Scenario A:
So, it is your final year in university or college. The intensity of team assignments and fast-looming deadlines is increasing the need for Tums to settle your poor stressed stomach. Living on very little sleep after possibly a lot of instant junk foods and cans of energy drinks, job hunting could be far from your mind right now....
Scenario B:
You are working in what appears to be a dead-end job where you've learned everything you could. You want to move out or up. You want a career. How do you transition from a job into a career?
PLAN FOR SURVIVAL (Think Effectiveness and Efficiency)
In either scenario, you will need a plan. Not just a plan to write a general resume, hit "send" to 50 jobs and hope to hear back from 3 recruiting managers. No, unless you are applying for general help at restaurants, retail stores and the like, spending 15 minutes in total on a resume and cover letter is simply not enough. Personally, each resume takes me at least 3 to 6 hours to write. Have someone who has recruiting experience to proof-read your application and give you honest feedback. Plan to stand out from the crowd.
There are some common grounds between dating and job hunting.
1.
1 Husband and 4 wives: WHO? WHAT?! WHY? WHERE? HOW?!
Take
some time to visualize yourself in 5 years from now. What do you want
to achieve in your personal life? Now, what do you want to be in a
professional life?
Nag line:
RESEARCH! RESEARCH! DO YOUR RESEARCH and evaluate yourself!
What are your
personal values?
- This will ensure we set our conflicting priorities right. It could be work-life balance or having time to enjoy our hobbies. Once we become aware of what we want in the long term, we can filter through endless job postings that do not fit our personal goals and values.
Which company (
WHO) do you want to work for? What
industry is it in? What is the
corporate culture of the company you are applying to?
- It is important to know our targeted audience. How we go about networking depends on which industry we want to get into. If it's design and marketing oriented, a cardboard sign that says "Hire Me! Recent grad" may not be memorable. Also, have we got a portfolio ready?
If the job requires proof that you have registered for a professional designation (say accounting), make sure you include your program's transcripts in your application.
What are the company's vision and mission statement? (Often found on the company's
About link on its website)
Does the company's corporate culture and value(s) relate to your own personal values? (Now, we do not want to date a person that does not believe in recycling and being environmentally friendly,
do we?!)
- Or would you prefer to work for yourself? In that case, do a 5 year business plan and extensive market research, as well as a 5 year financial forecast analysis.
2.
There is no "I" in team:
So, you are sitting at a table on your first date, you are trying to have a balanced conversation to get to know each other. 20 minutes have passed and all you have heard is, "I love football! The other day, I scored big by breaking my personal best running speed record. Oh, by the way, my best asset is my 'smile'. I am a super easy-going guy, you will like me. I will treat you ridiculously nice. Why don't I become 0your boyfriend?"
Okay, slow down. If your cover letter sounds like that, chances are that you will have the recruiters scratching their heads going, "That's nice. So what?" How can you bring value(s) to the company you are hiring for? How can you show that you will be a good '
fit' for the team you want to be part of?
3.
Relevance! Read the job description carefully. Preparing your resume and cover letter thoroughly also prepares you for the (behavioural) interview
"I have got no time" is not a good excuse. When you are job hunting, you have to
leave your victim attitude behind. Remember, you are trying to stand out from the crowd and away from the "Why not pick me?" mentality.
In a recessive economy, it is important to be aware that employers are looking for efficiency and effectiveness. This means possessing the ability to handle multiple conflicting priorities, eliminate any unnecessary work and make suggestions to improve specific processes.
Read the job description carefully; highlight keywords. Use as much keywords as possible and
be honest, so that a software could move your resume closer towards the Most-Likely-Yes pile.
Why do I spend 6 hours on a resume? It takes time to really understand what kind of ideal candidate they are looking for. Also, it takes time to edit my past job experiences (from a different industry) relevant to the job. If there is an ideal job I really want but lack experiences, I save the job description and plan to fulfill the skills required to further progress in my career.
Also, depending on the industry, use common fonts: Arial or Times New Roman font no smaller than size 11. Triple check for spelling and grammatical errors. Pay closely to see if your document looks uniform and well-put together. It shows attention to details, so if such attribute is in your resume but there is a spelling error. It shows you are lying.
4.
Get Organized!
I cannot stress the importance of keeping track of all your applications. Save the date and name of the job and company you've applied for. There is nothing worse than picking up a phone call and wonder, "What job did I apply for?"
Yep, true story. I made that error when I was 18 or 19, looking for office administration positions. I went into an interview whereby the recruiter had to tell me what the job is about. Recruiter's only comment was "Really nice resume." Her reason for rejecting me was silently obvious. My answers lacked weights how I am going to be of value to the company at the job.
5.
I ain't no gold digger!
If you want to get rich fast quick, forget about working for a company. Go marry a rich sugar momma or sugar daddy and sign a pre-nup.
Here comes the dreaded question: What are your salary expectations?
Again, research the country's industry average. If you are asking for $100,000.00, your resume will go towards the bottom pile.
6.
Dress to Impress
If you are wondering what to wear for an interview, think conservative black/grey/white/tan colours, with accents of colour underneath your blazer. Wear minimal jewelry. Iron your shirt
or blouse if it's wrinkled. Minor details matter because it will bring you confidence!
In a nutshell, your resume and cover letter tell the recruiting manager your:
- Ability to communicate effectively
- Detailed orientation
Your interview could test your:
- Analytical skills
-Technical skills (They might ask you to sit in front of an equipment and perform a highly skilled task)
- personal approach to possible obstacles and/or challenges
Good luck! Do keep in mind that this is a difficult selection process on the recruiting side as well -- it is nothing personal when we do not hear any news. Job-hunting is an ongoing learning process; do remember to thank your interviewers for the opportunity.
