Effective Job Search Techniques

By Abigail Butler-Sands

Job Placement Officer

Bahamas Technical & Vocational Institute

 

It sometimes becomes necessary to seek career counselling when searching for employment. The economy, the job market and the lack of confidence in your acquired skills, makes it necessary to seek the help of a professional employment counsellor, when embarking on a new career path or seeking employment of the first time. Counselling provides you with the alternative approaches, which have been proven throughout the years to be effective. Each counsellor must abide by rules and the code of ethics allows no room to deviate from the confidentiality clause. All professional counsellors should be confidential, as they are handling the inner most feelings and emotions of their clients, at a time when the client feels vulnerable.

In the absence of professional counselling, a person seeking employment or a job change should take the following items in mind. Before embarking into the job search market, here are certain things that a job seeker should do.

· Evaluate Yourself. Get to know what skills you have to offer the job market. Realize that you are the one who knows you best and therefore, you are the best person to market the skills that you have developed through the years. Know that everyone has some skills. You need to be able to identify yours. If this is difficult, sitting with a career counsellor or job placement counsellor would be necessary so that they could help you in identifying the skills that you have.

· Market Yourself . Highlight the skills that you have developed to the job world. Make your information clear, concise and truthful. Do not create a web of lies about yourself. The Human Resource personnel, is trained to see through the smoke of make believe. Remember a good human resource person would test the skills that you claim to have before offering you the job. In the Job Search remember to be ethical in all aspects of the process.

· Preparing Your Own Resume is Best . The professional resumes tend to all look alike, thus taking away from the individuality that you have to offer a company. There should be no typographical errors in the document. It is the first impression of you to the company. It gives the reader an idea of your personality. It also tells the reader if you are articulate, efficient and effective in written communication. All resumes must be perfect. If you are prone to make mistakes, get a professional to do it.

 

· Be Organized. The best way to follow job leads is to keep a job search log . An Employment Counsellor can give you the skills necessary to establish an effective job search log. There is a need to keep accurate records regarding whom you spoke with, when you spoke with them and why you had the conversation. Dates are also important in the job search log. You need to make certain that you follow-up on all requests made by a potential employer in a timely fashion.

· Be Dedicated to Your Job Search. No one would ensure that you obtain a job more than yourself. Assistance can be obtained from Job Placement Areas and the various Employment Agencies. However, if you are not committed to your job search, do not expect anyone else to be.

· Be Determined. Set realistic goals and follow through on your plans to achieve them. For example, if you plan to become an air condition technician/ helper, within a six-month period, you need to be consistent and have a daily job search goal . Establish a goal to meet with at least four companies of the air-conditioning field each day. It is then hoped that these contacts will result in at least three interviews every two weeks. With constant interviews, the interview techniques that you have, will be polished until you will eventually land a job.

The above is an excerpt from The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need: How to Find and Get the Job or Internship of Your Dreams, which is available for sale for $19.85 in our bookstore or $27.00 at Amazon.com but for free to those who subscriber to our free career newsletter. This hot new book contains job search secrets of the most experienced, most knowledgeable and most respected career experts. Learn career planning, job hunting tools and tactics, interviewing, cover letter and resume writing (lots of samples!), networking, and how to find an internship. Written by 149 career experts. To receive a free copy, subscribe to our free career newsletter.

Career Videos