Hi, I am Soren Gade, Strategic Finance Leader interested in supporting people in their careers. This presentation was developed with the amazing Bani Sodhi https://www.linkedin.com/in/banisodhi/ Bani and I had a lot of fun developing it and would be happy to help you with your career challenges.

2. I need a job, NOW!
Missing
- market knowledge
- jobhunting skills
- patience

3. The approach
STRONG DISCIPLINE NEEDED
Search specialized job board for finance + accounting jobs
Shotgun approach
Goal for number of applications sent every day
Result
4 months - 700+ applications – 13 interviews – 2 jobs to choose between

4. megatrends
Employers have
changed – job
hunters have not
Job search
duration
dramatically
increased
Job search is
almost fully online
Employers and job
seekers speak two
different languages

5. Distinct job markets need different strategies
Published job market
dramatically changed in recent years
Unpublished / hidden job market
largely unchanged in recent years
Applicant Tracking Systems
(ATS)
Personal and professional networks

6. Dream Job, Not-Dream
Job, so many Jobs all
around us, all the time!
Why is it still hard to land one?
ATS

7. Which Job Should I
apply for?
• Find a Job you are attracted to
• Read the Job Description
• Check the 'Core Skills' required
• Does it match 'Your Core Skills' ?
• No? - Don’t waste your time!!
• Yes? - Go for it!!

9. • Example view of how the ATS
backend looks for an employer
Taleo Workday
Success
Factors
Green
house
Brassring iCIMS Jobvite Lever
Smart
Recruiters
JazzHR CATS BambooHR

10. ATS passing
Resume
checkpoints
Do’s
Your CV should be 2 pages max & error free
Stick to traditional fonts ex. Arial, Calibri, Helvetica,
Times New Roman
Label sections correctly
Skills before experience
Highlight all relevant experience as early as possible
CV File name is correct ex. Laura.docx
Make it easy to be scanned by robots / humans
Pay attention to your brand & keep online info updated ,
including Linkedin

11. What Format does the
ATS like?
• .docx. vs .pdf (use Google docs if you
have do not have Microsoft word)
• Make it easy to be scanned by robots /
humans
• Chronological & Combination formats are
more preferred by ATS & recruiters
Chronological
Combination

12. Highlight all
relevant
experience How closely should you meet the requirement of the job
description?
Worth applying for a role if you meet 60-70% of the job
criteria.
Perform a self assessment against the job description and
highlight everything that matches between our experience and
the JD
When and
where have I
done that?
Where have I
used a similar
skill ?
What did I
achieve?

13. Language
• Always use full forms or write abbreviation
after the full form/name
• Example, LWS vs Licensed Social Worker
• Example, Excel Expert vs Experience in
Spreadsheets
• Example. Master of Business Administration
(MBA)
• NEVER LIE!

14. Key words
• Skills
• Qualifications,
• Experience
• Qualities
• Look for the hard skills (easier
to quantify and qualify)
• Take help from online tools like

15. Checklist
Experience
Summary
• Short, crisp
• Purpose, skills and interest (another opportunity to
write key words)
• Make bullet list of your core skills below the summary
• Demonstrate how you put your skills to practice
• Bullets vs. Paragraphs
• Start every bullet point with a doing word i.e Verb (Ex. Established,
Delivered)
• Dates in year format (2001-2022)

16. Helpful online
tools/resources
Jobscan
Resume
Worded’s Targeted
Resume
SkillSyncer

17. Don’t
Don’t
Don’t try to trick the
ATS!! It won’t work
;)
Avoid
Avoid Fancy resume
templates or,
tables, boxes, logos,
images.
Avoid
Avoid Grammatical
errors at all costs
(Hint: Print out your
resume to
proofread)

18. Going beyond
the ATS!
Impressive Resume
If you make a resume
that beats the ATS,
chances are it’ll impress
a whole lot of
humans too
Be Resourceful
Don't Put All
Your Eggs in One
Basket- Use
employer referral
programs (can
get you past the
ATS, sometimes
very quickly)
NETWORK
NETWORK
NETWORK!!!!!!!!

19. To your success