The activity of trying to get a job is often referred to as a job in itself. But what does that mean? Well, it means that there is so much work, effort, and emotion involved that it can feel like you are doing two jobs at once! The 9-5 one and a second one trying to get a new position. But while it is tough to get a new role in today's markets, there are somethings that you can do to make it easier. Read on to find out what they are.
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Know what you want
One thing that can definitely make looking for a new job much easier is knowing what you do, and you don't want. While this can sound pretty simple, it can, in fact, be very complicated. This is because you have all sorts of different factors to consider. Factors like ideal wage, working conditions, field of specialty, and levels of autonomy.
Wages are important, of course! As we all primarily work to earn money to live. But work is so much more than that, so your employment choices shouldn't just be based on financial factors like salary and benefits packages, but on other things as well. Remember you spend the majority of your life at work, so you want to be as happy there as possible.
With that in mind, your job search must entail looking at other factors as well. One of which is the level of autonomy you will have in your job.
Some folks prefer to be within a structured system. Where they know who is above and below them, and who they need to report to and impress on a daily basis. For other people being in this sort of system can be a nightmare, as they crave the autonomy to make their own decisions and take responsibility for entire projects.
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Another factor to consider in your preferences is the working environments that you would thrive best in. This can make a huge difference to how happy to are in your job and how well you succeed at it.
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For example, most folks tend to be either introverted or extroverted in personality. Introverts work better in quiet environments where they can be left alone to get on with things. But if you put an extrovert in this environment they are alike to feel very uncomfortable without regular social interaction to keep them energized.
So you can see that knowing what structure and working conditions you want can very much help you make your job hunt easier. As you can discount the time-consuming application process for roles that you know will not suit you.
Have a great Resume
Obviously having a great resume can help make your job hunt easier as well. This is because when your resume is good, it gets your details in front of more decision makers. Making it more likely you will be given an interview.
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But what is a great resume? Well, it's one that is concise. The advice here is to ditch the four pages! It may seem like tough love, but nobody actually cares about that community project you did when you were in school. Unless you are applying for a post directly related to this field.
Make it clear as well, as there are an average of 250 applications for every post that you go for. So if the reviewer has to search for any information that isn't obvious, they are probably just not going to bother, and just skip on to the next person.
Lastly, make sure you check it. There are plenty of grammar and spelling checkers available free on the internet. So you really have no excuse for turning in a resume full of mistakes and errors. Check it before you send it. Else you can wreck your chances before you even have an interview.
Be savvy online
Next, you can make your job search easier by being savvy online. That means using a site like LinkedIn to show your strengths and positive endorsements from other professionals in your field.
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It also means that you keep your social media looking as professional as possible. So no picture of drunken nights out, or controversial comments on show.
Get professional help
To make your job search even easier, it's also a good idea to seek professional help. There are plenty of agencies out there that make it their business to match the right client with the right role. After all, if they do a bad job, they don't get their commission do they?
That is why it can be useful to submit your resume to an agency, as they can work on your behalf to present you with jobs that you can apply for.
Partnering with an agency work particularly in your favor because you can learn more about a job you like the sounds of by getting them to go back to their client and get a more detail breakdown of the role’s description.
This can make things much simpler as you can then compare this detailed information to the factors you have set out for your ideal position. Making it easy to see whether it, is in fact, worth your time going through the application and interview process.
Try before you buy
Lastly, another way of making the job application process easier is trying before you buy. This is the idea that you never really know what a job is like until you do it for real.
That means if you can get some volunteer work, or an internship in the field that you want to be in, you will get a true taste as to whether the role will suit you. Or whether it's actually the idea that appeals more that the reality. Something that can actually happen quite a lot.
Also by doing unpaid work in your field of choice, not only do you get valuable experience that shows you're committed, and that you can add to your resume. But you can also make important connections. Allowing you to network, making it a lot easier to find a role when you are ready to commit to full-time work.
This is a contributed post.