Job searching is tough. It involves resume writing, hunting down job listings, networking, more resume writing, creating cover letters, dressing well for interviews, and, at the core of it, interviewing. It is often said that job hunting, at times, is essentially a job in itself. In order to keep your spirits up during your job hunt, we have created a list of practical advice to remember when you are job searching.
1. Do not worry when you only have one interview after applying for 10 jobs
There are tons and tons of job listing sites, from general ones such as Indeed.com to industry specific ones such as NPO.net and others. As such, it is important to remember that each of these sites might be outdated. Positions may be filled on those sites and left to hang around forever. For this reason, I support the 10/1 rule when job searching: for every ten positions you apply for, just one will turn into a phone interview.
2. Show off your character
Job searching and applying has become almost fully automated, so it’s not surprising that something appears to be lost in the process. That something is character. You could have a million completed tasks and a GPA that blows people out of the water, but what the employer needs to really know about is character and whether your personality fits in the organization. When you get a chance to speak on the phone with a potential employer, make sure you show off your character a bit. Further, volunteering, networking, and having strong references will add to providing the employer with a strong perspective of who you are overall as well.
3. Take all advice to heart, and know when to pat yourself on the back
For a while, my strategy for job searching was to do it all on my own and to do it ceaselessly until I couldn’t anymore. This is the wrong way to job search. Put some feelers out there to see who is willing to help, and when they do, accept their wisdom wholeheartedly. Further, there is a point of exhaustion when applying to jobs as well. Firing off five extra applications when you’ve started to incorrectly spell your own name is useless. If you find yourself ever making mistakes, call the day a job well done, and put your feet up.
4. Find a mentor, or someone else off whom you could bounce ideas
After struggling for a while in my job search, I finally reached out to a close family friend and asked if we could talk about how she got where she is in her career. I’d known this person forever and knew she had the type of career I dream of, but it took me a while to ask for help,and my only regret was not doing it sooner. Find someone with more career experience than yourself and start asking for advice. Doing so has helped my job searching in the past and it should help you too.
5. Talk to people and turn every conversation into an opportunity
Around these types of articles, the word “Networking” gets a lot of play, and I don’t really like it. The word makes it feel like a task, and really, it’s not. Still you need to engage in what many people call networking. It’s really just going to events where like-minded people meet and talking to them, finding out their interests and their company’s needs. If it weren’t in a formal business setting, the skill set that separates “Life of the party” and “Talented networker” would be nonexistent. So, depending on your industry, find the set of professional associations or Meet Up Groups or discussion forums, and go and talk to people. They are all willing to help, and so are you, so why wouldn’t you want to talk about how you could do so?
Featured photo credit: ESCP Europe Torino Campus Career Day/Salvatore Salvaggi via flickr.com
