A Success Story for World Book Day

For World Book Day, we spoke with  Career Coach Sarah Rycraft  to hear about her clients’ success stories. Sarah has been working with a high number of clients exploring career change including many who have been made redundant from an industry impacted by the pandemic.

The Challenge

For anyone exploring a career change, Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) can be the biggest challenge they will face. ATS are used extensively by companies to make it easier to manage the recruitment and candidate selection process. As the job market continues to become more competitive, Artificial Intelligence saves recruiters and hiring managers time and significant costs when shortlisting.

However, they will not look for transferable skills, they shortlist CVs and favour job seekers with like for like experience and often reject CVs when they aren’t a clear match.

The Approach

The job market is competitive, so it is essential our participants consider all of their options, but also take an innovative approach when it comes to standing out from the crowd.

A client of Sarah’s identified a Business Development Manager role they wanted to apply for via a job board. They had a high number of years’ experience so potentially could be a good match, however their experience was not in the same industry. The job board stated 86 applicants had been received so far.

Sarah encouraged her client to do some detective work and identify the name of the individual recruiting the role and approach them directly. Sarah provided useful tips on using LinkedIn to find key contact details to send a targeted connection request. As the character count in a LinkedIn connection request is limited, she encouraged them to send an email attaching their CV outlining why they were a good fit for the role. They worked together to create an ’Elevator Pitch’ to use as part of a follow up phone to the hiring manager.

The Success

The hiring manager shortlisted Sarah’s client for an interview! They also confirmed, had they not approached them directly, they wouldn’t have shortlisted them as the Applicant Tracking System had rejected their CV. They were equally impressed by the lengths the participants went to build a rapport and demonstrated their enthusiasm for the role. A great way to show off their sales skills too.

So the moral of the story; be different. It is a challenging job market out there, but companies are still hiring. Look at new ways to overcome hurdles to secure your own success story.

Renovo is the UK’s leading outplacement and career transition specialist. We work with both organisations and individuals to support all their career transition requirements. If you would like to understand how Renovo can help you please call 0800 612 2011 or email info@renovo.co.uk