What differentiates you from others for an Employer to hire you?

Though it's too late for me to write this stuff, I think it's better late than never. With the recession clouds still hovering largely with very less positive signs of them moving out soon, with so many jobs being lost day after day, with so many graduates passing out of the colleges in less than week, months’ time the unemployment rates are increasing. An estimated 5 lac (half a million) jobs were lost in the period between September - December '08 in India (http://supari.org/lost-jobs/). Close to 20 million Chinese have lost their jobs (http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/20-million-Chinese-migrants-lose-jobs/418573/). More than 2 million have lost their jobs in USA in last 4 months (http://www.marxist.com/g20-capitalism-has-failed.htm). Combining all the lost jobs with the freshers in market the level of competition is increasing. The number of applications for a job which stood at x/job today might have reached 2x/job or 5x/job or may be more. However the point that I want to make here is "What is your differentiating factor?" "What x-factor do you have that makes you stand out from the crowd?"

Following are some ways that I feel would help the job seekers;

Well!!!!! To start with you should start networking, good networking. Millions of us use various social networking sites (don't want to name any specific ones, it's quite evident which ones I am talking about). It's not bad to use them. But why not use them to your advantage. Possessing good academics and marks is not the only requirement of the hour. You need to have something extra along with it. Only then will you be different. Linkedin, Facebook, Blogs are excellent ways to get into networking. We associate facebook with social networking. However we can use it in much better way. There are various educational, professional, corporate groups present on Facebook. Instead of posting party snaps one can post his/her snaps of office/college/social work. Don't you think such a picture of yours is better than the one where you celebrating in a party? Linkedin according to me is the strongest way to create an impact on recruiters. One's profile is completely visible on Linkedin. So why not use it to your advantage? It is a virtual resume of yours. Create good profiles and get some beautiful recommendations from your office colleagues, your classmates, your professors, your corporate partners which reflect your sincerity, your attitude, your passion (My Linkedin profile : http://www.linkedin.com/in/sumeetkshah). These things actually will make you stand out from the crowd and tempt the recruiter to shortlist your CV. Even here there are various groups to be part of and participate in the discussions that happen. Facebook has a 30% market share among all networking sites considered collectively followed by Linkedin at 10% (the figures that I know) and that does not surprise me a bit. Create a Blog and keep updating it regularly. A blog is a reflection of your thoughts, your mind and your attitude. Make an attempt to update it regularly with your thoughts on current affairs in society, industry, country and the world. It shows how active you are of the current on goings in and around you. And what more you can also display it on your Linkedin profile. There is this application called as the "BlogLink" provided by Linkedin which pulls in your blog titles (from your blog) and displays it on your Linkedin profile page. A single click on these titles and your blog is opened in a new page. All above sites I spoke about give you your dedicated user-link which you can mention on your CVs.

With the way things are going in market and the way the world is getting more and more tech savvy I feel and I would like to say it again "I feel" it's not only your skills but also your web presence that will matter a lot in coming days. The more your web presence the more is your participation/presence in the industry. The more will you be able to know what’s going on in your field. Physically you can be present only in fixed/limited/smaller geography.

One should also ensure that his/her CV is really well structured. All above things would be of waste if the candidate does not possess a well structured CV. Career Objective, Achievements, Participation should be presented in such a way that it catches the eye of the recruiter. The candidate should always be confident and should be able to answer every question that arises from the CV contents.

I can't assure that the above written stuff will guarantee a job but it will definitely help to make the task easy for you.

Do mention your thoughts over the content. Thanks!!!!!!!!

http://www.linkedin.com/in/sumeetkshah