“Companies want to hire real, interesting people. Having that little extra hobby or skill (something that speaks of your personality) can potentially get you the interview.”

—Kevin Callahan, MBA graduate, University of Western Ontario

After completing university, I immediately created a job hunting strategy and used that strategy to find an incredible opportunity in Australia for a Canadian start-up.

When I joined, we had two branches mainly in the Melbourne area.

Now, the company is listed on the TSE and has close to 100 branches!

Here is a break-down of my job-hunt strategy:

1. Contacts: Keep your contacts warm and give them a reason to want to hear from you and ultimately help you. Nobody wants to hear from a job searcher only when they need their help.

Interact with them via their preferred method of communication. Sometimes this is informally through Twitter, and sometimes it’s a quick email to ask them how their vacation was. By no means should you waste anyone’s time, but building and keeping rapport, even after you secure a job, is an essential part of the job hunt.

I had a spreadsheet (literally!) that showed me who all of my contacts were, where they worked, and when I last spoke to them. Don’t be robotic about it, but a little organization helps keep you on track.

2. Focus: Even if you are willing to do ANYTHING (I’ve been there), try to show some restraint and zero in on a few job areas or industries.

While it may seem counter-intuitive to limit your search, it is actually much easier to tailor your application to specific jobs when they’re all in the same industry.

3. Motivation: Keep yourself motivated and positive – nobody wants to hire someone that is down in the dumps. This is an often overlooked but important job hunt tactic.

4. Polish: Make sure every aspect of the job hunt is done properly. All the way from having a well written, proofread cover letter to doing mock interviews with someone who can give useful feedback.

I have been on both sides of the interview table and I can say that people who have a polished resumé, are dressed appropriately, and are evidently comfortable in their knowledge of the position and the company are rare.

5. Get involved: Companies want students who are motivated and show a history of success. You may think this means work experience, but it can also mean extracurricular activities and sports teams.

One guy I know scored an interview with a bank largely because he and a senior employee shared a passion for semi-pro tennis! Companies want to hire real, interesting people. Having that little extra hobby or skill (something that speaks of your personality) can potentially get you the interview.

Where I am now

I recently completed an MBA and am a happy entrepreneur, working on Dazzle.me, a unique website that combines deals from various sites into one convenient location.

I enjoy working in the online industry because it is fast paced and constantly changing. It ties in all the things I enjoy, from social networking to client interaction.

I get the chance to work with awesome people on a daily basis and, although I am constantly busy, I love it.

My recommendation for employers

My advice to employers would be to try to craft a job posting in a way that speaks of your brand. Using the typical, dated job posting formula just isn’t going to work anymore.

The best job posting I have seen in terms of recruitment engagement was for a telecom company. Instead of simply stating the obvious, “We are the second largest national telecom company with X amount of employees spanning Y amount of cities…” they added personality to the posting.

It had a fun tone, quotes from previous hires, a description of a typical day on the job, a few light jokes, and all the real benefits of working for the company. The response was terrific and they received five times the number of high quality applicants than the average job on that board. I saved this fantastic job posting and have since used it to craft my own.

My recommendation for students

Create a plan and execute it. I hope you can use my experience as a basis for your own!

This #StudentVoice belongs to:

Kevin Callahan
Graduate
MBA
University of Western Ontario

Graduate
Management
Ryerson University

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