Career Advice/Job Applications
Job-hunting tips
The process of job hunting is often seen as a job in itself; searching and applying for vacancies can be a time consuming and lengthy process. But one can make the process easier by following a few well-tested guidelines – follow these tips and you’ll land that dream job in no time at all!
- Look for vacancies everywhere. Don’t just rely on reading the jobs pages in newspapers – the internet is a fantastic resource for finding work. Check industry magazines, recruitment agencies, put the word out that you’re searching through your own personal network of contacts. If there’s a company you’d like to work for, be proactive and contact their HR department directly, don’t just wait to see the job ad that hundreds of others will apply for.
- Don’t neglect the covering letter. This is the company’s first contact with you and you need to make a good impression. Beyond the basics – good spelling and grammar, addressing it to the right person – your covering letter should summarise your skills and experience, highlighting the relevance of your past achievements to the job role in question.
- During your job search don’t let your finances slip – the last thing you want is the additional stress of money worries detracting from your job hunt focus. If you’ve got savings now might be the time to dig into them, that’s what they’re there for. Remember, taking the time to dedicating yourself to finding the job you want will pay off in the long-term for your finances.
- Take a long hard look at your CV. Even better, get someone else to take a look at it for you. Is your work history clear? Do your achievements shine through? A CV is an edited snapshot of your career to date; it doesn’t need to include everything you’ve ever done so shouldn’t really be any longer than 2 pages. Is everything on there relevant experience for the job you’re applying for? For each job application your CV should be different; you should be tailoring it for the new set of skills each job requires. The changes may be subtle but they will make all the difference in helping your application to stand out.
- Consider moving. If the kind of job you want is not available in the area you live then you might want to think about moving to a larger city. Competition is higher, but there are also many more opportunities. Make sure you sign up to a number of agencies when you arrive as they can really help you to find work. Reed come as recommended for jobs in London, but there really are hundreds of agencies out there willing to help.
The more vacancies you find, the more that they are targeted to your skill base and the more your application stands out amongst other candidates, the better your chances will be of securing that dream job.