Whether you like his products or not, everyone knows about Dr. Dre’s “Beats by Dre” brand. His shiny headphones are particularly famous and can be seen worn around the necks of celebrities worldwide. In fact, his latest ad for his new line of wireless headphones stars an army of mega-famous celebrities. And although there are tons of headphone producers in the world, Dr. Dre has managed to set himself apart from all of them. Similarly, when you’re looking for jobs in Yangon, you’re in competition with hundreds of other job seekers. Take a few tips from Dr. Dre’s business strategy during your own job hunt to make yourself stand out to recruiters.
Make and use your connections
If you scroll down to the video description, there’s a list of all the celebrities that are featured in the video. And they’re not just any celebrities — these are big names. While Dr. Dre’s team might have approached some of them purely within the context of a business deal, most of these celebrities were probably names that Dr. Dre already had in his phone. Although you might not be making a music video anytime soon, you never know when you’ll need to ask a favor when applying for a job. After all, if you can ask the marketing manager of a company you’re applying to put in a good word for you with the HR team, then you’ll automatically be a step in front of all the other applicants.
Remember that any connection is a useful connection
Take another look at the list of celebrities in the video and you’ll see that it’s got everyone from musicians to actors to athletes. If you meet someone who doesn’t directly work in your industry, don’t just assume that it’s not worth introducing yourself and exchanging contact details. Every connection you can make is helpful. For instance, if you want to switch careers at some point in the future, you won’t suddenly have to start building contacts from scratch. Never underestimate the importance of networking.
Personalize your cover letters and CV’s
Dr. Dre could’ve used any song in his music video, but he specifically chose the catchy “No Strings” from the film Pinocchio. Why? Well, because he’s advertising wireless headphones (which have no wires or “strings,” get it?). While it’s tempting to copy and paste the same cover letter to every company you apply to, you’ll get much better results if you take the time to tailor each application to that particular organization. A generic CV and cover letter will work to an extent, but a personalized one will convey to them that you’ve done your research and put a lot of thought into your application.
Grab the hiring manager’s attention from the start
The video opens with a scene from Pinocchio, which is a weird opening for a headphone brand. Instantly, the viewer is curious and wants to know where this is headed. Take the same approach with your application — research has shown that hiring managers spend six seconds looking at an applicant’s CV. If you want a recruiter to actually read your entire CV and cover letter, you need to hook them from the beginning. Try to be as creative as possible (within reason), and have the opening of your application convey to the hiring manager that they need to take a closer look at the rest of it.
Keep it short and sweet
The ad is 1 minutes and 42 seconds long, which is roughly the amount of time that a hiring manager will spend reading someone’s entire application if they decide that they’re interested in that applicant. Your cover letter should never be longer than a page, and your CV should be two pages maximum. If a recruiter sees that you’ve given them a five-page CV, they might look at the first two pages, but that’ll be it. Remember that they have hundreds or even thousands of applications to go through. Of course you want to make sure your cover letter and CV have all the important details, but also keep in mind that a recruiter will only spend so much time on each application they receive. Just like you don’t want to sit through a 10-minute long ad, no recruiter wants to read an essay-length cover letter.