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our next conversation. I'm Tara Thurber, Director of Talent Innovation and returning back with us today to discuss "Top5 Ways Job Seekers can Sharpen Their Candidacies" is Taylor Meadows, Senior Evangelist, Talent Consultant, and Speaker at Indeed and Glassdoor. Taylor, welcome back.
Oh, Tara, always a pleasure. Thank you for having me.
Of course, I am loving our calls together. And I'm so excited to dive into this one.
Me too. Me too important stuff?
Definitely. So you know, when we originally met to concept what it would look like for employers to utilize Indeed and Glassdoor to its fullest potential, we we kind of dug
into there. But we also really thought that there's a potential for job seekers to really get a taste of how employers are utilizing this tool to find top talent, you know, kind of give them some some tips and tricks on how employers are utilizing Indeed and Glassdoor in order for them to showcase themselves a little bit more brighter on the platform. So I'm super pumped to kind of just dive in here and take it away.
Yeah, that sounds great. I think that everything that we have to talk about today's everything I wish someone would have told me about.
Right.
When I was right searching for my for my job. I actually all of my jobs. So definitely.
So when we are when we're thinking about polishing candidacy on Indeed, and what employers are looking for, you know, how can I use Indeed, more effectively than just searching for jobs?
Yeah, so right. One thing that I love about Indeed, right is, is over the last couple of years, it's really come a long way, technologically, you probably even noticed the site looks differently than it did even just a couple of years ago, a little bit more elegant, easier to use. And so, you know, as you are on Indeed, and you're browsing jobs, you know, as they are coming, it's like nine new jobs every single second, right, that's only one piece of the puzzle.
Right.
But something that you can do, you know, to really ensure that you are also being discoverable and found is to make sure that you go in and sign up for a profile entirely free. One of the things that we have embedded into profiles on Indeed now are what we call assessments. So essentially, right, it's a way for you to kind of showcase to us what your skill sets are, you know, really kind of what you specialize in. And then from there, you can do things like upload a resume to
your account. And what's great about this is, you know, once your resume is actually uploaded, it's then tethered into the cloud. And so if you are maybe browsing jobs on your phone, and you're not necessarily in front of a computer, a lot of companies now are leveraging things like easy apply, where you can just literally summon your resume. And it's a three tap application process, right way easier than having to go in and recreate your resume from the ground up, right in an applicant tracking
system. So you know, uploading a resume is really important. And then, you know, we also if you go to just Indeed, comm in the very bottom of the page, you'll notice that there is a link that says career advice. It's kind of hidden, but it is an entire portal dedicated to all things job search tips, interview tips, job seeking webinars, through what we call our job cast series, it's just it's a really robust treasure trove of helpful
resources. If you are wanting to better prepare yourself and sharpen your candidacy for whatever role you have coming up.
That's huge. I had no idea that that was on that that was even there. That's a huge hidden, hidden tip right there for our job seekers, especially utilizing Indeed, better, you know, quick question, can candidates job seekers upload more than one resume? To Indeed?
Good question. And the answer right now is no. But we've heard that feedback. So that actually kind of inspires a thought if you ever have you know, an idea for you know, maybe you know, product integration or something in there that you're not seeing just email us at feedback@indeed.com. And our product teams literally go through all that inbound feedback, but as of right now, it is one resume per profile.
Okay, wonderful. What does Indeed do to help job seekers make informed decisions about where they should apply next?
Yeah, so a couple things. First, I would say is automation. So the more that you use the site, the more that it learns what you're interested in and what you're not interested in. So there's a very sophisticated algorithm kind of working in the background.
Right.
Really, I mean, we pay attention to the jobs that you are clicking into the ones that you're not clicking into how many pages deep, you're clicking, and then the results will refine over time. So right, autodidact, nature, right, which essentially means that it learns, it's, it's, it's self learning.
Right.
So I would say, yeah, the more that you use it, and the more information you can give us your profile and your resume, the better, we're able to match you with relevant jobs. So that's the first thing that I would say.
Okay.
But the second thing is, is what we call company pages on Indeed, so all companies have dedicated landing sites on Indeed, that describe, you know, their cultures, ratings, reviews, we have q&a, forums, benefit information,
photos, all kinds of stuff. So if you're really looking for a place to kind of educate yourself on why this company, company pages is going to be a really great way to help you make an informed decision, because it's gonna allow you to see yourself, you know, either at the company or not, same thing for Glassdoor. And that's actually one of the reasons why, you know, we've become partners with Glassdoor, because they
just excelled in the space. And they're a trusted place to really learn about a company. And so I would say, you know, company pages is a great way to, you know, really educate yourself about who they are, and how you see yourself there.
That's awesome. And I think, you know, as job seekers are out there looking, they should dig deeper, they should dive in and really learn. Because what while doing that, you know, getting their resume in front of somebody is just as important. But job seekers need to make more of a, I feel like make more of a space for themselves on these types of platforms. You know, I hear so many, so many job seeker saying, Oh, I'm just submitting myself
into a black hole. And it's like, well, maybe dig a little bit deeper. And, you know, trying, I don't know if it's possible, but trying to interact with companies or find companies that you're really looking like you'd want to be a part of, and then maybe, you know, tailoring your profile or kind of just standing out a little bit more on on the job seeker side.
Yeah, I mean, there's nothing more impressive to a recruiter that a job seeker that has done their homework.
Ohh tell me about it.
Right. So you can come into an interview and say, you know, it's my understanding that these are your this is your mission statement?
Yeah.
And this is why it speaks to me. I you know, I thank you for, you know, posting it on on both Indeed, and Glassdoor I see that these are your core values. This is the one that really stands out to me, and this is what I've been able to kind of dive into with my own experience. And here's how I think I can apply it to your business. Right? Oh, I see that your that your, you know, leadership team, right. A lot of them started in entry level
roles, and now have grown. You know, I saw that in a, a company that I support, they really have gone out of their way to kind of showcase, you know, internal mobility paths, because they want to showcase to job seekers that this is available to them.
Yeah.
And so it's little things like that, that I think could be just really mindful for a candidate to kind of come to the table with when they're when they're interviewing for a position.
I love it. And that kind of goes into my my next question, because as a candidate, you want to show up as your true self, you know, professionally and personally.
Absolutely.
So how authentic should a job seeker be when presenting themselves as a candidate to an employer?
Yeah, so interesting question. I get this all the time. Right. So I think that there is like a delicate balance right, between being authentic and then revealing too much information. Right? So what I would say is, is a start off by being objective, but you know, don't necessarily hide yourself. So at the end of the day, you want to showcase yourself to this employer as a
as a culture match. So again, that kind of goes back to what we were just saying, right as like, okay, so if you've done your homework and you know, you know, that this culture, which speaks to you personally, then from there, you can kind of use that as a barometer to how open
you can be. And so, you know, what I would say is, you know, if you are a part of a minority group, or if you are, you know, involved in a community group or a nonprofit that supports, you know, pride initiatives or, you know, women in tech, whatever that might be, it's really great to share that out on your resume. on any social profile that you have, right, because it almost indirectly showcases to an employer that, hey, this is this is something that I
support. And I know that a lot of employers that I work with, are very interested in candidates from diverse backgrounds, and they're very interested to know, hey, so these are our diversity and inclusion initiatives, how might you be able to support that even outside of the role that you're applying for? So I think that that's really important, right?
Don't be afraid to showcase those things, I can tell you that when I was interviewing, and Indeed, like, one of the very first things that I talked about was how I built out our pride chapter at my last company, and how that was really important to her. And then so before we, it took about 10 minutes for us to even dive into the actual role itself. And so at that point, I felt comfortable, I felt like I could be more authentic, you know, in that conversation. So, so that
was really great. But then I would say to, you know, like, you know, if you listen, it's been 21 months, almost two years now, right? It's been a hard two years for a lot of folks, some people have had to take time off to care for family members, you know, sometimes had to take a sabbatical, I would say, you know, be relatively open about, you know, if you have a gap in your resume, okay, well, what went down, you know, that actually showcases humanity. And you don't need to go into
granular details. But don't be afraid to talk about that. And then maybe even share, like, what did I learn? From my time off? Right? Did you? Did you get mental clarity? Were you able to write seek mentorship from someone?
Yeah.
And how can you apply that to your to your next job, and I think that weaving those things in can be helpful.
And then I think, kind of packaging that all up an interview tip that I would give our audience, instead of trying to prepare, right for maybe individual questions that might come your way, prepared two to three stories about meaningful experiences you've had maybe in the workplace in the last two years, or maybe you know, a significant customer conversation that you've had, because you're gonna be able to kind of then adapt those answers and those stories to several
different types of questions. And so with all those things, you know, I kind of just mentioned, it's a good way for you to kind of tell a story and sound more authentic in your answers than trying to come to the table with a canned answer. If that makes sense?
Yeah, no, it makes total sense. And I love the authenticity behind it all. Because, you know, we were just doing I was doing a workshop yesterday, actually, with young people, I think they're between the ages of 15 to 18. Some are in college, some are still in high school, and these young kids are just blowing my mind. And we were doing some mini mock interviews with them, just because some of them have never interviewed before. And one of my biggest things was, be authentic, and just be you.
Because if you're gonna put a mask on, it's there's there's no point to put a mask on. Because your your work becomes your work family. And you want to show up as you are as much as you can. Authentically true, and as your best self, because in return, you would hope that somebody that's interviewing you or the company that you're joining,
there's alignment there. And I think that that's really important, to be honest, share those personal stories, talk about what you've done over the past 20 months, and what you've gone through even not needing to get granular or get into any details. But I think employers wanna, it's all about humanizing the process, right? You know, even though you're putting your profile up on a platform, and a lot of it is done digitally, you still want to put that human aspect into your profile, right?
Because you're you are who you are. And in order to really shine in your next opportunity, and show up on job searches, you know, it's important to be that person and not wear a mask pretending to be somebody else.
Yeah, and you know, what I think is so significant about that as, as we've all experienced, there are going to be times where you don't get a job that you really think that you're qualified for. But you know, everything happens for a reason. And I would rather not be selected for a job because I brought my authentic self to the table, because it just would not have been a match in the long run. And I would have just gone back to square
one. And so at the end of the day, right, if you can just come to the table and have an authentic conversation and really infuse some life and some energy into why you want the job. Why the company speaks to you. That's going to be who is selected. And I've talked to so many recruiters who say, Yeah, I'm looking for experience and skill set, but I'm looking for humanity.
Yeah.
I'm looking for authenticity and I'm looking for a culture match. And so if you can really bring both of those things in the table it's going to be, it's going to be a much better experience for you.
It's so true. And one more experience that actually just happened today is one of our clients is interviewing a young lady, that the feedback, you know, when we submitted this person, we were she, her personality, her her true, authentic self, we got to know. And we know the client and
what they're looking for. And we were like, You got it, you got to talk to this person, they may not have marketing in their background, of which that was an ask on the job description, they may not have a lot of partnership or sales experience of which was an ask on the job description. But there were some key pointers that this young
lady had. And then when we got her on a video call and experienced her energy, and her excitement for an opportunity to have this particular role, you know, we actually pushed her push her forward through had the first interview and the feedback was, she her personality is fantastic. She be great for this role, the marketing and the sales stuff, we can teach her, you can't teach somebody how to show up authentically and genuine with all this positive
energy. So that's something to I feel that job seekers need to realize that there's your hard skills and soft skills. And it's really a matter of what you can bring to the table, what you can show in a leadership position, you know, your past experiences, your your failures, your successes, and what you've learned from everything.
That is so poignant. Right, you know, what that brings up? For me, Tara is kind of like the balance of IQ and EQ. Yes, you know, if you are not somebody who really excels at Excel, or right, or, you know, numbers and budgeting, that's okay. Because there are other people who might really excel at presenting or, you know, you know, creative storyboarding. And for a successful team to come together and produce something great, you need to have both of those
people. So, you know, look at yourself as maybe, you know, in addition to a team, and not necessarily needing to be the whole team.
Absolutely. I just got goosebumps Taylor. I like that a lot. So at the end of the day, what would you say are the five key takeaways, you can really offer to us Indeed to find a job for all of our awesome job seekers out there?
Yeah. Okay. So number one, create a free profile, right? Take those assessments, get everything filled out. And make sure that you are presenting yourself in the way that you want recruiters to know you as. So number two, upload a resume. So I don't know if everyone on the call knows this. But recruiters pay Indeed, back end access to search all the resumes in our database, they log in through a separate portal, and they can use filters and keywords to identify
candidates first. So if you ever gotten a like a message from a recruiter, you know, on Indeed, that's what's happening, like they have found you because your resume has been posted, and they are able to kind of find you. So create a profile, upload a resume 100%, I would say number three, is, you know, tailor that resume for the job that you're
going for. So what I would say is, is if you find a job description, and it really stands out to you pluck keywords from that JD that you can then put in your resume, it's going to make your resume more ATS friendly, which stands for applicant tracking system, it's the software all companies have to use to manage their candidates. And it's going to push you up in the list because you're going to be then seen as a more relevant match in the system, they're going to get a
callback faster. I would say number four, use the career advice portal that we talked about really to kind of, you know, sharpen yourself, make sure that you're prepped for for all of your interviews, make sure that your resume is in a good place what I will what I will plug here is we have a new service called resume review. It's literally a resume a resume review, rewriting service super
inexpensive to use. Someone from India will literally like help you reshape and reimagine your resume if needed.
That's amazing.
So just go to yeah, go to Google Indeed, resume review that whole landing page with all that information.
Okay. Okay.
And then number five, right? I would say present yourself authentically in those conversations. If it's not a match for them, it's not going to be a match for you either. And be okay with that. You know, take it as a ticket as a good experience and then you know, be able to button it up and move on
from it. And then what I would say as a as a bonus tip is you know, once you're, once you've you know, been using and Indeed to find jobs, your profile is created I would say leverage social platforms like LinkedIn right to connect with folks at the those at those companies make introductions, you know, say hello and put a face to your application. That certainly helped me in the past as well.
I love all these takeaways. I know, the introduction part on LinkedIn, I think I feel like job seekers get nervous to do something like that. It's one of my biggest things that I tell job seekers, reach out to whoever posted the job, or dig, do your research, find out who the hiring manager
might be. And in that whole, where you asked to connect with somebody, you can send a note, send a note and introduce yourself, make it a point to stand out and be your authentic, true self, because that's going to make a difference in the way employers are viewing you and how you're conducting your searches as well.
Yeah, yeah. Amen.
Cool. I'm loving this. Taylor, thank you so much for joining us today and giving us these great takeaways for our job seekers and I'm looking forward to working with you in the future.
Definitely. Thank you so much for having me.
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