How to land your dream job as a digital professional with Javier Cuadra

Aiming to find a new job ASAP? You’re not alone. The pandemic-fuelled phenomenon of the Great Resignation has proven that many people are trying to escape from employers who just aren’t making them happy.

So, if you’re one of the 41% of people worldwide who, according to a Microsoft study, are looking to change jobs in the next year, recruiter Javier Cuadra’s ‘get hired mindset’ can help you, well, get hired.  

After all, finding a new professional opportunity isn’t always easy.

“Normally, we say that looking for a job is a job itself,” says Javier. “It’s a lengthy process that requires time and resources.”

And that’s before we even mention the mental toll of applying for jobs and facing setbacks and rejections.

So, whether your values are no longer aligned with those of the company you’re working for, or you want to take a leap forward in your career, here are some tools you can use to land your dream job as a digital professional.

What’s the ‘get hired mindset’?

Javier defines it as how you perceive yourself and the professional world around you. It’s about doing the prep to come across as more employable while showing attitude and determination. It’s a combination of positive thinking and a growth mindset.

Sometimes, we’re very hard on ourselves, Javier points out. We feel like we’re not reaching expectations in our jobs or performing well enough and enter a negative feedback loop. This is why it’s key to focus on the bright side and be in the driver’s seat when it comes to your career.

“One of the biggest gifts of the pandemic is the opportunity to rethink our potential and what we want to do in the future,” Javier says.

Take these steps to get hired

Here are Javier’s most useful tips for finding your dream job as a digital professional.

1. Recognise your context and emotions

How do you feel at your job? Once you figure this out and have a higher level of self awareness, you can better identify what’s not working so well in your professional life before orienting yourself into the right direction.

2. Understand why you want change

If you’re not happy in your current company, envision the future. What do you want to achieve? What company culture fits you best? It’s important to analyse these types of insights to figure out your target role.

“The better you frame it, the easier it will be to bring your whole self to work and the more aligned you’ll be with your values and what gives you satisfaction,” says Javier. “And that’s going to help you evolve professionally.”

Ask yourself these questions before taking action:

• What am I currently doing?
• Is it giving me energy?
• Am I getting satisfaction from it?

3. Take a different direction to move forwards

Once you know what you want to do with your career, make a plan and define the scope of your job search.

1. Create a list of companies you want to work for.
2. Think about how to approach them.
3. Set measurable goals.

The more you break down the job hunt, the more tangible it becomes. Then you can celebrate those small successes, whether it’s that you got in touch with five new companies in a day or landed three interviews by the end of a month.

4. Tweak the elements to be more employable

It’s important to be almost everywhere so you can show who you are and how companies can get in touch with you, says Javier. This means you need to work on your personal branding, portfolio and LinkedIn page, as well as your CV.

5. Be prepared for the interview

If you do get invited to an interview, find a good coach, recruiter, friend or peer who can act as a sounding board and give you feedback on your presentation skills.

3 essential interview tips

1. Do your research about the job and the company

Spend a good couple of hours investigating the company’s social media, press releases and vocabulary it uses internally. If you already sound like you belong in the firm, this will have a positive impact on your chances of getting hired.

2. Anticipate the 10 to 15 typical interview questions

Some of these include:

• What’s your background?
• Why did you leave your previous job?
• What are your weaknesses?
• How can you contribute to the company?

Next, create elevator pitches and practise your answers. Javier gets his candidates to write down their replies to the most common interview questions, study them and then practise conveying them in front of a mirror.

3. Figure out your motivation

Why do you want that assignment? Why do you want to work for that company? Why are you here today? Why do you want to work for us? “A lot of people can’t answer these questions,” says Javier. “Sometimes they just go blank.”

The recruiter tends to tell the candidates he’s in touch with that there are three things they can focus on:

• Why do you want this job in terms of the content?
• Why do you want to work for the company?
• What connects you with the industry?

If you tap into those you’ll be fine, says Javier.

More hacks for getting hired

Remember that job descriptions tend to be a wishlist

When Javier first talks to a company he’s recruiting for, he challenges them on the content of their job description. This is because, often, the person making the hiring decision didn’t write it, HR did, and they don’t actually know the nitty-gritty details of the position.

“You really have to dig deeper to understand the three key things that are most important for the company,” says Javier.

From a candidate perspective, he explains that it’s important to reflect what’s in the job description and the criteria you meet. Then, you need to come up with concrete examples of how you successfully met those in your past roles.

The perfect candidate who fits 100% of the job description doesn’t exist, says Javier. But you do need to think about how you can leverage the criteria you don’t meet as an opportunity for yourself to learn and grow. And, more importantly, you need to convey that in the interview to the employer.

Ask questions at the beginning of the interview

Doing this at the start, rather than at the end, of an interview helps you to understand what the interview actually wants to hear. This way, you can figure out any problems the company needs to solve and give the right answers at the right moment to show that you’re a good match.

Even though you might feel nervous or out of your comfort zone, use active listening skills and be empathetic and assertive in your answers.

Think of yourself as a product a company wants to buy

Aside from being natural and authentic, you need to show the company who you are as a person. Learn to communicate:

• What’s your background?
• What are your strengths?
• What have you achieved?
• How can you help the company?
• What problems are you going to solve?

Come up with an example of where you failed

One tip Javier likes to share with people is to be ready to tell the interviewer about something that went wrong or where you messed up. It’s effective to use a pinch of humor while explaining what went wrong and what you learned, he advises.

If you get a “no”, ask for feedback

You have to take the “no” as a learning moment, to analyze what went wrong and ask, “What could I have done better?” Once you know that, you can take action and improve your interview skills, says Javier.

Don’t be so hard on yourself

When you’re on LinkedIn, you only hear stories of success. But the reality is different: there’s a failure behind everything, says Javier.

“And that’s the key, it’s hard but we learn from it. I wish someone had told me maybe seven years ago when I started my career that it’s OK to make mistakes but it’s all about how you can capitalise on those mistakes,” Javier explains.

“Everything is a learning opportunity if you pause to reflect on it and make things better. And there’s no single career path that fits everyone. Everyone is different. Everyone has a different life, a different career story. That’s what makes you unique. And that’s what you can use to get the jobs you want.”

Voila: as promised, tons of tips and tricks to help you get hired as a digital professional. Discover more by listening to the podcast with Javier.