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9 Tips to land your next job!

1. Network! Think of the people you know -- relatives, friends, professors, classmates, co-workers at summer jobs, and others. Make more of an effort to meet with people, and use these conversations to ask their advice, to make them aware of your job search, to learn more about their jobs or their organizations, and to get the names of others who might be useful in your job search.

2. Target your CV. Make sure your CV is targeted to the employers who receive it. Make sure it is easy to read and the most important details stand out. Make more than one CV if you are applying to more than one industry.

3. Be prepared. You should have a copy of your CV ready to go at all times. It is also a good idea to have fresh copies of your CV prepared in case you are called to an interview at the last minute.

4. Create a contact database. Write down all the employers you contact, the date you applied, any contact made, people you talk to, and notes about those contacts. Keep a notepad with you at all times -- take notes as soon as you hear about an opportunity or when you leave an interview. Get into the habit of updating your database daily.

5. Learn how to talk about yourself. Throughout your job search you will speak with many people at different levels. Be comfortable having conversations about yourself with other people. Keep in mind that you never know who may end up being useful to your job hunt.

6. Prepare an elevator speech. You never know who you'll meet in an elevator, in line at the coffee shop, or on the street. Know what your skills are and how to communicate them. You should be able to tell prospective employers and others you meet what you can offer. You should also be able to talk about how your skills relate to the industries that interest you.

7. Find out all there is about employers in your field. Remain current on any issues or developments in the field, read trade journals or professional publications, and read the newspaper. It is extremely impressive during an interview if you know about the latest merger or coup in the industry.

8. Follow-up with leads immediately. If you find out about a position late in the day, call right then. Don't wait until the next day.

9. Stay confident. Job hunting takes time and energy. Remain confident, but prepare yourself for challenges ahead. Don't get disgruntled if you are still looking for a job and it seems like everyone you know has an offer. A positive mental attitude will shine out.

ARE YOU 'LINKED-IN'?

Social networking is changing the face of recruitment and Linked-in has been at the forefront of the revolution.

If you are not already profiled, see www.linkedin.com or check out the video below.

Overqualified for the job?

"You are over qualified for this job"

After the question about strengths and weaknesses the next biggest concern that people have is that they are not getting to the offer stage or in many cases not even getting the first interview because the employer thinks they are overqualified.

It is not a question but an objection and many times it is not even brought up but the candidate knows from past interview history that it is probably an issue.
I have been in this business all my life and I have never seen this as prevalent as it is now. The reason is simple - high unemployment amongst professionals.

A great many of the unemployed have given up trying to find the high responsibility, high paying jobs like the one they lost. They are willing to and even anxious to land a lower position just to get back to work and keep the wolves away from the front door.

Every basic sales training course teaches that before you can overcome an objection you must first determine if what you are hearing or thinking is the true objection. In this case, is being overqualified really the objection or is there really a different issue/concern. In order to identify and overcome the true objection we need to understand the employer’s thinking. Let’s look at what the employer might be worried about. Logic says that an employer would love the opportunity to land a candidate that was stronger, more highly skilled than the job really required. In this market logic has gone out the window and it is replaced by fear and insecurity. Why wouldn’t the employer want to higher the more qualified candidate?If I hire a candidate into a lower level position my primary concern is turnover. For the following reasons…

1) If a candidate takes a less challenging position he will be bored and less interested.

2) If the job has less responsibility and doesn’t look as good on a resume the employee will not do his best and will not achieve to his best ability.

3) If he comes to work each day knowing he has committed to a lower paying job his enthusiasm will be diminished.

4) If he is not proud of his job, work and pay logic says he will be a poor performer.

5) He is not taking my job because he really like the work, people or company. He is taking it because he is desperate and can’t find anything better. As an employer I am worried about costly turnover. Instead of doing his best for me my new employee will be looking for jobs that really meet his needs. My job will not have his full attention and as soon as he finds a bigger job for more money my new employee will jump ship.Now that you understand the employer’s thinking you can decide how to address his true concerns you can head them off and it can be done.

If you are applying for a job that is obviously a lesser job and are just trying to get in front of the employer your cover letter must be highly customized. It must do two things.

1) It should state something like... “On the surface I may seem overqualified however I am excited about the opportunity because…” Now pick out elements of the job that excite you. Be specific and sincere. Explain why they excite you.

2) Write about why you will bring far more value than a candidate who JUST meets the qualifications. Again, be specific.

When you go on an interview the employer may not bring up his concern.

Just as you did in the cover letter bring it up yourself but this time have more reasons and more value statements prepared. At some point in the interview you will need to ask…”I have had an interviewer tell my recruiter that I was overqualified for a position. DO YOU SHARE THAT CONCERN?

Submitted by - Mark Warren



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