Job Search Tips: 7 Tips to Revamp Your Job Search in 2017
You need new job search strategies
If you’re interested in changing jobs or still job searching, you must revamp your job search tips. For most job seekers who have not had any luck in the past year finding a job, feelings of frustration and depression may be inevitable.
According Prof. Kwesi Yankah, President of Central University College, about 271,000 of unemployed graduates were projected to be have been churned out of tertiary institutions into the streets of Ghana in search of jobs in 2015 alone. Hiring managers are bombarded with thousands of applications per job listing. Realistically, sorting through all these applications takes a lot of time. Some of the methods employed by these hiring managers to deal with the problem include employing “Application-sorting softwares’ that filter out junk application. Application letters that do not strictly meet the qualification and experience requirements are automatically trashed out.
If you have have been employing particular job search strategies for this year and they haven’t worked, it’s time to revamp your strategies in order to increase your chances of landing a job in the coming here.
- Avoid “Spray and Pray”: Thinking that casting your application anywhere and everywhere will increase your chances of landing a job is one of the biggest job search myths of all times. Most hiring managers acknowledge that, a well thought out application letter that is tailor-written for the particular job role being advertised not only grabs the hiring manager’s attention but sends the right signals as someone passionately interested in the job. Sending a generic “Application for employment” to every organisation is a very bad job search practice. If you cannot commit time and effort to your job search, how will you even commit to the actual work when you get hired?
- Clean-up your social profiles: Hiring managers are increasingly sniffing around everywhere just to make sure they hire the right candidate. Social media has become a free platform for them to learn about the candidate’s social life and to some extent psychological orientation with regards to religion, culture and political leanings. Having this in mind, every job seeker must be wary of the type of information you put out there. The question you should always ask yourself is, “ I’m proud of what I’m putting out there?” “ Can I defend the information I put out on my newsfeed?”. If you can confidently say yes to these two questions, you’re good to go.
- Professionally review your CV: This is probably one of the most important action points in revamping your job search for 2017. A poorly written CV can never get you through the door of an interview. Sometimes it is difficult to assess the quality of your own CV. You, therefore, need a third eye to take a professional look and tell you where you could optimise or which details you should scrap out. Sometimes, the trick is just to rearrange the flow of information to make the important obvious. It is advised that you seek the help of a professional in your field to help you write a CV that meets industry standards. Jobberman Ghana occasionally organises career workshops and we do offer free CV review services. Look out and take advantage. You can also request for a CV review service and a CV writing professional will help you polish your CV and make it job-ready.
- Network like crazy: There’s always more to someone than meets the eyes. By this, knowing who is more relevant or not to your job search can be a tricky thing.The neighbour you bypass every day to work could be connected to the HR director of an Oil Company or the gentleman you met in the park is probably the cousin of the CEO of Barclays Bank Ghana. With this in mind, be a little curious about everyone you meet. Take interest in people. Be polite, and ask questions. Be open about your job search efforts to people. The truth is, most people are ready to give help, but they do not go about offering help to just about anyone. If you’re open and frank about your job search efforts, people will naturally empathise with you and anyone in a position to help will likely do.
- Consider other job options: If you don’t seem to be getting a job in your area of interest or specialisation, why don’t you consider jobs in a parallel industry? Remember, there is nothing like a bad or low-quality work experience. In the corporate world, for example, every kind of experience is valuable, as long as you’re learning teamwork, managerial skills, leadership skills and proper work ethics. In Ghana where jobs are scarce for example, it may be necessary to pivot your career if you are not getting jobs in your area of specialisation. We have great examples of people who took up jobs unrelated to their professional qualification and excelled. A good example is George Andah, formerly Marketing Director of MTN Ghana who has a background in Biochemistry but excelled in Brand marketing. Sometimes you may need to take a step back in order to catapult yourself further in life.
- Follow up persistently: One of the job search habits you must cultivate as part of efforts to revamp your job in 2017 is to do thorough follow up. Hiring managers are bombarded with thousands of application letters. If you’ve had the opportunity to be called for an interview, be sure to do a follow up a week or two later. Sometimes the hiring process may stall for a few weeks for one reason or another. Follow-up is a way of keeping you top of mind of the hiring manager. It also sends an impression of a passionate job seeker who is eager and enthusiastic about the job.
- Practice Job search etiquette and review common interview questions:They say practice makes perfect. There are Do’ and Don’t of job search. Make sure you have these at your finger-tips. Also, review common interview questions and get conversant with the responses by relating them to your skills and experience. Preparation gives you confidence and the more confident you are, the greater your chances of securing a job.
A new era requires new strategies. Using old job search strategies that did not land you any job repeatedly is like flogging a dead horse. Don’t be scared. Read as much as you can about your industry. Ask questions, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. By factoring the above job search tips into your overall job search strategies, you will be able to boost your chances of landing a job in 2017.
What are your thoughts? Do you have any other strategies you may like us to hear about? Put them in the comments.
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