Some of us believe it is better to be lucky than to be good, this is partially true; in Arabic we say "Erat haz wala Fadan shatarah". In all cases a little bit of luck on one's side is always helpful. In today's job market, that has been affected by a difficult economic environment for job seekers, if you are relying on luck or on your skills to get noticed, you are either headed for a big disappointment or you have already experienced one. The key to a successful job hunt is for you to stand out of the crowd … the crowd of job seekers that are after the same job(s) you are seeking.

The traditional job hunt approach required you needed to have some useful skills on your CV and make your availability known by sending your resume to a potential employers or recruitment services. But things have changed. In today's dynamic marketplace, you should create opportunities for yourself. Hence, you are marketing yourself; similar to any product or service, marketing is the act of creating demand. A key factor for a successful marketing campaign is to differentiate "yourself" in the eyes of others.

Obviously education, certification and experience are important, but in a difficult job market, your potential clients are no longer looking for the skill set on your CV. They are also looking at the overall value, which is qualitative, that you as an individual could potentially add to their organization.

Consider some of the following when planning your "marketing" campaign:

Your Brochure (the CV/Resume)
A single vacancy announcement on the internet or in a newspapers can generate hundreds of applications. You need to structure your resume, to get a competitive edge over this fierce competition. First and foremost, you must accept the fact that you will most likely need about a half-dozen versions of your resume. Each fine tuned to the specific needs / situation of the company it is addressed to.

Additionally, your resume needs to communicate to the hiring organization not only your hard skills, like "Network Administrator, Novell Certified, with four years of experience" but also your soft skills, such as "Team player with experience delivering on-time, within budget solutions" and "an appreciation of the xxxx industry (construction for example)". This type of information delivers a clear message to the potential hiring organization of how you can add value to the organization beyond the technical skills that you bring to the table.

You should write your resume with a focus on the strengths and attributes you want to show off the most, targeted specifically for the position you are applying for. Then, create multiple resumes that you can modify for each submission. For example if you are an IT professional, you could have one resume for IT consulting firms, another for a IT departments in trading and manufacturing companies; a third for telecom service providers etc…

Cover Letter
This what most Egyptians, and Arabs in general tend to forget. Simply sending a resume in an envelope or attaching it to an e-mail is not acceptable. You should personalize each cover letter you send and customize it to fit the specific company you are sending it to, the job you are applying for and the industry.

Also, by using a cover letter you can avoid the generic and usually meaningless "Career Objective" numerous job seekers start their resume with.

Networking
The best chances for getting a job is when you are known to someone who influences the recruitment decision (in the targeted company, a recruitment consultant etc…). This does not mean you should be getting a job you do not deserve (wasta). What we are saying, is that when equal-caliber candidates are considered for a position, the one who typically gets the position is the one who is better known to the decision maker. More important, through your network, you can find out about vacancies that are never advertised.

Networking requires you to keep positive relations with the largest possible number of professionals, get involved in associations, learning groups etc… Do not drop you old school and university colleagues from your radar… you never know when you will need them.

The Interview
When you are finally invited to an interview, you must always remember that there are probably several candidates being considered for the same vacancy who probably have similar education, experience and technical qualifications. Therefore, in addition to demonstrating your technical ability, you should be prepared to focus on the interpersonal aspects of each conversation you have with your potential hiring manager, positioning yourself as an individual capable of working with a team and across organizational boundaries. You need to demonstrate to the hiring manager(s) that you are the most capable individual, out of all the candidates interviewed, to help meet or exceed organizational and business objectives. Why? Because after the interviews are conducted with potential candidates, you need to be remembered by the interviewers as the candidate with a great attitude who would be a pleasure to work with.

References
If this job you are after is not your first job, or alternatively you had summer internships or got to work with outsiders on projects (a university professor, an association manager etc…) thrive to leave a positive impression and maintain a pleasant relationship with them. Very few candidates in an interview encourage the interviewer to contact references. If these are credible, and have something objective and positive to say about you, you are further differentiating yourself from others.