Tips on job-hunting for professional neophytes
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After the grand and glorious moments of receiving diplomas, the newly graduates are set for a big challenge. That is to conquer the professional world. But with the increasing competition developing in the workplace, the playing field has become a ground exclusive for tough, smart, and strong-minded individuals.
For neophytes, fear not. Despite the seemingly discouraging news surrounding the country’s employment status, there are surefire ways on how you could increase your chances of beating the odds. Here are some “must do’s” before entering the playing field:
1. Arm yourself with a bag of patience, determination and optimism. Before anything else, ready yourself for a real battle. Emotional readiness matters a lot. In finding a job, there would be some frustrations and disappointments along the way. In some instances, you might find yourself rejected despite your impressive resume or qualifications. Or in some cases, you would feel losing your patience waiting for feedback on your application from a number of prospective companies. These are just but natural occurrence due to the very tight competitions in the workplace. Thus, you need to be fully prepared to whatever circumstances you might experience in searching for your first professional job. The keys in getting through all of these? Just three items – patience, determination and optimism. With these, you will be on your way to a fruitful job hunt!
2. Determine your strengths and abilities. Before you get into the battle, go back to the drawing board. Carefully assess yourself and list down all your strengths and abilities. This would help you determine the kind of job you would fit into. In doing this practice, you would save time and efforts in finding job opportunities which would likely get your services.
3. Pinpoint the right industry for your job search. After you have identified your strengths and abilities, the next step is to match those qualities to the kind of industry that would likely be in need of your services. List down highly potential industries and concentrate on those which you think you would have high percentage of clinching a job. With this, you will avoid doing the common mistake of first time jobseekers – that is sending out hundreds of resumes to companies without assessing their hiring chances. As such, most of them end up frustrated and disappointed because of zero response on their applications.
4. Develop a ‘winning’ resume. Now that you have identified the industries which would complement your strengths and abilities, creating a winning resume is next in line. Resume is your first step to get noticed by your prospective employer. Thus, you must create one that would spell an interview session with the company you’re applying for. You may consult reference books or check out Internet sites that provide detailed tips on how to create a battle-ready resume. In a nutshell, your resume should be truthful, organized and easy to read, catchy and interesting in terms of content, and error free from grammar and spelling. Ask an expert or a knowledgeable person to review your resume.
5. Prepare yourself for the interview. The interview session with your prospective employer is the make or break stage of your job-hunting. Truly, facing the hiring officer or manager of the company is not easy. It’s not enough that you say you want the job or you have the qualities to perform the required tasks that go with the position. You need to show what you know and how you could be an asset to the company. You need to impress your employer given the limited time of the interview session. Thus, you need to prepare well for the interview. Below are some general rules that could help you:
* Get information about the company you are applying for. Most of the companies have website so this part shouldn’t be hard for you.
* Prepare Q&A and rehearse the conversation with a friend. It’s not bad to do this. Just make sure that during the interview session, it wouldn’t sound as a memorized speech.
* Come on time. Better if you would arrive at least 15 minutes before the interview time so you could somehow relax.
* Be confident. Show what you’ve got!
6. Wear the right attire during interview. In the professional world, the first impression matters. Specifically during your job-hunting, wearing business attire should be strictly observed. You don’t have to wear expensive suits. What is more important is that you look professional and well groomed as these greatly add points to your overall personality.
Indeed, there are a lot of preparations you have to do before throwing yourself in the workplace. The best thing about it, you have a great chance of winning the battle! So, seize every opportunity and put your best effort in everything you do! Who knows, your might step on your dream job on your very first application bid! Good luck.
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