Job seekers
are more interested in landing a job these days that they often forget that
they must ensure that certain important elements should be put in place. In
their excitement, they often overlook these things which without any doubt most
at times end up losing the job. With my experience in handling job seekers, I
have outlined five key mistakes job seekers make that makes them loss the job or a call for an interview.
APPEARANCE
The saying
that first time impressions count most stands true when it comes to seeking a
job. Most people however do not place priority on this and end up appearing
before their prospective employers looking unkempt. An unkempt appearance
speaks volumes of who you are. It gives an impression of someone who is
clueless, careless and unprofessional. This obviously would go against you
hence the importance of putting emphasis on your appearance. You are not
required to wear a six piece Gucci suit when job hunting but this depends on the
job you are looking for. The bottom line is to look properly kempt; a nicely
groomed hair, well ironed clothes and a neatly polished pair of shoes would
help sell you more than you can ever imagine. Your appearance is your first
selling point. It would either repel or attract your prospective employer’s
attention so don’t mess this up.
ATTITUDE
Although
most of us think we have the right attitude towards others, majority of us well
know that not all have the right attitude towards others. The right approach
during an encounter with a prospective employer is a big plus in landing a job.
What the job seeker must know is that an interview can be conducted right at
the point of submitting their job application. In most cases, it might not be a
formal interview but a harmless chit chat but not showing the right attitude at
this point could crush your opportunity of ever landing a job. You must not be
rude, an uncooperative when asked certain questions though they might be
sensitive. Rather, the right attitude is to be jovial and speak in a respective
tone. Note that some employers in informal conversations would want you to be
informal as well hence create that atmosphere that you are amiable and easy to
adopt. What this shows is that you and friendly and sociable and not stiff and
unapproachable.
The other
way around, when the conversation is formal, your responses must also be formal
devoid of personal sentiments. Some questions asked may be insulting but
respond politely. Also, respond to all questions you know and politely refrain
from answering questions you don’t know. Never try to go around a question to
show how smart you are, you would end up displaying how naïve and proud you are
which is a minus to your jo search.
ORGANISATION
Being
organized is a very good thing as it gives a good presentation of who you are
to your prospective employer. By organization, you must ensure that all
documents pertaining to the job application must be well kept and presented.
from experience, many job seekers present their application documents crumpled
or forced into a small envelope. Some even go as far as presenting a hand-written
cover letter and resume. Not that the hand writing has any beauty to it. The
best practice is to have all documents typed and proof read to ensure that all
grammatical errors are checked. Also, neatly place your documents in a big
envelope so that they do not crumple or get dirty. A Well-organized document tells your
prospective employer that you can be trusted hence this must be properly done.
Organization also extends is how well your cover letter and resume is written.
If you can’t write this by yourself, you can outsource them. There are several
online sites that offer decent prices to write your cover letter and resume for
you. You can find some of these services at mybestresumes.com.
The bottom
line is to ensure that all your documents are properly written and neatly
placed in an envelope before presenting it to your employer to be.
BE ORIGINAL
The habit of
trying to please employers is very common these days as many compete for few
existing jobs. Despite this trend, I must point out that it is a very bad
practice which must be stopped. Trying to please people especially when job
hunting is a sign of desperation and desperation is a weapon of destruction.
Desperation to land a job no matter the cost sends a bad signal to the employer
that you cannot be trusted, because just as you are desperate to get this job,
you would be ready to leave or leak company secrets when given a good offer
from a competing organization. Hence note that no well-meaning person would
employ a desperate job seeker. The best practice is to remain original and give
off your best by putting in place the above and many more. Desperation would
only lead you to make more mistakes which would further defeat your course.
RESEARCH THE ORGANIZATION
This is very
important, in fact this is the most important step to take when beginning your
job hunt. All the above would be useless when you ignore this step. As a matter
of fact, this should be the first thing to do before the above. A
well-researched organization gives you a comparative advantage as you would
know who the top executives are and the culture of the organization which would
help you present yourself well and in the most appropriate manner with regards
to attitude, appearance and organization.
This however
most job seekers ignore. They rush in blindly to apply for a job without
knowing what the company is. Merely knowing the organization’s name and what it
does is not enough but an in-depth knowledge is required to stand out among the
crowd.
To ensure
that you are well covered fully in your job search, you can read other relevant
articles on interview tips and get the full package to advance in your job
search.
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