As competition is on a steep rise in sectors spanning all domains, now it is necessary to have qualities and qualifications that make you outshine your competitors. Some of us are slowly progressing towards the end of our college life, whereas others have just started. Whichever group you are in, one thing constant for all is that most of us, with exceptions, are here to take part in placements and grab an offer letter of our choice.
There are thousands of others in your domain, across universities around the country and the globe at large if we consider the bigger picture. Living in such a cut-throat competition, what are the steps we can take to ensure our chances of fetching an offer letter from a company of our choice?
Let’s find out!
- Research About the Trending Skills
Get a pen and paper and sit down in front of your screen; we will have to do some research work. It’s crucial to know about the requisite skills to cut the competition and channel our efforts in the right direction. Read blogs, have a look at the interview experiences, watch videos, and if required, talk to your mentor or seniors who have the expertise on the path you are about to travel.
Try to understand which skills and subjects are predominant and which aren’t, to focus more on the first set. Congratulations, you are now equipped with the strengths needed to survive on this battlefield.
- Keep your CV and LinkedIn Profile Updated
Once you have acquired a skill, insert it in your CV and post it on your LinkedIn profile. You never know when you need to mail your CV to a recruiter or when an employer looking for an employee with the skill you have comes across your profile on LinkedIn.
Mention precisely and concisely what your skills are in your single-page CV or on your profile and insert everything, from your university major to soft and transferrable skills, to get the employers’ eyeballs rolling on your profile.
- Use Keywords in Your CV
When you mail your CV to companies almost always, it gets passed through an ATS software, which stands for Application Tracking System and filters out CVs received for a particular role. For instance, while scrutinizing applications for a position of an Android App Developer, it might search for keywords like Kotlin, Java in the CVs. Sadly, the ATS systems are strict and reject up to 75% of CVs before reaching the recruiters’ hands.
Search the top keywords for the role you are applying for, and include them in your CV if you have the skill. It increases the chances of getting your CV to the recruitment team of the company.
- Don’t be Shy to Include Your Experience
Note down all experiences you have, whether it is work experience, internship or projects, or anything related to your course and soft skills that you have under your hat. Sort them in order and include the top half a dozen or so in your Resume as per space available.
If possible, try coupling multiple experiences in a single bullet as much as possible. Use words according to industry standards. Also, insert formal sentences that express your vocabulary and highlight your experience, to grab the recruiters’ attention.
