Next page
You must identify a realistic job that you can perform right now, that fits your own work-related skills, background, accomplishments, or education. Once you decide, write down the job’s title. If you need help, various websites list many different job titles and descriptions.
Next page
Two of the biggest mistakes job search candidates make are to not decide on a specific job that they really want or to pick a position for which they are not qualified. If you’re not sure what specific job to look for and pursue, then you may end up not getting any job at all.
Next page
A main purpose of your résumé, also called a curriculum vitae, is to get an interview with the recruiter or hiring person who’s looking to fill the open position. Your résumé does this by briefly showing the hiring person that your work-related skills, experience, accomplishments,
Next page
or education fit what the employer’s job description says are the most important characteristics of an ideal candidate for that job. The résumé you write for each different employer’s open job must be customized. You don’t need to change the same core data that you’ll include on all your résumés, like your employment history, your school information, and your current contact information.
Next page
Those details will be the same on all your résumés. But if you apply for a job with more than one employer, each employer will have a somewhat different or very different job description for their job. Therefore, you must select which of your skills and accomplishments are relevant to each job description.
Next page
You must find the job description for the job you want. It will help you decide if you really are a good candidate for that job. It will also help you decide what to say and not say about yourself on your résumé, in cover letters, and in interviews with employers.
Next page
Employers usually list the job description for each of their open jobs on their website, in newspaper ads, and on job search websites. Current workers who know the job may also be able to tell you about the open job’s description and requirements.
Next page
Here is where you identify your own personal skills and work-related accomplishments that show that your background really does match the critical requirements of the job you now want, as described in the job description you found in step 3.
Next page
There are always some open jobs to be filled, even in very hard times. Employees retire, change jobs, get promoted, get demoted, or move away. And there are always some businesses growing and needing more workers. All of these situations lead to jobs becoming available that need to be filled by qualified candidates.
Next page
Look on employers’ websites, career websites, newspaper ads, and other sources for the job you want. Also, one of the best ways to find open jobs is by networking—contacting lots of people every day, such as neighbors and ward members, telling them of the specific job you’re looking for and asking if they know of such an open job
Next page
or if they know someone who might know of such an open job. Be sure to give your contact information to all of these people as you network daily.
Next page
Before you begin to send your finely tuned résumés to prospective employers, you must first learn to interview well. Far too many people begin sending out résumés as quickly as they can, before they’re prepared to interview well. The problem with this is that some of these job seekers may get invited right away for an interview.
Next page
These candidates get excited, go to the interview before preparing adequately for it, don’t interview well, and therefore don’t get the job. Once you’ve done this, you can’t go back to that company or interviewer and ask for another interview, saying you’ve now learned how to answer the questions correctly!
Next page
How you answer every question in the interview is critical to your success in getting the job you want. Although you must always be fully honest, there are still right and wrong ways to answer each question in an interview. As a candidate, the answer you give to every question you’re asked must be anticipated and planned out ahead of time. Even one bad answer may cost you the job.
Next page
Focus your answers on short, one- to two-minute examples that show that your background, skills, and accomplishments do fit their job description. Research the organization before the first interview so you can tailor your responses to their needs.
Next page
A quick note (by email is fine) of thanks that emphasizes your interest and fit with the job and employer will not get you the job offer, but it will help make you stand out from the majority of jobseekers who do not bother with this simple act of courtesy.
Next page
Your work is not done once the interview is complete or the thank-you note sent. Following up with the hiring manager regularly shows your interest and enthusiasm for the job. The key is doing so in a way that is professional while not making you sound pesky or needy.