Crafting a Resume That’ll Help You Land The Job of Your Dreams 
Daring Leadership 
Why You Should Let Go of the Concept of One Hit Wonder in Your Career 
How A Career Break Can Be Good for You 
Tricks on Making a Positive First Impression That Lasts 
Advice from The Finance World’s Leaders When the JobKeeper Scheme ends on 28th March, the job market is going to get tougher because more people will be looking for work. To succeed in finding a job, an individual must have job search security. Job search security is the probability of a person securing a job with only a very slim chance of them not getting it. It involves clear goals, a strong mindset and a strategy personalized to the individual’s strengths.
The JobKeeper Scheme introduced by the Morrison’s government has helped many Australians keep their jobs. According to news.com.au, up to 1.5 million workers are still on the Scheme. What will happen to these people when the scheme ends in a few weeks?
Australia’s job market is overstretched. ABS latest statistics show that 921,000 people in Australia are out of a job. This number is likely to rise when JobKeeper is terminated and more people become unemployed.
As a Career Strategist, I understand the strain that job seekers are feeling. Our career coaching business helps clients in their job search. Everyone talks about job security. What we should be talking about is job search security. Job search security is about approaching the employment market with clear goals, the right frame of mind, and a failproof strategy.
After months on JobKeeper, trying to find work again is daunting. To help you succeed, I have three key strategies that career coaches use.
- Be clear on your why
- Why are you interested in our organisation or this industry?
- Why this particular job?
- Why should we select you over anyone else?
- Would you want to meet you?
- Be interview ready
Everyone looking for a job during the pandemic is starting from a vulnerable position. We are all feeling financial stress and emotional turmoil. Many of us have mortgages to pay, bills to settle and our children’s schooling to deal with. At the same time, we are also worrying about the health and safety of our loved ones. It can be difficult to stay focused and motivated in our job search efforts.
If we keep getting rejection upon rejection, self-doubt and despair will soon set in. Your mental state can derail your job search efforts. Many of the people I helped, tell me the single most important thing Careerists did for them was to restore their self-confidence and give them clarity.
Employers pick up on desperation. They do not like it. If you want an employer to hire you, you must show them that you are the right person for the role.
There are 3 why’s that employers want to hear:
By asking yourself these questions first, you are searching the answers within. Once you’ve found the answer, it will be an instant response when you are asked the same questions in your interviews.
Key tip: Career coaches are trained and skilled professionals who provide insight, support, and direction to help individuals reach their career goals faster. If you don’t have the finances to invest in a career coach; you can try enlisting the help of a friend who can give you advice and support you in your job search.
If you are not getting any response for the hundreds of application letters you have sent, it means you haven’t demonstrated on paper that you are a close enough match for those jobs. Press the pause button on your application frenzy and take a step back. You need a new perspective and a great reflective exercise is to ask yourself this question.
If you were the manager or recruiter and saw this CV, would you want to meet you?
Be honest and as objective as you can be and purely look at CV as if it’s from another person and not yourself.
List down the things you like about the resume from the layout, the grammar and spelling, the experience, the skills and qualifications.
Now list what you didn’t like about the resume. Remember to be honest and critical! If your resume was perfect – you would be getting a ton of calls!
Key tip: Take a job advertisement that you recently applied for and wasn’t contacted for and compare what they have outlined as their ideal person to your CV.
How much does it match up or cover in the advertisement?
What are the things that you need to remove or add to make it meet the requirements? Once you what they are, go back and make the changes to your CV and apply for a similar job.
Einstein famously said “Doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result is definition of insanity”.
Make changes and try again. Your resume will become increasingly more tailored to the job.
Key tip: Resumes and cover letters must be tailored to the position you are applying for. Read the job description carefully to understand the role and desirable skills. Research the organization and match yourself to their ideal employee. Be sure to produce a high-quality and professional document. If writing is not your forte, ask a friend with writing skills for help.
Many people approach job hunting by selling their skills and experience to jobs without delving into what the job wants – they focus on what they want and believe that the interview is merely a conversation about their skills.
If you want to be better than the next candidate, you must have a structure. You need a plan that can highlight your achievements, capability and personality in the best light, so you become more appealing to recruiters.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
The interview is your only chance to impress an employer. If you make the shortlist, you must prepare for the interview. It is important that what you say at the interview aligns with what you wrote in your resume. It is equally important you do not misinterpret a question and give a wrong answer. Mistakes made in an interview can cost you the job.
How well your respond to questions will determine if you get the job or not.
Interviews follow a set structure and criteria that are a checklist for the employer.
These criteria include motivation, communication skills, technical skills, soft skills and many more. It is important to know that each job will have different selection criteria.
The more you cover these criteria in your interview. The higher you rank with your interview score.
The job market in Australia today remains unstable. When the JobKeeper Scheme ends in March, the job market could potentially see an increase in unemployed people desperate for work. Now is the time to get yourself some job search security so you can be ready for any challenges in the weeks ahead.
