Today's podcast continues the 'Ask the Recruiter Series' and today's question is as follows :

I am a fresher just starting out in my career but I noticed that most of the available Jobs are for experienced candidates. What can I do to increase my chances of getting hired?

The thoughts I share in this episode resonate deeply with me because I can clearly say that I have walked in these shoes as a candidate. I have walked this path two major times in my career. The first time being when I completed my undergraduate education in my home country (Nigeria) and the second was after concluding my master's program here in Germany.

I combine all of my learnings from these two experiences and I share them in 3 practical tips that candidates who fall into this category can employ. 

A little caveat, the tips I share are not a magic formula but they are core strategies that helped me successfully navigate those phases of my job search journey. However, I must say that it pays to have an open mind when learning about what has worked for others because you just might find your missing puzzle.

Key takeaways from today's episode

Have fun listening and remember to send in your questions to [email protected].  

Today's podcast begins a new series titled: Ask a recruiter.

You get the chance to ask any questions you have and I'll be glad to share my thoughts and insights on those areas. At the moment I have a pool of 10 questions and I’ll take my time to talk through the rest of the questions in subsequent episodes. Also, you are welcome to contribute to this pool by sending your questions to [email protected].

Today I’ll be answering question 1 and I hope this also helps you in your job search process.

Alright let’s dive in

Question 1

I live outside of Europe and I'd like to work in Europe. I’m also going to need visa sponsorship. So far I have applied to several countries in Europe but I keep getting rejections. Is my current location a disqualifying factor?

Key Takeaways

I shared 3 tips on how to position yourself for opportunities in regions like Europe for people coming from countries that require visas. I also mentioned the fact that most companies would only go all the way for candidates with significant experience because of the cost implication.

Now someone might ask, what do I do if I have no experience, does that disqualify me?

Good question and my answer is absolutely not!  Keep trying but while you try, ensure that you are building experience alongside.

You can also consider coming over to Europe for study purposes (sometimes that route is more straightforward) and hey you get a degree afterward, so it’s a win-win for you in the end.

Alright, so remember to :

Have fun listening!

Today's podcast is focused on adding value through your interaction and your engagement on Linkedin because someone who adds value (now real value) is already an employee of choice. By adding value you demonstrate :

These are already bonus points that you score even before saying a word in an interview. So please leverage Linkedin dear candidate and watch Linkedin work for you.

The key takeaways from today's episode are to post or engage with content that:

Have fun listening!

NB

(To contribute to the question bank I mentioned in this podcast, please email your questions to [email protected])

Episode 8 drops and it is GEM-IFIED (Yeah that’s my own word for saying filled with GEMS)!

In this episode, I interview Dipo, my very first guest on ‘The Dear Candidate podcast’.

Dipo tells us how he navigated through a wave of 150+ rejection messages (not counting the countless companies that never got back) and no interview invites whatsoever to landing a full-time permanent job after months of consistently showing up. Imagine if he gave up the month before he sent that one message that changed his story! Just imagine.

My key takeaways from this episode are :

Iɴ Dɪᴘᴏ’s ᴡᴏʀᴅs: Lɪɴᴋᴇᴅɪɴ ɪs ᴀ ᴍᴀʀᴋᴇᴛᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ: ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴡᴀʏ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ʟᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ ꜰᴏʀ Jᴏʙs ɪs ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴡᴀʏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʟsᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ʟᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴀɴ ᴀᴅᴅ ᴠᴀʟᴜᴇ.

Have fun listening!

I attended a virtual conference a couple of weeks back and the speaker at the event used a very interesting phrase when she spoke about Linkedin; She called it free real estate that is accessible to all.

One of the basic things you learn about when getting a financial education is that there is a clear difference between an asset and a liability.

Real estate is one standard example of what you would call an asset.

Some assets can yield returns all by themselves but some other types of assets would need a bit of investment to get them to the point where they would begin to yield effortlessly.

Linkedin, Dear candidate is like that second category I just described.

Now today's podcast is literally for everybody, irrespective of whether you are looking for a job or not.

Also, if you are someone who finds LinkedIn super boring or unimportant, then you definitely want to stick around as I hopefully seek to convince you on why and how you can hopefully make LinkedIn work for you.

We are challenging ourselves this week and in the weeks to come using the #LIchallenge so join in as we make this a fun-filled week of engagement.

Have fun listening.

Taking the final interview is always accompanied by its own form of nerves irrespective of the role you may be interviewing for and the experience you have with interviewing, particularly if it’s a job you really want. 

The nature of final interviews of course varies from company to company but in most cases, the final interview is a ‘culture fit/ (some call it culture contribution or culture alignment interview’). Companies call it different names however the goal of this interview (nomenclature aside) remains the same. How well do your own values align with the values of the organization? And are you willing to make adjustments where needed?

In this episode, I share tips on how to prepare for this interview and I explain how the main talking points are all linked to answering that one question. 

Have fun listening!

This is stage 3 of the process, it's SHOWTIME!

At this point, your ability to do the job in practical terms will be tested. Can you 'walk' the 'talk'?

This is kind of the make or break point (in actual fact all steps are like this but this one is pretty crucial). From my own experience, this is generally the stage where the second-largest candidate drop-off happens and the reason is not far-fetched. That which you say you can do would be tested at this round so this is not a 'round' to approach lightly.

In this episode, I share tips on how you can properly prepare for this round + the common reason why candidates are dropped at this stage. I also tell you about a strategy for making this a win-win situation irrespective of the outcome of the round. 

Have fun listening!

If you pass the cv screening stage, you will receive a positive response from the company to let you know that you are proceeding to the next round. That’s the kind of news we all love to get righttttt😃but wait! Before you throw that party, I want you to take a step back as we consider what this invitation actually means.

This invitation might be a step closer to the offer, however, you must understand that, to move along in the process, you will need to nail this interview. This next round invitation is indeed an invitation to prove your cv.  It is an invitation to affirm or contradict the suspicion that the recruiter has about your ability to do the job. Much more than an invitation, it is a call to action. If you want the Job, then you absolutely need to rise up to the challenge!

In this episode, I share tips on how you can do just that + 2 common reasons why candidates are dropped at this stage.

Have fun listening!

A typical application process consists of 4 major stages. It can be more or less depending on factors like the seniority of the position, the type of role, internal requirements, and so on. However, for these series, I’ll treat the entire application life cycle as a 4 stage process. Stage 1 is where your application for the role is submitted and at this stage, the review of your cv takes place. If your profile fits what the team is looking for, you will be invited to proceed to the next stage. However, some candidates have found getting past stage 1 to be a herculean task.

What is really responsible for all of these drop-offs? 

Why do I keep getting all those rejection emails without even having the opportunity to speak to a human being? someone might ask.

Listen to this episode to get some clarity on what might be responsible for this and to get some practical tips on how to improve your cv.

The importance of preparing for your interview cannot be overemphasized because as the saying goes,  'the one who fails to plan has already planned to fail'. Today, our focus would be to discuss some practical tips that can help you communicate better during your interview because the truth of the matter is that passing an interview particularly in a well-structured company does not happen by chance.  Therefore, a certain level of intentionality is required from your end. Now someone might ask, what if I prepare as hard as I can and the company still doesn’t hire me, would it not have been a waste of time? Well, my answer to this is  ‘absolutely not’, because whatever you learn would more often than not find some relevance at some point in your future. Listen to this episode as I unpack this further.