Having recently been made redundant I know how hard it is to find a job at the moment. For me it’s been about staying positive and focused. My typical day still involves trying to keep my normal routine as if I were going to work, everything except leaving the house, but that’s been replaced by going upstairs, firing up my laptop and looking for work. Job hunting can be hard work, I’ve put together some tips that I hope you will find useful
My job hunting tips
Here’s some of my own job hunting tips.
- Make sure you CV or resume is up to date. Keep it concise, ideally to two pages. Put your most recent job history at the top
- Use social networks – networks like Linkedin and Twitter can be a great way to connect with potential employers and recruitment agencies, make sure your profile is up to date.
- Register with the job sites and make your profile searchable. Ensure you have as much information as you can whenever you register with a job site or recruitment agency.
- Register with industry specific recruitment agencies.
- Be proactive. Registering your CV is not enough, make sure you call recruitment agencies, find out what the job market is like, is there much in your sector? Make appointments to go and see them.
- Consider getting your CV or resume professionally written. If you don’t want to go this far there are plenty of templates that you can download. Make sure you spell check and proof read it before you send it to anyone.
- Don’t write generic covering letters. It’s very tempting to have a standard covering letter and send this, especially when applying online. For every job you apply for ensure you tailor the letter to the specific requirements of the position you are applying for.
- Sign up for jobs by email. A great way to get the latest positions directly to your inbox. Make sure you have set up your jobs by email profile correctly and covered all of the areas you are interested in, your desired location and salary expectations.
- Keep positive – Easy said than done, but except that you probably aren’t going to get every job you apply for but the right job is out there, and you will eventually find something.
I hope you’ve found these tips useful in your hunt for a new job. If you have tips you’d like to share feel free to let me know in the comments below.
