What Is The Best Job Search Tool? Failure
Job Search
Failure is inevitable in a job search. The likelihood that you will find the perfect job and that you will get that job in your first search is next to none. This means that you will have to search again and again. You will fail. You will fail at finding a job. You will fail at landing a job. But that is not a bad thing. Failure is your greatest tool and I am going to help you understand why.
- Rethinking: Failure will cause you to rethink the way you go about your search. Obviously something is not working so you will have to rethink how you are going about your search and do something new. That is a great thing. Rethinking and finding a new way to do something is one of the best things you can do for your search.
- Focusing: Failure will also cause you to focus your search. Focusing you search will make it more successful and if you fail repeatedly, then you will take the time to focus your search.
- Motivating: Failing again and again can be disappointing, but more than that it can be incredibly motivating. If you really want to land the job then you won’t let the disappointment keep you from searching. Instead you will let the disappointment motivate you until you find the job that is perfect for you.
Failure really is your best tool. Use it. Let your failure lead you to rethink your search process, help you focus your search, and most importantly, let your failure motivate you to keep going until you finally find the job that you have been waiting for.
When you are finished with your interview, it is not uncommon for the interviewer to ask you one final question, “Do you have any questions for me?” This is one of the most dreaded questions an applicant may be asked. There is a war that goes on inside most peoples’ heads when this question is asked: “If I don’t ask any questions, will they be offended because I don’t want more information?” or “If I ask too many questions, will it seem like I wasn’t paying enough attention?”
These are not uncommon thoughts that may be running through an applicant’s mind. Hopefully, by the end of this post you will have a better idea of how to handle when this question is thrown to you, and you will be able to answer it like a pro.
- Be Honest: If you truly do have questions, then go ahead and ask. If your interviewer didn’t want to know your questions, then they wouldn’t honestly ask. Employers expect that you will have questions. Do your homework before your interview and have a few questions prepared.
- Be Appropriate: Don’t ask inappropriate questions or questions that are silly or funny. It will annoy your interviewer and can make them feel like you are wasting their time.
- Don’t Repeat: Pay attention and don’t ask questions that have already been answered. It will only make you seem incompetent and like you don’t pay attention. If the only questions you’ve prepared have already been addressed, you can go into more detail, or just let the interviewer know that any questions you had coming in to the interview have been addressed.
These are some good guidelines for answering questions. However, if you don’t have any honest and relevant questions, then you can always simply tell them that you have no further questions and look forward to hearing from them. This is a perfectly acceptable way to end the interview and leave the interviewer with a impressive picture of the value you would offer as an employee.
Social media is a great tool for your job search and job application process because it allows you to get your name out to the entire world. Employers are starting to utilize social media sites to not only find prospective applicants, but also to investigate current applicants. This means that you need to make sure that your online profiles are showing off your best attributes and give the impressiona that you would be a great employee.
Here are some things that you should be aware of so you don’t lose opportunities due to what is on your profile.
- Vulgarity or Obscenities: Refrain from including vulgar or obscene words in your profile or your posts. These could be offensive to employers and could give them a bad impression of you. You also need to watch what your “friends” post on your profile. While you may not have posted the information yourself, the content still reflects on you.
- Negativity: If you have a lot of posts that are negative or if you are overly negative in your own posts, you can put off employers. Employers don’t want to work with people who are negative and will bring them down. So
- Bad Talking About People: If you talk bad about people in your life currently, then what will keep you from talking bad about your potential coworkers or employers? Even though you may say, “I would never talk bad about my employers on the internet!” the potential employers looking at your profile will not know that. They will only know what they can see in your posts.
Social media can be a great tool for your job search. However, if not used properly, it can also be one of the biggest obstacles in your search. But make sure that you utilize it so you get the most desirable results and check to ensure that you don’t have anything on your profiles that could be harmful to your opportunities.
Picking your references is a very important part of your resume, yet many people do not take them into proper consideration. Your references are important for potential employers to get an opinion of you from someone other than yourself. This means that the references you choose to put on your resume need to be competent, reliable, respectable, and trustworthy sources who your potential employers will listen to and respect their opinions of you. This also means that you want to pick people who will talk about you in a good way. Below are some ideas that may help you decide who to pick for your references and who to avoid.
- Teachers/Professors–New Graduates or College Students: Teachers or professors that you have a good relationship with and who you have done good work for are a great option for references because they get to see your work, but they also can see how you work with other people. However, do not pick teachers that have not seen your academic work. Art and music teachers may have been good friends and teachers, but they do not get to see your writing, computer skills, or other skills that are applicable to your job. This can be ignored if your field of work is applicable to art or music.
- Direct Supervisors/Managers– Professionals: Direct supervisors are a good choice to put down for a reference. They are able to see how you work while also being reliable and respectable people due to the nature of your relationship with them. Avoid putting supervisors as references if you have had major difficulties with them.
These are both excellent types of people to put as references. They will give the type of recommendation that you want without being biased due to familial connection or long term friendship.
Being Honest With Yourself During A Job Search
Job Search
Searching for a job is a big task and it can be disappointing when you don’t find the job that you are searching for. Now, this could be because you are not the right fit, or it just does not feel like a good job for you. However, it could also be because you are not being honest or realistic with yourself and your job search expectations. So why is it so important to be honest with yourself in a job search? And how are you supposed to be realistic?
It is important to be honest with yourself because if you are honest with yourself, then you will remain more focused in your job search and you will be more likely to find the job that you want. So now that you know why it is important, let me show you how you can be realistic and honest.
- Ask yourself tough questions: You need to really analyze your skills, experiences, and accomplishments. You need to ask yourself what you can do and what you can’t do. If you don’t do this, then you will apply for jobs that you are not a good fit for. Ask yourself the tough questions so you know what you can do.
- Focus your search: Focus your search based on what you have determined you can do well. No matter how enjoyable you think the job could be, if it doesn’t fit with your skills, then you should not apply for the job.
If you do this, than you will have a better time finding jobs that fit you so you can hopefully land the job and end your job search with a positive outcome.
Your professional portfolio is a collection of physical evidence that documents, describes, and emphasizes your professional accomplishments. A professional portfolio can be very useful in encouraging potential employers to offer you that coveted job. Many job seekers know they need these documents during their job search, but aren’t always sure of what needs to be included and how they should be presented. Here are some simple answers to help get you get started.
Why use a professional portfolio?
- Effectively express your professional and career goals
- Articulate the work you have been doing to achieve your goals
- Record accomplishments
What goes into a professional portfolio?
- Introduction: Statement of your professional goals and your professional philosophy.
- Career History: Resume or Curriculum Vitae.
- Narrative description of experiences you want to highlight such as: Academic Work, Research, Teaching, Leadership, Service, Publications, Conference Participation, Lectures/Speaking Engagments, Performance Reviews, Recognition, and Awards.
- Appendices: Annotated materials and examples to illustrate or elaborate on the previous portions of your portfolio.
- Professional References: Not all employers ask for these during an interview, but if they do, show them you’re prepared by having your list ready.
How to get started with your professional portfolio?
- Develop the practice of collecting materials that represent your skills, achievements and accomplishments.
- Study job postings and learn what potential employers value when they are hiring.
- Determine what materials and examples provide the best representation of your goals and philosophy.
- Select an organizing principle that best reflects your work: chronological, functional, thematic.
A portfolio will help you stand out amongst the scores of job applicants. It will look very different from all the other candidates because your experiences will be unique. This makes it easy for you to stand out and impress those potential employers.
A resume is used to show off your best qualities to an employer. It shows your skills, work experience, and accomplishments. With all that information, how do you emphasize your best features? You can tailor your resume and pick only your most impressive entries, but you can also use keywords that will help you stand out and impress your potential employers.
Keywords will do a few things: they will keep your resume focused, they will make certain traits stand out to employers, and they will make your resume different than your competition, making you stand out even more.
- Keeping your resume focused: Keywords will keep your resume focused because everything you list or say will go back to reinforce those keywords. This will make your resume coherent, consistent, and focused.
- Make certain traits stand out: Instead of your potential employers looking at many traits that are desirable, using keywords, especially those found in the job posting, will make specific traits stand out so that they know exactly what they can expect from you as far as skills and expertise go.
- Make you stand out among the competition: Not many people know to utilize keywords in their resume, so if you do, then your resume not only stand out, it will be picked up by scanning machines used by recruiters and employers to week out non-candidates.
So now that you know how keywords can improve your resume, you need to know how to utilize them.
- Pick out about three keywords you would like to use. A few good ones could be, Customer Service & Relations, Operations, Information Technology, Sales & Marketing, Staff Leadership, Finance, tc. The keywords can be anything that make you stand out and emphasize the things you are best at, but they should also relate directly to the skills/qualifications outlined in the job posting.
- Insert the keywords wherever appropriate into your resume. Keywords can be incorporated into your career summary, your skills (keyword) list, your professional experience, and accomplishments. Make sure that potential employers see these keywords and have a clear understanding of your areas of expertise.
Using the appropriate keywords throughout your resume will help to ensure that YOU will be the candidate called for the inteview.
While the job interview can be scary, it doesn’t have to be hard to make a good impression. In fact, if you follow these 8 simple tips you will be able to make it through the interview without freaking out, impress the employer, and be able to move forward with your job search process.
- Eye Contact: This is one of the most important things you can do in an interview. Making eye contact with your interviewer shows that you are confident in your expertise and interested in what your interviewer is saying. However, be careful that you are not staring your interviewer down. Be confident, not creepy.
- Smile: This will also show confidence as well as put your interviewer at ease. A smile makes people feel like you are an enjoyable person and they will mirror the smile back. When you see your interviewer smiling, it will help you feel at ease and the cycle will continue throughout the interview.
- Speak Clearly and With Purpose: If you need to, take a small moment and think about what you want to say (not too long or it will become awkward) in order to avoid using fillers such as “mm” “um” or “hmm.” This will make your answers precise, purposeful, and clear.
- Be On Time: There is nothing that will put your interviewer off more than tardiness. Their time is valuable and if you are wasting it, even for a moment, you are giving the impression that you don’t care about them or their time. Be early if you can, but do not be late.
- Be Honest: Lying is not appropriate or acceptable in the real world, so why would it be okay in a job interview? It isn’t. Be honest and it will make your life and your interview easier, as well as will prevent a termination down the road, if your lie is discovered.
- Dress Professionally: It is an easy thing to overlook, but if you go into the interview looking dingy or unkempt, then you will put off an image that you don’t care about yourself or the interviewers. Dress like you care about yourself, the job, and the interviewer, and you will be on the right path to getting the job.
- Don’t Interrupt: It seems simple enough, but it is important to remember. While you want to make sure that you express who you are and why you would be good for the job, you do not ever want to interrupt the interviewer. No matter how good you think your comment is, it is not good enough to interrupt your interviewer.
- Be Friendly: Don’t be sarcastic or rude. Even if you are having a bad day or you just want to be done with the interview, make it seem like there is nowhere else you would rather be.
Follow these tips and you will be in good standing for your interview and you will be on your way to getting the job.
