Job-Seekers’ Checklist

Guest Post by Sabiha Choudhury – As a job-seeker, it can be quite disheartening if application after application is followed by rejection after rejection.  Most of the time you won’t even get to the interview stage.  If you do, you won’t hear back from them.  They say, “We’ll be in touch”, and they never are.

Luckily, I’ve come up with some simple measures you can take to give yourself the best chance possible in the job market.

Research The Field

Always research the field you’re looking to go into.  Keep your eyes and ears open.  Find out who the key players are in your area and how many they employ.  When were the big companies founded?  What have they achieved since being founded? By researching your field, you are likely to be in tune to any changes in your area and prepare for how it might affect you.   For example, if you want to go into catering, and a big restaurant opens near you, you may have a heads up in the application process if you get in before they’ve advertised any vacancies.  Also, you will sound more professional during networking events.

Network

There are so many networking events going on these days, that there’s bound to be one geared towards your particular niche.  Attend as many of these as you possibly can.  You never know who you might meet at the next event.   If you’ve been doing your research properly, you can entertain everyone with what’s going on in your particular field, and every contact is valuable when you’re job-seeking.

Dress For Success

Too often, people who’ve been off the job-market for a while don’t realise their wardrobe needs updating.  It doesn’t necessarily need to be a suit, though that might improve your chances.  Just as long as it’s smart, clean, and pressed.

Even if your chosen field won’t require you to dress smart on a daily basis, potential employers still like to see you make the effort at an interview.  Also, you’ll need smart clothes for networking events.

If you need to, go shopping for some key items.  The things you really can’t afford to skimp on are a good office jacket, and smart shoes.

Driver’s Licence

Having a full driver’s licence will increase your career options, so if you don’t already have one, go about obtaining one.  If you have one, be careful of not committing a drivingoffence, like driving under the influence or being caughtspeeding.   That will just make you look irresponsible.

Having a full driver’s licence will be beneficial when you finally land your dream job that happens to be in the middle of nowhere where there’s no public transport.

Volunteer Your Skills

Offer your skills as a volunteer or intern.  You’ll gain valuable experience in the process, and it’ll keep your mind occupied.  Even if you’re already in a job that you’re trying to get out of, you can still volunteer your time at weekends or evenings.  Enquire around, find out who could benefit from your time and skills.

You’ll find that as you’re offering your services for free, plenty of companies will be more than happy to use extra help.  This is where you have the upper hand.  You can be selective about who you offer your time to.

Nothing can guarantee you’ll land your dream job anytime soon.  But being pro-active will give you a sense of achievement in itself.  No one ever said the journey was going to be easy, but you can at least make it fun until you reach your destination.

Image Credit, Forbes

Sabiha Choudhury is Lifestyle Writer and Social Commentator.  She writes about issues on Health & Beauty, Dating & Social Etiquette, Travel, and more.

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