Hey everyone, welcome back to Top5, brought to you by Definedtalent, a DefinedLogic service. We are a results driven service working with clients to connect them with quality talent as well as make an impact within the recruiting industry. On our podcast, we're here to talk straight about today's professional world with real world professionals, experts in recruitment, job seekers, and business owners alike. Have a question for us? An idea you'd
like us to dive into? Send it in and you might spur our next conversation. I'm Tara Thurber, Director of talent innovation. And joining me today is Christina Kiel, graphic designer at DefinedLogic to discuss her top five ways to stand out online while looking for a job in this digital age that we're in. Hey, Christina, how are you today?
Hey, how are you doing?
I'm good. Thank you. Thanks for joining us.
No problem. I'm excited to chat.
Awesome. Awesome. Super excited to kind of like get your view. I mean, everybody right now is, you know, trying to make an impact and get themselves online, get their presence known. So very curious as to what your thoughts are, what your tips are in regards to really showing up online and, and making your presence known digitally?
Yeah, so I think as a creative person, so I'm a graphic designer and some of these tips seem obvious to the to someone who's in a creative field, but I feel like they can really be spread across any type of career, right?
Right.
I think that's what's important. We live in a time where the digital, like your digital presence is most important.
Right. That digital footprint, right?
Yeah. So um, you know, they might be a little obvious to someone who's a designer, but someone who is in marketing or is in sales might not, they might not be as obvious. So yeah, should I just jump in? Or?
Yeah, let's do it.
Okay, so my, my tip number one is stay away from standard boring resume layouts.
Yes!
The ones people use all the time. There's no reason to just have a Word document.
Not anymore. There isn't, that's for sure.
There's so many tools online that you can use, like cake resume. Zeti is another one where you can spruce up your resume. There's like a minimal cost for those usually. But they really help you format how your resume looks. And they give you tips like, hey, maybe your resume shouldn't be three pages long. So, you have to stay within this template and another way to do that is also if you're if you're a little more tech savvy, there's a program called Adobe Spark, which is, which is
a free tool from Adobe. And it actually helps you without using code to produce like a website, which I'll go into a little further and in my tip number three. But yeah, so definitely spruce up your resume. And it's just going to help you stick out, right, and in a sea of boring Times New Roman resumes. If you come out of the gate with like something in free terror, this might not mean anything to some people listening, right? You know, you're gonna stick out, right? So it's going to
peak someone's interest. So and, you know, before I end on this tip, do not send your resume in Word, please save it as a PDF. So I think
That's a huge, huge tip.
Yeah, yeah. Because it might also look great on your computer, and then you send it over and formats totally improperly on someone's computer. And, you know, if you get a little jazzy with fonts, they're not going to be able to see them unless they're PDF. So it's okay to play with fonts, I just want to add that in.
Yeah, no, I've seen I've seen that a lot too, where somebody will send me a Word doc. And it comes across completely, like upside down and inside out and, you know, sending it to a recruiter, okay, I can get that a recruiter can walk you through that. But if you're sending your resume directly into a client, I'm more often than not they're going to look at it and just look by it and keep going. So definitely, I'm definitely suggest that and I love I do I've never heard of
Cake resume before. So that, to me, that's a really awesome tool that I'd like to even dive into, um, and creating an interactive resume experience, too, I think is another way just to stand out amongst the sea of resumes that recruiters and hiring managers are getting right now.
Yep, exactly. I mean, we live in a remote world at the moment. So everyone, you know, the job market is so inundated with people looking for jobs that any little thing you can do to really have yourself stand out is important.
Awesome. I love that tip. Now really quickly to being a creative person. Are these tools usable for people that are not creative at all? Because I've had a lot of a lot of people tell me, you know, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know, how to upload an image even. Are these tools, you know, do they take an individual step by step through the process? Do they do that?
Especially things like yeah, especially things like Cake resume. And Zati, they're literally like a plug and play template, okay, where you're like typing in your information, and you know, columns or rows, certain areas. So super user friendly, Adobe Spark can be a little more complex, but it's still pretty user friendly. But if you need a resume needed, right now, you could probably do something like Cake resume, and at least it'll be a little more polished.
Awesome. Great tip. Thank you so much for sharing that.
Yeah, no problem. And my other another tip I have is, basically use keywords and everything. And it might mean making multiple resumes geared towards specific jobs, or even specific openings. So you might see a role or opening and have to edit your resume to fit that specific, like the verbiage and everything they use. And what's the reason why that's important is because a lot of companies utilize AI, when it comes to filtering out
the resumes. So once you upload your resume to the system, it's not a person going through and looking at everything, it's the computer, what is their software going through and saying like, okay, this says, content development and strategy and so on. And they ended up filtering out the resumes that have those words, this also goes for, and it's so annoying, but when you have to, like, fill an application online, and you're like, oh, is everything on my
resume? But really, it's because when you're filling out that application online, it's also being searched through by their AI software. So it's really important to use keywords, and it might seem a little tedious to have to create different resumes geared towards different roles. But in the end, it's really going to help make sure that your resume, you know, comes to the top in terms of who's going to see it and who's not going to see it.
Awesome. That's a really important tip. I think, when I'm talking to a lot of talent. You know, a lot of people are like, oh, I don't want to rewrite my resume 50 million times. But I think also, it's important if if you find a role that you want, then you want your resume to speak to
that role. You don't want a hiring manager trying to search through your experience to make it be a fit, make you be a fit, you know, hiring managers, recruiters, AI is AI systems, applicant tracking systems, I mean, they're all really pulling those keywords for specific roles. So on top of, you know,
Exactly just using some of those like keywords and and what's the word I'm looking for? Um just like standing out visually it is it's the meat of your resume that really needs to be standing out too. popular popular words and verbiages or verbiage is always it's good. It's gonna get you there. And so, my tip number three is online presence is online presence is super important. And we can automatically think that means
social media, right? But what that really means is, if your social media is inappropriate, you probably should put it on private. But also have a website. And that's super daunting to some, especially if you're not new in a creative field, but it just gives you that little push that, you know, another applicant might not have and your website might literally be a profile photo of you with a bio and like a resume. But, um, but it is really important. It just basically gives you a
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Makes sense. And I little more like, it can give a hiring manager or recruiter a little more interest, like what's behind this person, they have a website, there must be more that they offer. And I know that might sound a little strange, but I know in terms of even designers that I've had to interview, if I go to their website, and there's no work, but there's their resume, I'm like, ouuu, they have a lot of work behind that wall that I want to see.
think, you know, everybody thinks, Oh, well, I don't have a portfolio or, you know, depending on your type of role, but your online presence is extremely important. And having just, there's so many people that I've been talking to lately that it's their digital online
website is their resume. So yes, you have a document that you share, but it's as simple as putting that document in onto a website and you know, having your contact information having maybe your LinkedIn profile on there as well, or, or your social channels, because, you know, if you're somebody that is marketing, or a social media marketing person, or even as a project manager, or I mean, let's be real too let's get int tech, and and all thos developers out there, we want t
companies want to see you projects, companies want to se what's behind this resume a well, exactly how you reall show up as a person within you own professional industry
Yeah, and, and you had mentioned when starting out, I think it's even as important when you're just starting out as a designer, or any field where you can just showcase what you've worked on, even in college, if you're right out of college. And there's programs that are choosing projects you've worked on, why not showcase those.
That's so important? Yeah, hiring managers want to see your, your mind behind the the PDF of a resume. Yeah, they want to see a thought process, even if it's, you know, handwritten notes that you take a picture of, and you put that up there as well. It's all about the process, and something that's more tangible for a hiring manager to, to look at you as an individual, you know, how you might fit motivationally into a role, but also how you fit professionally into a role.
So that's, that's a really important tip, Christina.
Exactly. And so my tip number four is to be real. Yes, the interview process is so tedious. And we have to send thank you letters, and we have to do this but like, try not to make them can't.
Yeah.
I think that we have a habit of like searching like, thank you letter, after first interview, and then you like copy, paste, and you fill it in and whatever. Um, if you want to, if you truly want to position at a company that you truly love, you should express that in your messages to that company.
Yes!
Say, you know, you guys are doing great things. And I really appreciate like, how you support and foster like volunteer work within your employees as, as and also as a company or it could even be that you love the product. Hopefully, you love the product that the company produces. You know, and express that because that that excitement translates to the hiring manager and to the other people who are involved in hiring in that role. They want to hire people who are excited.
Yeah. Excited bout the brand will be like brand advocates. They don't want to just hire someone who's going to produce and fill a quota. Right?
It should be a machine it's, it's more about the personality behind this person too, that's coming to join the team.
Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
I think that that's huge too. And you know, you had mentioned not staying away from like, the canned cover letters or the canned. thank you letters. Showing up and being as real as possible is extremely important. Especially not going on site and interviewing face to face in person with somebody. You know you need you need to share your personality you need to share who you are not only your hard skills, but your soft skills are equally as important to put forth what you're capable
of as a human being. And I really think, you know, being real, it's, it's all about authenticity nowadays, it's all about being authentic, owning who you are, and portraying that as much as you possibly can. So that a hiring manager gets to know who you are, through your thank you notes, I mean, thank you notes are huge as well, after interviews, a lot of times people don't even send those anymore,
It's crazy.
You know, that's something you want to make sure you're following up, even if you're working with a recruiter follow up with that recruiter, it, you know, follow up with
that hiring manager. And in a couple of days, if you don't hear back from somebody follow up again, you know, it's, it's the effort that you put into it, what you're going to get out of it and that also helps to really paint the picture in who you are as a person to be joining a specific company, or having the excitement and the knowledge or that, that fire inside of you that you want to be a part of a certain team.
Yeah. And and it shows, you know, your passion and your drive to excel, I think when you are real, and when you express your love of or whatever of the day of the product. It's just, it's just attractive to a hiring manager, you know,
Yep.
Okay, I have a top five and it is my wildcard, or tip five, it's a wildcard. Now I know, everyone's familiar with these, like really outlandish approaches that people have had trying to get hired, especially by like, larger companies like Google or Amazon and so I wanted to include those, even though I don't necessarily advocate for them, because not everyone can do them. But, you know, I'm thinking about something like
doing something crazy. Um, you know, back in the 80s, a designer named Jelly Helm, he actually sent his resume and a check for $22,000, which was the going rate for art director to Martin in agency with a note that said, Hey, I heard you guys are hiring Art Directors for $22,000. When do I start? So basically, with the idea in mind, like I'm paying you to be an art director at your agency,
he obviously got that role. And of course, now fast forward to today, he runs his own agency, he's a big name out of Portland. And additionally, something more recent that has happened is someone actually wanting to apply to a copywriter position, an agency and what he did was somehow track down the hiring managers Venmo account, and sent a payment request, I think it
was for like $55,000. And in the note wrote, like, for copyright writer position, look at my website, you know, and link to his website, which is so clever unbelieva, especially in nowadays, everyone's working from home, so it's not like you didn't get their address, you know, something nice to the offices, so, so that was very,
very clever. Um, you know, if you don't want to do something crazy, you kind of just want to like dip your toe into feeling a little more personal, it can always be something like, send a gift certificate to for a cup of coffee and asked for a conversation with the hiring manager or someone at a company that either would be in the in the where you would be working, or if there's a job opening, if they're the hiring manager or the supervisor for that
position. It's always good to, you know, say I just want to pick your brain and just want to talk about where you guys are looking for and make it really laid back.
Tip number five, I love the wild card. I like outlanders crazy things. I think you're right. It's not for everybody. And it's not for every type of role. But being able to send an email to a hiring manager or saying, hey, your next coffee is on me and let me know and we can chat and let's have coffee over a zoom call. That's huge. Again, you're personalizing it and you're you're bringing your own personality to the table. But, you're you're getting creative
with it? You know, and I think right now, I know if I were to get an email that says, hey, let's have a coffee, and I get, you know, some sort of a gift card in my inbox for a couple bucks to go buy at coffee. Sure. I mean, it's just, again, it's personalizing, it's not just pounding, pounding the internet and submitting your resume, you know, so many, so many candidates are like, oh, I'm just submitting my resume into a
black hole. Well, are you actually doing the research on the role that you're even applying to? Are you looking at who the hiring manager is? Are you looking at the company and maybe the team. And if you are then trying to figure out a different way to go about it, instead of just submitting your resume on LinkedIn or submitting your resume into a black hole.
Exactly.
So, you want to stand out, you know, as much as
Exactly, exactly. Um, yeah,and the thing it's important on standing out with your, your document, you as an individual need to stand out in amongst 50 other, 50 other resumes that are being submitted or hundreds of other resumes being submitted. Yeah I was gonna say, there is an aweful lot more than that.
Yeah, no, I think that that's super important. And I love the all five of these tips are super excellent ways to think outside of the box, while you're in the process of looking for a job, you know, it's daunting, it's overwhelming. Um, you know, some individuals may be trying to pivot their
professional path. And that in itself, you need to get creative, if you're looking to switch out of the retail industry and go into the food industry or go into a debt, like the tech industry, you need to kind of connect the dots a little bit more, before just blanketing companies with a Word doc of your resume. about these tips is, you most likely already have all the tools in place, you already have your resume, you know, you already have yourself to be real. Like, you know what I
mean? So a lot of this is so easy, and it's not, it's not something that's going to take you months or weeks or weeks or months to, you know, get done. So is it if it's customizing or working on your resume a little more and adding some key phrases in like, why not? Right? It ca make the world
Exactly. And I I've had even people, I mean, think about it, send, send a personalized email with a joke in it, or, you know, something that's just going to trigger somebody to sit back and think a little bit, or react in a way that you are hoping to kind of spark some interest?
Yeah.
You know, I think that that's the way people need to show up. And, you know, be be different. Be yourself, everybody is your own individual self. So you might as well show up that way. And, and work as hard as you can and think outside of the box in order to get your new opportunity.
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Um, yeah, and I mean, with cover letters, if we go back to tip number one, like, if you're, for example, applying to a social media manager position, like, include something about how they could do better or, you know, obviously worded in a, in a nice manner, right. But like, include like, hey, you know, I think if we did x, y, z, it could help, you know, increase your followers, what have you doing little things like that.
It just shows you done research, you're familiar with the brand, you know, what they've done in the past what they're doing now? Those little things count.
They do. And I think that's, that's a big takeaway right there, Christina is that the little things do count. And people may not think it's a big deal, but a hiring manager, you may you may strike a chord or an emotion with a hiring manager, and they're just like, this person, I have to hire this person, just because of the way that they are approaching their job search or the way that they're trying to put themselves out there. So, I think I think that that's huge.
It's the little things that do count at the end of the day.
Yeah.
Excellent. Well, I love these top five tips. You know, stay away from the standard boring resume layouts, be real , show up in and bring your authenticity to the table using keywords. Keyword searches are huge right now with job within the job market and, and trying to look for the right fit for the right role. Your online presence,definitely important. And hey, you never know maybe somebody can come up with another wild card that nobody's done before.
Yeah, I'd like to hear about it.
I think these are all great tips and, you know, Christina, I am so excited that you were able to find time out of your busy day to join us.
It's my pleasure.
We appreciate it so much and I'm looking forward to many more conversations about getting our foot out there and helping individuals helping our audience really make make a presence.
Yeah. Thank you so much.
Excellent. We are DefinedTalent, a DefinedLogic service coming to you at Top5. Make it a great day.