One of the many comments I here when working with clients is that they are finding it difficult to pinpoint positions that are meaningful based on job descriptions and interactions with recruiters.  Additionally, they might make it halfway through the interview process only to find the job is not a match for what their skills.  Or worse, they make it through several rounds of interviews only to be told that they aren’t a “fit” for the position though they have strong technical qualifications. 

While I firmly believe that it is truly a job seekers market, as I mentioned in my last post on this topic, this is a different market then most job seekers have experience in the past.  Another reason why it may be difficult to find your way down your dream career path is based on the complexity of jobs that are being offered.  This, compounded by employers being ambiguous in their search for talent, is an enormously frustrating experience.

One of the things that happened in preceding years was a dedicated effort to reduce costs by outsourcing technical positions.  As a result many people were scared away from the tech sector in fear that their jobs would be the next to go to China or India.  What many experts failed to indicate or anticipate was that many of these jobs were low level or repetitive in nature.  More complex jobs stayed in the US and the demand for qualified software engineers continues to rise.

What does this complexity entail?  It depends on the employer, but many positions are requiring higher levels of education (a move from a BS to MS or even PhD requirements), more years of demonstrated experience, and finally the idea of the “well rounded candidate”.  It’s similar to when universities started demanding more from their applicants other then really good grades.  They want technical candidates to demonstrate that they can do more then just turn out great code – they want you to be able to interact with customers, speak knowledgeably at trade events, build business plans and manage budgets. 

And what does this mean for the job seeker?  On the one hand it can feel like a bit of a smorgasbord, but on the other you may be facing stiff competition and long waits for getting results of your interviews.  As I mentioned before, it can also be particularly overwhelming to identify the specific positions and companies that are interesting to you. 

One of the things that I recommend to my clients in order to better sort through the garbage is to build a personal job description.  This doesn’t have to be very long or detailed but it should include the type of position you want, what types of products or technologies you would like to build, what programming languages or technical skills you would use and what specific soft skills you have to offer.  You should also be clear on whether or not you will relocate for the position.  Take a look at some of the job descriptions online for inspiration on building your own description.

Another very helpful strategy is to build a short marketing statement about yourself and your skills to and pitch your value to potential employers.  Most people would call this an “elevator pitch”.  It should be about 15-30 seconds long when you say it out loud and maybe 3-5 strong sentences when written out.  The idea here is to capture what your strong points are and what you would have to offer an employer.  You can then clearly articulate to recruiters, employers and your network contacts what you are looking for and they in turn can help pitch you to their constituents. 

As a recruiter, I thought I gained the most value from interacting with job seekers that had a clear idea of what they wanted and what they had to offer the company.  Even if I didn’t have a position right at the moment, I could better navigate them to my contacts both inside and outside my company.  Indeed, these seemed to be the most rewarding experiences for both the applicant and myself.  Try it out on your next job search and see how you fare!