The Attention-Driven Job Market

Join Isaiah as he explains why attention of the employer is necessary for PhDs to get hired in high-paying industry roles 

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

• First, Isaiah discusses why it is important for PhDs to understand employer attention
• Next, Isaiah reveals what PhDs can do to grab this attention
• Finally, Isaiah explains how can attention help PhDs to be hired in well paying roles

From This Week’s Show… 

Why Must PhDs Know About Employer’s Attention 

PhDs must have the attention of the employer. What happens if you stop pursuing attention in your industry job search at any time? Then whatever attention you have gained will quickly leave you for another job candidate. Consider the position of the hiring manager or recruiter whose attention you are trying to command. A hiring manager wanting to hire a PhD for a position at the company would want the job to be easy. Considering that at times recruiters are trying to hire job candidates for 12 different positions. On top of this, the need to hire could be urgent. 

This is the state at which you will meet most hiring managers and recruiters. Also consider the fact that the vast majority of hiring managers and recruiters are not PhDs. Of course, neither do they enjoy research. These people are not highly trained researchers like you. They probably have not even read a book since primary school (over 50% of the general population hasn’t). 

Did you think that the hiring managers and recruiters whose attention you are desperately seeking are joyously reading through hundreds of resumes. And doing intensive research in hopes of finding you? Instead, they are skimming through resumes at a rate of 5-7 seconds according to annual resume eye-tracking studies. They are in a hurry. To hire someone who is right at their fingertips. Or someone delivered to them via a silver platter by another employee at their company through an employee referral. 

How Can PhDs Grab Employer’s Attention

Getting attention to be hired in the industry does not have to be hard. It’s about showing up in the right places. Places where you are visible to the employers in a professional capacity. 

You can increase attention simply by putting yourself into the right LinkedIn groups. Or other online meetups and forums. Show up to in person networking events and conferences too. You can also put your resume on your own free personal website. Send personal messages to people connected to on LinkedIn. Leverage the bevy of other current and new networking-based social media platforms. Increase your visibility. Keep your ear to the ground in terms of opportunities. 

For now, just start showing up – everywhere.

How Can Attention Help You In Your Job Search 

Reaching out or networking to grab employers attention is not hard. Do not overthink it. There will be time to qualify your connections and job leads later. For now, just get some eyeballs on you. Take a few minutes and do a web search on the definition of impressions, engagement and conversions when it comes to advertising. The impression metric, or reach of an advertisement refers to how many people view that particular advertisement.

When you are looking for an industry job, you are the advertisement. But you currently have no impressions; no eyeballs on you. In advertising, engagement refers to how many people interact with an advertisement. How many clicks does the ad get? And how many people comment on it? How many people drive by the billboard daily? For an industry transition, your LinkedIn engagements are imperative. The number of people you send a message to on LinkedIn. Or have any type of conversation on LinkedIn is your engagement metric. Focus on increasing your impressions. 

Impression leads to attention. Your job candidacy is starved for attention right now. It is also at the top of the hiring funnel from your point of view. By getting attention through impressions, you can start conversations. Set up informational interviews, generate job referrals, get interviews and attract job offers. 

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.