To Get Hired in a Highly Competitive Market, Pick Up 1 Habit

In life, your habits set you apart — for better or for worse.  And in this day and age, the job market is highly competitive, more than it has been in history. 

With the direction technology is moving these days, to get hired, you better show up and perform to the best of your ability, but the trick is how you convey this in an interview process. 

Habits are the building blocks to your success, a determinant of where you’ll be next month, next year and even five years from now. It also happens to be that American’s bad habits actually got worse during a worldwide pandemic. Complacency, even with extra time for many, became the norm. 

However, for some, they used the downtime and downturn in the economy as an opportunity to set themselves apart. How, you might be wondering? By focusing on this one habit to make themselves absolutely irresistible in the highly competitive job market. Today, we will share with you that exact habit.

Share what you know.

If you pick up this one habit, you’re going to increase your chances of landing a job in the face of tough competition. In this highly competitive market, simply sharing your knowledge consistently can be the key habit of getting yourself hired. 

While your resume might share what you know in the job application process, keep in mind that anyone hungry enough to write a stellar resume can surely do the same. Not to mention, they will also be your competition.

So when we say “share what you know,” you want to be able to demonstrate your expertise in your targeted area. Methods are many, but relative to the times of today, here are a few ways to go about sharing your background knowledge:

Leverage social media.

Since we revolve around technology, social media platforms like Linkedin, Medium and Thrive Global have given us an outlet to connect with larger professional audiences. 

That being said, what we create and put out can do us a great service in making a name for ourselves, getting in touch with the right people and potentially earning a coveted position if you’re after it. 

Here are some quick ideas to show what and share what you know:

1. Write Articles. Publish 400-500 word blog posts on Thrive, LinkedIn, Medium, or even create your own personal niche blog.  
2. Be active in your industry! Consider getting involved with publications in your industry to build your name. 

Write articles.

A good way to demonstrate your expertise in an area is to write articles and post them regularly on your page.

This helps your ideas and knowledge gain exposure to the professional audience you would like to reach! Make sure you add these posts to your “featured” section on your profile if you use LinkedIn to track the content you create. According to a Linkedin Article, these are keys to keep in mind when you write articles:

1. Make sure your title is attractive!
2. Add a brief section about who you are at the end.
3. 1500-2000 words is the sweet spot, but 500-600 is fine, too.

As mentioned before, resumes don’t show; they tell. But by writing some articles and posting them regularly, you’ll show for sure!

Be active in your industry.

Making sure you are staying up to date with the current events that involve what you’re working with/toward is one half of the equation, and an important one indeed. Be sure to connect with targeted groups, reach out and talk and build a relationship with individuals in your field that can open a door for you to elevate your career regularly. 

Consistency is a must.

Follow the influential movers and shakers of your field, create content that’s reflective of understanding the challenges people face daily, and be equipped to bring a solution to it, comment, share, discuss, whatever you have to do. More often than not, recruiters will check out your social media platforms to see if you are the real deal — don’t make them second guess themselves! 

— Michael Dinich

What's your no. 1 piece of advice for people on the job market right now? Leave your answer in the comments to help other Fairygodboss'ers! 

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This article originally appeared on Ladders.