Ways to Get Noticed in Your Tech Job Hunt
Tags: beginners, jobseeker, hiring, career
Published: 2022-05-12 18:52:32

_Written by Brian Skory, Tech Talent Specialist of [Stout Systems](https://www.stoutsystems.com/)_

If you are in the tech industry, there’s a good chance that companies are searching for you! We currently have an unprecedented number of [open tech jobs](https://www.stoutsystems.com/jobs) and not enough candidates to fill them. So when a company comes searching for someone like you, you want to make sure that you do everything you can to get noticed. How do you do that? Here are some of our best suggestions.

- **Know where companies are searching.** Chances are that companies will mostly be searching in all the same places, so you’ll want to make sure that you have a presence there. One of those places is LinkedIn. You’ll want to make sure that you have a profile built out since [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/) is currently one of the top-searched sites for technical talent. The job boards are another place you’ll want to make sure you have a presence. Our current favorites are [Dice](https://www.dice.com/), [Indeed](https://www.indeed.com/), and [Talent](https://www.talent.com/).
- **Make sure that when they find you, they like what they see!** When I’m searching for talent, I’ll raise an eyebrow if the person doesn’t have a LinkedIn profile. But I’ll also see red flags if that profile is sloppily built out (incomplete, typos, etc.) or has a profile picture that’s blurry or looks like a mugshot. You don’t have to pay for professional headshots but try to do better than a screenshot of an online picture from your wedding. If possible, include some testimonials/endorsements from previous clients, co-workers, or managers. If you are working with a recruiter, have them take a look at your LinkedIn profile and see if they have any suggestions.
- **Know what your uploaded resume looks like.** When you upload a resume to a job board, be sure to go out there and see how it will look from the searcher’s perspective. Sometimes those resumes don’t upload so well depending on the file format you began with. I’ll open up a candidate’s resume only to see that it’s a solid block of text (pretty much impossible to read). Other times, I have discovered that the job posting board truncated entire sections of a candidate’s resume, deleting key skills or job history. Take a few minutes to double-check what a prospective employer is going to see when they find you on that job board.
- **Make sure the hiring manager will like what they see on your resume.** Prospective employers typically search by keywords. If they are searching on Dice and include “React” in their search string, and you have React anywhere on your resume, then your resume will be offered up to them. But if they open your resume and see no mention of React save for a brief mention of it in your skills matrix, then they aren’t going to like what they see. If you’re a React developer, then be sure to include it in the bullet-point descriptions for each job that you’ve used it in. Otherwise, it probably doesn’t belong on your resume.

I always tell my candidates that when hiring managers get overwhelmed with the number of candidates they have to wade through, they are looking for any excuse to say “no” so they whittle down the pile to something more manageable. Don’t give them a reason to say “no” before they’ve even read your resume by avoiding the four mistakes above.

If you're looking for work, please [submit your resume](mailto:recruit@stoutsystems.com) or [browse our job board](https://www.stoutsystems.com/jobs) to determine if you are a match for a job that we have available. We host free career webinars every week - [visit our event calendar](https://www.stoutsystems.com/events) to RSVP!