For some candidate profiles, looking for a job can turn into a full-time job in itself, with frustration as the result.
We have given, and can give, many tips to increase your chances of being hired by a company today and to limit the “luck factor” (we can’t eliminate it completely). You can be very good at your profession, send off your CV, and the CV may never even be seen by the person in charge of hiring. You may even get to the job interview and run into some factors that could affect whether you’re hired and that are beyond your control.
That’s why the first thing we need to be prepared for when we set out to look for a job is this:
1. Rejection is part of the game.
You will probably be turned down as a candidate several times, or dozens of times. Don’t get frustrated or take it personally. It’s part of the game and you have to accept it. In some cases it may genuinely be down to our lack of practice or lack of preparation for getting through a job interview.
In other cases, there was simply someone else who proved to be a better candidate for the job than you. Either way, take the lesson from those rejections and treat every job interview that doesn’t work out as a practical lesson that will help you in the next one.
2. Change your strategy.
If you have sent out 100 CVs and haven’t had a single phone call, you clearly need to change your strategy: whether that means revising your CV, taking things out, adding things, changing the format, or changing the way you are looking for work.
See also: This is the perfect CV according to recruitment experts
Sometimes, if you know a company is hiring, looking for a shortcut can be a good idea. In other words, instead of following the traditional process and sending in your CV, it may not hurt to go in person, hand over your CV and get to talk to someone at the company. That way, at least they will have seen you.
3. Don’t get stressed if results are slow to come.
Stress during a job search can drive you to desperation, and looking desperate to get a job has the opposite of the desired effect in an interview.
It’s very common for graduates to want a job as soon as they finish their degree, and to want it right now. After months of looking for work with no results, discouragement, desperation and stress set in.
If the job is slow to come, you can use that time to build a professional profile, to create something online that little by little will serve as your “personal brand” later on. Ironically, something I tell many young people who I can see are very capable is: “Right now you’re worried and stressed about not finding a job, but you’ll see that sooner than you think, your worry will be not knowing which job offer to accept.”
As long as you are looking for work and keep improving your knowledge and skills every day, you won’t be wasting your time.
4. Focus on the industry, not the job.
This is a piece of advice from Ed Mitzen, founder of Finger Paint Marketing, and one I fully agree with.
You should focus on the industry you want to be part of. In other words, if getting into that industry means accepting a lower-level job, do it, even if it isn’t the job you were hoping for.
For example, if you want to work in advertising and an advertising agency offers you a job answering the phone, take it. You’re already inside the industry. You’re already in a place where you can learn about the industry, and you’ll already be in position to make the leap.
This way you can meet people in the business (and get to know the business itself), and you can start putting your social skills to use.
5. In the end, a bad job is better than no job.
There’s little more to add on this point. If the search for your ideal job is going wrong or taking longer than expected, you need financial fuel to keep going, and the idea of starting your own business isn’t for you, there’s nothing wrong with taking any other job, even if it has nothing to do with your profession or your industry. BUT DON’T GET TOO COMFORTABLE. Keep searching and keep preparing.
6. Research the company.
It’s still a very common mistake for candidates not to do proper research on the company they are applying to. All else being equal, a candidate who has done their homework and knows the company inside out, or has at least taken the trouble to find out what it does and who its people are, will have a huge advantage over the competition. This is very useful for our next tip…
7. Show how you can help the company.
As a general rule, a factory worker will need to sell themselves as punctual, responsible and so on, but other profiles could win the job simply by showing the company that hiring them will make the company more money.
What can you offer that company as a professional? If you can help them increase their profits by 20%, believe me, the job is yours.
8. Don’t bring negativity into the room.
Try to be positive at all times. Don’t talk about how bad things are or about the crisis. Talk about opportunities and the need for new ideas the whole time. Be confident in your own abilities without becoming arrogant. Let them see someone enthusiastic and passionate, not someone depressed at being out of work and desperate to find a job.
9. Fill in any gap of years out of work quickly.
It doesn’t look good to tell an interviewer that you’ve been out of work for three years and have been getting by working weekends at things that have nothing to do with the job you’re applying for. You’ll come across as out of date or out of practice.
On the other hand, if you tell them you’ve been doing some work to earn money but have kept training and learning, and that you’re now a better and more up-to-date professional than before, you’ll undoubtedly have filled that gap. And of course, depending on the job, if you have articles or projects you completed while you were unemployed, they’ll be able to see you haven’t been wasting your time.
10. If you don’t have work experience, don’t make it up.
Don’t lie about work experience, because if they make the effort to catch you out, they will. Accept that you have no experience if that’s the case. Don’t act like a know-it-all just because you’ve come straight out of university. The interviewer knows that you’re not yet qualified for anything because you lack real practical experience (there are exceptions).
In many cases, more than work experience, the interviewer wants to know what you’re like as a person. If you manage to show them that you soak up learning like a sponge, that you’re enthusiastic about the industry, that you’ve done your homework to find out everything about the company and the industry, and that you’re willing to build a career at that company, there’s a good chance your lack of experience will take a back seat, even if it was an initial requirement for the job.
See also: 40 skills you should put on your CV
11. Don’t call it string-pulling: call it connections, and use them.
Most good jobs aren’t found through a traditional job search but through contacts. Some people call it string-pulling, but I’ve always said that string-pulling is when you vouch for someone incompetent to get them a job that is too big for them.
When you vouch for someone you know and you’re sure they are very competent, those are connections. If the person is good and you also know them personally, so much the better.
Don’t feel that getting into a company thanks to someone you know is cheating: everyone would do it, and if most people don’t, it’s because they don’t have the connections. The advice is very simple: when you’re looking for a job, use every connection and contact you have within reach to achieve your goal.
12. Remember not to make this mistake.
One way to show you’re interested in the job without seeming desperate, while also showing that you’re grateful, is to send the interviewer a thank-you note, even if it’s just by email.
The thank-you note should be short and only to say thank you, not to put pressure on them or ask whether you’ve got the job.
I wrote this short note as an example, in which we try to show interest and gratitude:
“Hello, my name is ******* and I wanted to thank you for your kindness and the time you gave me at today’s job interview. Having met you and learned more about your company, I am even more interested in working with you, as I believe I would fit in perfectly with your company culture and could do my job in line with your expectations. I look forward to working with you. With warmest regards.”
Sending that thank-you note can certainly have many benefits. Among other things, we’re refreshing the interviewer’s memory about us, and it’s something hardly anyone does these days, so for now it makes you stand out. Some time from now, maybe I’ll be telling you not to send thank-you notes because interviewers are tired of them.
See also: 10 things you shouldn’t do before and during a job interview
Featured image: USAG- Humphreys, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
