We all face some difficulties while searching for a job. It’s rarely easy to find a perfect one and it’s often just as difficult to know what exactly you want and how to get it. Most of us dream of a well-paid, exciting job with a good team and friendly boss. Sound almost impossible to you? Here are some tips to help you make your dream job a reality.
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Evaluate yourself
First of all, try to think what your strong and weak points are, what you are good at and what you need to improve on. Try to do this exercise honestly and without prejudice. Both underestimating and overestimating your abilities will not help you. Ask yourself three questions:
- “What do I love?”
- “What do I want?”
- “What am I ready to do for it?”
Be proactive
It is essential to put in the effort while job searching: studying the labour market, sending resumes, attending interviews and handling rejections. As experience shows, the best way to find a new role is to use your circle of both close and distant acquaintances who can potentially recommend you to a company.
Overcome difficulties
If you want to build a successful career, you need to prepare for challenges, changes, and flexibility. Throughout your career, be prepared to use the opportunities you get. You may even have to be ready to drop everything and move to another city. Such a decision is difficult, but there might be new exciting opportunities.
Write a perfect resume
Two pages are enough to highlight the most important traits for the vacancy that the employer is looking for. The primary emphasis in your resume should be on critical skills, and the experience should be relevant for the given vacancy you are applying for. If you do not have the right experience, be sure to highlight your interest in the professional field.
Sell yourself in the cover letter
Your cover letter should reinforce your resume. You should answer the question: Why am I the best candidate for your company? Plus, it should be presented in a clear structure.
Highlight 3 points
- Write why you are applying for the position and how do you hope to get it
- Write why you want to work for the company
- Tell them about yourself and why your experience will be useful for this role
Take a critical look at the information
Before the interview, you should learn as much as possible about the company. Carefully read the description of the vacancy and reviews of the employer (however, do remember it’s not always necessary to trust reviews).
Don’t wait for the call
After sending your resume you do not have to just sit and wait for the employer to call. Actively continue searching for suitable vacancies, call the company and do not be afraid to remind them about yourself.
Don’t be humble
Use all the job search methods available to you. Share your intentions with your relatives, friends, etc. Let them know that you are interested if their company has a particular vacancy.
Behave professionally at the interview
When attending an interview, you should be confident and ready for any questions. Do not neglect your preparation for the meeting. Prepare answers to the typical questions and find out as much as possible about the company as you can. Do not forget that you should also prepare some questions to ask your interviewer.
Appearance matters
The first thing that an employer will notice in an interview is your appearance. An interview is a formal meeting. This does not necessarily mean that you need a stuffy three-piece suit, but avoid contrasting and bright colours, flip-flops, too high heels, too revealing and tight clothing, experimental hairstyles and heavy makeup. And most importantly be clean and tidy, because you should look professional.
Some useful sites
And finally here are some helpful websites that can help you to find a job:
- Indeed.com is a site which provides you with job vacancies from a variety of websites.
- CareerBuilder.com shows you a list of jobs, career advice, etc. directly from employers.
- Dice.com allows you to search for a job by keyword, title; here you can get salary information and upload a resume.
- Google for Jobs helps you to find the list of jobs that are right for you.
- LinkedIn.com is a social network where you can search for a job, identify contacts at employers who are advertising vacancies, and follow companies of interest.