Long Story Short:

  • Call it the Great Resignation, The Great Reassessment, or the Big Quit—whatever you choose to call it, the answer is clear: we’re in the midst of a talent revolution.
  • People are questioning their professions and their careers—with the ultimate goal of becoming more satisfied personally, emotionally, and professionally.
  • If you’re looking redefine your nine-to-five with the startup career of your dreams, keep reading to learn what you can do right now to find the startup job of your dream in 2022!

Research

This seems obvious, but it’s very important. Do some research to figure out what job titles fit your search parameters. Leverage Forge Buffalo and other job boards to get a feel for the many different job titles roles and responsibilities. While each job may not fit your exact preferences, you’ll be surprised what you can learn by reading a ton of job postings. And take notes on the companies you like. Check the company’s social media pages for information about company culture, visit its LinkedIn page to see if you know any connections, and ask to chat with people that can give you an inside scoop.

Leverage your LinkedIn profile to make connections. If you are specifically interested in a company, find someone there to connect with. If you do that, make sure your note has substance.

Get Your Resume Ready

By this, I don’t mean spending days on end trying to craft a one-size-fits-all resume that you can send out to everyone. Similar to how you dress for the job you want and not necessarily the one you have, you also need to make sure your resume is tailored to the job you’re applying for. Make it easy for the recruiter to see how you fit their criteria in the first 30 seconds of reviewing your resume. What you can do now is use your research to create several different resume templates. Have them ready to go, and then you can quickly tailor them to fit each new posting!

Every post may not fit your exact preferences, but you’ll be surprised what you can learn by reading a ton of job postings.

Leverage LinkedIn

There are really two parts here. First, let’s talk about your profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, get one now. It’s safe to say that 95% of recruiters will look at your LinkedIn profile if they like your resume. If you don’t have one, make one. Not having a LinkedIn profile can make it seem like you’re not tech-savvy or current. Make sure you keep your profile as up-to-date as possible and have a picture. You don’t need a professional headshot, but make sure you can find a nice picture of yourself in professional attire with a clean background. If you don’t have a professional camera, that’s OK—your cell phone camera will suffice. Need help building or updating your profile? Forge Buffalo has a great online video hosted by experts at LinkedIn on how to build a great profile.

Second, leverage your LinkedIn profile to make connections. If you are specifically interested in a company, find someone there to connect with. If you do that, make sure your note has substance.

Don’t say:

Hi, I am really interested in your company. Here is my resume – please let me know if a job might fit my skills. Why? Recruiters don’t have time to do the work for you, and if you send this you probably won’t get a response.

Do say:

Hi, I saw you have an opening for a marketing associate. I have 3 years of experience doing just that at (your current company), as you will see from my attached resume. I’d be happy to elaborate more if given the chance to speak with you. Now you’ve given the recruiter a reason to open your resume, and it just might land you an interview. Don’t be afraid to make connections—that is what LinkedIn is for! It might even be worth upgrading to a premium subscription when your search really ramps up to gain access to more InMails. Definitely check out their plans in advance.

Get Organized Now

Another great way to get a head-start now is to get organized. Start a tracker using a spreadsheet or your favorite list-making tool to organize your prospect companies. Make a huge list, and check those company career pages frequently for new job listings. You could even create a Google Alert to automatically send you search results daily. When you apply, copy the job posting into your tracker. That way, if you get an interview weeks later and the posting is expired, you can still reference it. List the date you applied and which resume you used. All of these tactics will help you be prepared when someone calls you. Also, one last little trick. If you are in the midst of your job hunt and you get a call but don’t recognize the number, let it go to voicemail. This gives you the chance to figure out who is calling you, what job it was, etc. You do not want to answer the phone and have no idea what job the person is calling you about! First impressions really matter.

You might be reading this and asking yourself, “Why does this all matter?” The key in all of this planning and prep is speed. Not many people know this, but when recruiters and hiring teams look through resumes, they usually don’t use a comparative approach. They’re not combing through each resume and picking the top 10. They start from the first person that applied and go through the resumes in date order until they have a certain number of good applicants, then start interviewing. Speed is essential. If you are number 5 to apply out of 500 resumes, you are much more likely to get seen than if you’re number 497.

Looking to gain experience in a new industry with a new career? Lucky for you, now could be the perfect time to kick off your job search. 43North’s Y7 cohort is coming to town and every company is looking to add to its team! Want to be the first to know about the latest opportunities? Join the Forge Buffalo community, and we’ll drop fresh opportunities with Buffalo’s fastest-growing companies in your inbox. Want the startup career of your dreams to find you? Upload your resume to Forge Buffalo’s talent database so startups can find you!

If you’re looking for more info about the startup life, check out our blog, Flashpoint, You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn and stay tuned for upcoming Forge Buffalo events.

Good luck out there—and happy job hunting!