digging deep on the official website can give you some details. But chances are, it won’t bring the authentic view of the true company culture you’re after.

One website, GlassDoor, lets you virtually stand at the office water cooler. Thanks to anonymous comments and reviews from companies’ existing staff, you can find out what it’s like to work there, what salary you should expect and even what questions were asked during interviews for similar roles.

Be video-ready

How comfortable are you speaking on camera? For first interviews or filtering candidates at an early stage, video interviewing is becoming a must.

At HR GO, it helps us showcase candidates visually and quickly. We’ll often create a list of role-specific questions for people to record answers to on their smartphone, tablet or computer and then email the links through to potential bosses to view.

Not only does video interviewing help employers judge interpersonal skills and see if applicants like you are the ‘right fit’ but it’s also a way to gage how you feel about a potential boss, too.

All this without the normal hassle of travelling to an interview (or, frankly, having to worry about smart clothes and shoes from the waist down!).

Disrupt your CV

Despite the rise of video interviewing, the CV still plays a part in showing skills and experience. But with so many sloshing around the system, how can you make yours stand out?

Think about transforming your CV into something visually engaging. Some job-seekers turn theirs into milk cartons, video games or chocolate bars in the hope of landing creative roles at Google and Facebook.

But you needn’t go all-out wacky to be noticed. There are lots of online tools to help you present your job history in a more interesting, eye-pleasing way - from a simple, sleek version with CVMKR, or CV transformed into an infographic via ResumUp.

Or sum yourself up in a single, stand-out webpage on About.me, with added text, photo and link to relevant social media profiles.

Spring clean your social

Are your social media profiles harming your career? A 2015 survey of 400 employers found that over half admitted to looking for extra information on candidates’ profiles before they offered them a job. Plus, 10% more were planning to start in the future.

If you haven’t done so already, now’s the time to take a serious look at how your Facebook, Instagram and Twitter might be portraying you.

The main social media faux-pas that sound klaxons with potential bosses are:

• inappropriate photos
• swearing and poor written skills
• information on drinking and drug-taking
• comments that could be seen as discriminatory to others

At HR GO, we know what an impact ill-judged comments or shares on social media can have on a candidate’s future career. Our advice? If you’re unsure about how you’re coming across, simply lock down your privacy settings. Landing the ideal job can often be enough of a challenge without making silly social mistakes.