The 9 Things to Know Before Showing Up With Your Résumé to Land That Dream Job

While it is true that many of today’s businesses have moved the job search online, don’t discount the power of old-school job-hunting methods. Cold-calling the company and then showing up to meet the hiring manager in person or even dropping your résumé at the front desk are all still viable options.

Now, the truth is that in-person job hunting might just land you that dream career — but only if you do it right. So before you head out the door, make sure you know these nine things for a successful in-person job search.

1. Job Hunter, Know Thyself

Forbes magazine says that employers look for three things in potential new hires: resilience, flexibility and self-awareness. The last one is a major point in scoring the right job. Take a moment to get to know yourself and be aware of your strengths and weaknesses before allowing someone else — namely, the HR manager — to dissect you.

2. Know Exactly What You Want in Order to Get It

This rule applies for reaching any goals in life. Know the type of position you’d like to have in the career you’d like to pursue; then use online platforms to find the right person who will help you get there. For example, instead of cold-calling the CEO of your dream company, use LinkedIn to find out who is the HR manager. This person is already poised to meet future employees face to face and is more likely to have the time to speak with you.

3. Know the Company Through Fine Research

Time magazine suggests reading through online blogs and articles to find out the newest and most current trends in your field and how the company has been servicing others. Just taking a few more hours to do thorough research on the company will greatly enhance your ability to later talk about ways you can benefit it and help it reach its goals.

4. Know the Best Week Days to Show Up In-Person

What is the smartest day to show up for a job interview? Time recommends Tuesdays and Thursdays for job seekers. Why? According to research, most companies actually post their job offers on a Tuesday. You just might be the first to show up in-person and make that initial powerful and lasting impression. Thursdays work because it’s not yet the hectic Friday rush, and the hiring manager can have the weekend to review your résumé and digest all you’ve told him or her in person.

5. Know How Much Time to Ask For: Just 20 Minutes

Don’t be arrogant and assume that the HR manager is just waiting around for you to show up. If you can land the right person on the phone when you inquire, be polite and ask if he or she would be willing to speak with you in-person for just 20 minutes. Depending on the company, you can try taking this even further and invite the manager out for coffee or even lunch to meet with you. If that isn’t possible, then just say you’d be happy with just 20 minutes of their time.

6. Know How to Deal With Rejection — And Don’t Let That Deter You

What terrifies you the most? That you’d be rejected for the job, right? Try this mind trick to blast you to the other side of that fear. Imagine that the hiring manager has already decided you are not fit for the job, and then, well, you have nothing to lose. Show up anyway to prove them wrong (in your mind). If they do say no, you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that you were expecting it. And if they say yes, bravo – you’ve just overcome your worst, most monstrous fear.

7. Authenticity: Know How to Be Real

In this day and age of social media, fake online lives and instant gratification, your authentic presence could be refreshing. Know that you will be expected to answer questions like “What are your weaknesses?” Be prepared to answer truthfully but wisely. Play up your strengths without sounding arrogant. Admit that you have faults but are working on them. One way to do this is to highlight a negative that you have turned into a positive. (Example: “I used to struggle with
time-management, but since setting daily deadlines for myself, I’ve improved in this area.”)

8. Know How to Clean Up — Both in Person and Online

You may be perfectly shaven and styled for that in-person appearance, but what about your online platforms, which your hiring manager will undoubtedly stumble onto one day in the not-so-distant future? Make sure those representations of you have also had a clean-up. Use apps like Social Sweepster, an amazing innovation that combines computer vision with language processing to “clean up” pictures you might have posted previously online — drunken party shots or profane language you used on Twitter or Facebook, for example.

9. Know You’ve Built the Perfect Résumé

The fine line between you and sweet success could actually be a literal one. Missing a hyphen or important words on your résumé could be preventing you from landing your dream job. The best way to ensure that your résumé stands out from all the others — and is flawless — is to seek professional help to write or rewrite it. The Résumé Builder specializes in making sure you can show up for that in-person interview and nail your dream job.