Are you a job seeker presently at loss as to how to make a
success of your job search? Are you a job seeker agonizing on the way to
land that dream job? We human relation practitioners have known that
making a success of your job search is hard work. In point of fact it
could be the hardest job in a job hunter's life. It requires innovation
and creativity to make it a reality. As a job seeker therefore, you have
to bring a lot of ingenuity into job hunting to make it effective and
result oriented.
Since you are also marketing a product which is you the job seeker, therefore as in marketing it requires positioning, process, persistence, performance and personality. You also have to exhibit enough dexterity as a job seeker marketing yourself to prospective employers. This write up is therefore about the various ways of enhancing the effectiveness of their job hunting.
What therefore are those actions a potential employee needs to take to make a success of his or her job search? What are the necessary steps to be taken to make job seeking result oriented rather than mere action? My experience as an HR expert has shown that the following are the steps you should take to take you from a mere job seeker to a potential employee.
1. Personal Assessment/Audit:
The
first tip in making a success of your job search is personal
assessment. You need to know what you can do or cannot do and this is
important in focusing your career objectives and consequently making a
success of your job hunt. It is important to know your feelings about
work itself. You need to know what your goals are in one or five year's
time. What are your work preferences, your values, your interest areas,
skills you possess and personal traits. You may also assess your
feelings about working alone or in a group. All these will keep you in a
good stead in determining the kind of career and jobs you should
pursue.
2. Focusing your job search:
After carrying out a personal audit of yourself and learning about your career objectives it then becomes necessary to focus your job hunting on specific jobs that matches your interest, work preferences, passion, traits, skills and values. You can use job search engines to locate jobs by using keywords that matches your interests and locations where you prefer to work. Other methods of finding employment includes listing in newspapers, referrals from databases, professional magazines, employment agencies, executive search firms, consulting firms, outsourcing agencies, informal inquiries, mass mailing of resumes etc. Narrowing of search criteria brings about focus of the job search and consequently provides more relevant listings to review and less relevant listings to weed out.
3. Create enabling profiles on networking websites:
Another tip in making a success of your job hunt is to create professional profiles on networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Skillpages and VisualCV. Branding yourself in a professional manner will attract recruiters, employers and contact thereby portraying you as a candidate worth being interested in. The benefits of branding yourself on these networking sites can therefore not be overemphasized.
4. Endeavor to search for unadvertised job openings:
It is not all the job openings that are normally advertised. There are some hidden job markets. This is because some recruiters and employers sometimes recruit job seekers that are recommended to them by colleagues, friends and sometimes associates. I personally have once been employed through this means. You should therefore get acquainted with potential employers with a view to having a pre-knowledge of available jobs before they are advertised by developing your contact network. To advertise your availability in the job market, you need to get the names of the professionals in your field. You need to ask faculty, alumni and peers on how to contact such persons. Also, directories, association listings, professional bodies, alumni associations, job search clubs and telephone books are veritable source of such names. To get reliable information about any job listing in any organization the best person to contact is the supervisor or manager of the position you are interested in.
5. Search for advertised job openings:
This is another step in having an effective job hunt. You can find employment adverts through newspapers, journals, publications, professional associations, internet and eRecruiting systems. All these need to be pursued if you really want to make your job hunt successful and result oriented. Following all these leads (together with the unadvertised) will increase your chances of uncovering openings that matches your desires. You should however keep your search focused and apply for only jobs which you are qualified. Employers only notice applicants whose skills and experience matches the one they are looking for. If not your resume and cover letter will be ignored and discarded.
6. Your Resume and Cover Letter need to be targeted:
Endeavor to craft your resume in a professional manner such that it will be a perfect match with the job on offer. Same with your resume cover letter. This is the only way your chances of being invited for interview can be enhanced. Without their being targeted to fit the requirements of the job they will be ignored.
7. The Interview:
You should learn as much as possible about the company you are targeting if you are offered an interview. Prepare adequately before the interview. Prepare with likely interview questions. Hold mock interviews with your friends to identify your lapses. Dress appropriately for the interview and be relaxed during the interview. You should make adequate effort to convince the interviewer with your skills, abilities and accomplishments with a view to convincing him that you are a perfect candidate for the position on offer.
8. Follow Up:
It is important also to make a follow up on your job search after you might have attended the interview. You need to thank everyone that might have made your invitation possible and endeavor to convince them that you are interested in the job and will be perfect for it if selected.
9. Acceptance or Declining of Job Offer:
When an offer for employment has been made you will need to take some time to think it over whether to accept or decline the offer. Certain factors will have to be put into consideration in reaching your final decision. These will include growth possibilities, working conditions, salary and benefits, location, size of organization, travel, stability of organization, amount and level of work, freedom on the job, organizational culture and philosophy of the organization.
10. Need for Continuous Career Development:
Research has shown that the current trend is for the average employee to change jobs several times in his lifetime. To make a success of his job hunt therefore, he will need to constantly re-evaluate his short and long term goals. The skills, values, personalities and interests are therefore necessary to help the average employee achieve his career satisfaction.
By following the steps listed above and taking necessary action, making a success out of your job search will certainly become a reality. This is because the steps will guide potential employees in achieving the desired result of employment. Further all the secrets required for enhancing employ-ability have been presented in easy to learn and understandable manner which will consequently help the average job seeker in landing his dream job.
Since you are also marketing a product which is you the job seeker, therefore as in marketing it requires positioning, process, persistence, performance and personality. You also have to exhibit enough dexterity as a job seeker marketing yourself to prospective employers. This write up is therefore about the various ways of enhancing the effectiveness of their job hunting.
What therefore are those actions a potential employee needs to take to make a success of his or her job search? What are the necessary steps to be taken to make job seeking result oriented rather than mere action? My experience as an HR expert has shown that the following are the steps you should take to take you from a mere job seeker to a potential employee.
1. Personal Assessment/Audit:
2. Focusing your job search:
After carrying out a personal audit of yourself and learning about your career objectives it then becomes necessary to focus your job hunting on specific jobs that matches your interest, work preferences, passion, traits, skills and values. You can use job search engines to locate jobs by using keywords that matches your interests and locations where you prefer to work. Other methods of finding employment includes listing in newspapers, referrals from databases, professional magazines, employment agencies, executive search firms, consulting firms, outsourcing agencies, informal inquiries, mass mailing of resumes etc. Narrowing of search criteria brings about focus of the job search and consequently provides more relevant listings to review and less relevant listings to weed out.
3. Create enabling profiles on networking websites:
Another tip in making a success of your job hunt is to create professional profiles on networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Skillpages and VisualCV. Branding yourself in a professional manner will attract recruiters, employers and contact thereby portraying you as a candidate worth being interested in. The benefits of branding yourself on these networking sites can therefore not be overemphasized.
4. Endeavor to search for unadvertised job openings:
It is not all the job openings that are normally advertised. There are some hidden job markets. This is because some recruiters and employers sometimes recruit job seekers that are recommended to them by colleagues, friends and sometimes associates. I personally have once been employed through this means. You should therefore get acquainted with potential employers with a view to having a pre-knowledge of available jobs before they are advertised by developing your contact network. To advertise your availability in the job market, you need to get the names of the professionals in your field. You need to ask faculty, alumni and peers on how to contact such persons. Also, directories, association listings, professional bodies, alumni associations, job search clubs and telephone books are veritable source of such names. To get reliable information about any job listing in any organization the best person to contact is the supervisor or manager of the position you are interested in.
5. Search for advertised job openings:
This is another step in having an effective job hunt. You can find employment adverts through newspapers, journals, publications, professional associations, internet and eRecruiting systems. All these need to be pursued if you really want to make your job hunt successful and result oriented. Following all these leads (together with the unadvertised) will increase your chances of uncovering openings that matches your desires. You should however keep your search focused and apply for only jobs which you are qualified. Employers only notice applicants whose skills and experience matches the one they are looking for. If not your resume and cover letter will be ignored and discarded.
6. Your Resume and Cover Letter need to be targeted:
Endeavor to craft your resume in a professional manner such that it will be a perfect match with the job on offer. Same with your resume cover letter. This is the only way your chances of being invited for interview can be enhanced. Without their being targeted to fit the requirements of the job they will be ignored.
7. The Interview:
You should learn as much as possible about the company you are targeting if you are offered an interview. Prepare adequately before the interview. Prepare with likely interview questions. Hold mock interviews with your friends to identify your lapses. Dress appropriately for the interview and be relaxed during the interview. You should make adequate effort to convince the interviewer with your skills, abilities and accomplishments with a view to convincing him that you are a perfect candidate for the position on offer.
8. Follow Up:
It is important also to make a follow up on your job search after you might have attended the interview. You need to thank everyone that might have made your invitation possible and endeavor to convince them that you are interested in the job and will be perfect for it if selected.
9. Acceptance or Declining of Job Offer:
When an offer for employment has been made you will need to take some time to think it over whether to accept or decline the offer. Certain factors will have to be put into consideration in reaching your final decision. These will include growth possibilities, working conditions, salary and benefits, location, size of organization, travel, stability of organization, amount and level of work, freedom on the job, organizational culture and philosophy of the organization.
10. Need for Continuous Career Development:
Research has shown that the current trend is for the average employee to change jobs several times in his lifetime. To make a success of his job hunt therefore, he will need to constantly re-evaluate his short and long term goals. The skills, values, personalities and interests are therefore necessary to help the average employee achieve his career satisfaction.
By following the steps listed above and taking necessary action, making a success out of your job search will certainly become a reality. This is because the steps will guide potential employees in achieving the desired result of employment. Further all the secrets required for enhancing employ-ability have been presented in easy to learn and understandable manner which will consequently help the average job seeker in landing his dream job.
Human relation practitioners and especially talent hunters have
always known that job search is very tasking. To be successful
therefore, a job seeker needs to apply certain strategies which will
ultimately shorten the period. If these strategies are not applied,
success therefore becomes farfetched.
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