7 Mistakes applicants make in an attempt to stand out
Sometimes applicants make some mistakes in their quest to stand out to employers. If your are a job seeker it is useful to know these 7 vital things to avoid in the job hunt process: Being unprofessionally unusual to impress employers. In attempt to impress employers, some applicants are tempted to use gimmicks to distinguish themselves. They sometimes, use fancy resumes and do all sort of fancy things. But this can be distasteful and turn off employers. Just be simple, write a great CV and cover letter that demonstrate you have the right skills. Relying on connections to be hired. Do you know someone within an organisation you are applying for?Your insider is always limited to securing your job (no matter the position they hold!) While having connections has some merit, do not solely depend on your chances to get a job on connections. Use your connections, but ensure that you do not neglect simply sending in you CV and cover letter, and following up your initial communication. That leads us to our next point … After initial contact, no follow up. Sometimes when applicants apply for a job they oftentimes forget to follow up. Imagine this, you are one of a few hundred CV’s they may have received, what are the chances of them remembering you? (The answer is 0 chance!) What increases the chances of them recalling your CV is when you call to follow up on the process of your application. It isn’t advised to call everyday (this can be of putting), try once a week until you hear a response. This may not apply in all cases but where it is applicable, you need to follow up. Take various experiences you have gathered over time for granted when applying for jobs. We mean identifying transferable skills from your personal experiences e.g. Arranging a friends birthday party I.e. Project management experience, volunteering for a charity – skills from this could be team working, communication and interpersonal skills. Search your CV and make a list of all the skills you mention, then place a real life example next to it – this will surely help you train yourself to remember how to link your skills with your experience. Don’t distinguish yourself and show innovation. Need to be easily recognised from the pack. Need to leave an indelible mark or presence at the interview. For example, a gentleman should wear a bold colour tie or a lady a bright coloured dress. Be enthusiastic and show an eagerness to learn and grow. Don’t research properly on the company or industry you are looking to join. Employers would be aware of the lack of experience a young applicant might have but would be impressed if they demonstrated knowledge about the industry and firm. Also, it would be a bonus if the applicant also demonstrated the application of that knowledge during the recruitment process. Lack of understanding and clearly demonstrate the values of the company you are seeking to join. Companies will only appoint people who believe and are prepared to uphold the values of that company. Values can be found on the company’s website. Example of values are customer services, integrity, collaboration, one team etc Avoid all of these mistakes and you may be hired! Made any of these mistakes and want to share some practical tips? We would love to hear it! Tweet us. @CareerNuggets
“Hire me!”: How A Graduate Can Be A Cut Above The Rest
Without a doubt, thousands of students graduate from universities yearly with the hope of landing a job. Unfortunately things do not always turn out the way a graduate expects; dreams of a 25K job in the city doesn’t come around so easily. The job market is quite competitive and in order for you to be hired, you must be able to have that wow factor – what makes you stand out from other graduates. The reality is that jobs are hard to find. In fact, a study published in 2011 by Metro reveals that nearly half of university graduates are either unemployed or under-employed. Let’s face it, all university graduates have one thing in common – a degree. Therefore, you need to ensure that you can distinguish yourself. When you see a job advertisement, bear in mind that many others applying for the same job. Within this context, you have to consider this question “why should the employer choose me?” So Here are some Nuggets to make you stand out to an employer: Be Organised According to Adzuna, the keyword ‘organised’ appears in 99,862 job advertisements and the average salary for jobs requiring this skill is approximately £34,479. This is actually one of the most frequent qualities in the list. Moreover, Cary Cooper, a professor at Lancaster University says that, “You’re going to have a lot thrown at you, and you’d better be able to prioritise.” This means that you will have to be organised even when under pressure. Thus your CV must reflect that you are a hard worker, organised and able to handle more than you may have bargained for. Demonstrate Flexibility Within the context of a stagnant economy, employers want to know that their staff is flexible – able to take on other jobs in the event of a shortfall in employees. Good Communication Skills Being able to communicate effectively on a job is second to none. This skill appears in about 68,064 job advertisements in the UK. Additionally the average salary for jobs which require this skill is about £31,923. It is within the context of giving confident presentations, and having good social skills. Kirwan Hack, a career management consultant of Fairplace Cedar says “I think there has to be a degree of emotional intelligence”. But whatever the case, employers consider it important and graduates must do well to sharpen their communication skills so as to apply it in diverse contexts when needed. Be Intrinsically Motivated Indeed motivation can come in two forms, intrinsic or extrinsic. In this case, though it may be quite strange, employers prefer when their employees are intrinsically motivated. This is simply the ability to work independently by motivating yourself. Unless you work for Google that has fun days every so often, you may need to learn to have your own ‘fun’ within your job. Especially in a monotonous job there is the tendency to get bored of doing the same thing. If you’re not sure how to keep yourself motivated? Try this: Keep up to date with news on your organization’s industry Apply for higher roles and work towards securing this role Eat snacks at your desk (don’t overdo it before lunch time!) Speak to colleagues around you (not excessively as some employers don’t like this) How do you keep yourself motivated – we would love to know! Tweet us.
Breaking Into The Marketplace: A Guide For Graduate Jobseekers
Congratulations! You have finished your 3-4 years degree course and have become a graduate! Now you are faced with another exciting life venture, finding a job. Brace yourself dear readers, because the reality is that for every 100 resumes you send out, the most replies you will receive are 2 or 3 call backs. But do not worry, here is a guide that will help you get a job quicker than the average and we are confident it is fairly easy to apply. Internships Are A Quick Win Once you finish your course, you will need to gain experience in your related field. You can do this by signing up for internships whether it is paid or ‘free’. Most job sites have Internships listings but for a more focused search visit Internships. If you wish you to volunteer yourself you can refer to Student Job which has internships that provide some expense allowance. The reasons why an internship is advisable is you can get hands on experience, widen your networking and it is possible that the place where you intern will be your future permanent workplace. Search For a Job Using Social Media Do you spend a lot of your time on your mobile phone or other similar gadgets? It is time to put it to good use. Networking plays a very important role if you wish to enter the marketplace. Social media is your best friend, follow the companies you shortlisted or you have heard great reviews on social media. Businesses usually hire marketing managers to update their Twitter, Facebook, Google+. LinkedIn is especially recommended to use to interact with the real decision makers – CEO’s, Directors alike. Use Linkedin and you may be able to cut the ‘admin gateman’ and send your CV directly to the top. Try to complete and add a lot of information on your LinkedIn account. Similarly, many companies use LinkedIn to find employees to join them. In addition to that, you can follow influential people and try to follow their career footsteps. Freelancing Can Gain You Valuable Work Experience This next suggestion is especially for creatives who wish to pursue self-employment. You can sign up for some freelance sites. Upwork is one of the best free freelancing websites because it is a partnership between Odesk and Elance, two of the oldest freelancing websites that have been running quite effectively. There’s a wide variety of things you can do in Upwork. You can ‘bid’ for jobs online if you are good in writing, creating graphics, computer programming, accounting, legal and so on. You should watch some videos to help you out on how to start your work as a full time freelancer or you could do it as a side business as it is also a means of earning money. Attend Career Fairs When there is career fair in your city do your best to attend. That is where you will get the most companies looking to hire under the same roof! A good tip is for you to always be ready. Decide which industry you want to target; you may even go as far as researching which companies will attend and targeting a chosen company. Have your resume and CV written to cater as closely as possible to the company you are targeting. Some related experience which is similar to the company is a bonus, It shows that you are the ‘perfect’ match with that organisation. For example, let’s say Company A is a business that has strong relationship with a non-profit organization and you did volunteer work during your course, it can be included in your CV. Do not put everything in your CV/resume just the main points as it is supposed to be brief and straight to the point. Then Lastly… Nearly all employers will agree it’s important to stand out amongst a sea of CV’s. Be Innovative and creative; think out of the box in your job search and be unique. Bear in mind that when you are in the working field, it is very different from studies. Working requirements are not solely on the job descriptions as stated in the post, it requires dedication, commitment, hard work, sometimes long hours, patience in your current position and monotony. On the other hand, finding the right placement can be life changing and ultimately fulfilling. We hope you have been inspired to break into your desired Career! At Career Nuggets we run a series of programmes and webinars to help take your career aspiration to another level. Sign-up and join the individuals that have taken advantage of our Free CV reviews, Webinars and Mentoring programmes. Follow us: Twitter – Twitter.com/CareerNuggets Facebook – Facebook.com/CareerNuggets Instagram – @CareerNuggets LinkedIn – Morenike Ajayi SaveSave SaveSave
How To Rise Above All Odds
A renowned IT Consultant, Mr. Wale Oyebanjo was the guest speaker last week on career nuggets episode hosted by Morenike Ajayi on OHTV, Sky Channel 199. Mr Oyebanjo who gave several nuggets out on the programme opined that, having a mental attitude is a key critical factor in order to rise above all odds. He added that, from his personal experience, being made redundant is not the end of the world. “When asked how he dealt with the situation when he was made redundant, he said, “I felt dumped, used, and pursued a business that didn’t really take off while I was unemployed for about 20 Months”He advised viewers that, whoever finds himself in such situations should seek support network, maintain right mental attitude, and find a great mentor amongst several nuggets which were offered. ‘No matter what you go through as odds in life, you have the ability to turn things around as setbacks can be turned into great opportunities.”He Concluded that, in life, happiness is designed and not assigned. Career Nuggets is a weekly episode TV Programme anchored by Morenike Ajayi designed to educate and inspire. For Further details, visit https://www.careernuggets.tv I info@careernuggets.co.uk Join us every Tuesday for another new Episode at 7;30pm
Newsletter – January 2016
Designed to Inspire & Educate An opportunity to transform your career Season greetings to you and yours. I must say that the Year 2015 has been a fulfilling year for me, to which I am truly grateful to God. Career nuggets TV launched in March 2015 and is currently airing three times a week – Tuesday 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 6:30pm. Our first ever career nuggets event took place on 5th December 2015, where we had over 200 attendees. It took the format of a panel discussion with a very interactive audience covering two topics – “How to be a desirable product”, here one of the nuggets given amongst many was knowing your ‘Unique Selling Point’ – USP, while the second panel discussion was “Unconscious bias – managing our biases”. For this topic, we watched the following YouTube clip below and our discussion was around having the right mindset, so one is not at a disadvantage in the area of ones career. I will be expanding more on these two topics in my future communication to you. In the meantime, here are four career nuggets for your career advancement as you prepare this year 2016… 1. Have a dream board – Here, you need to write down your goal or dream and place it somewhere visible to you on a daily basis. Mine is in my bathroom. 2. Get an accountability partner or mentor, who will hold you accountable to your goal or dream. This person should be someone you trust, look up to and has a clear understanding of where you are heading in terms of your career. Preferably, someone who has already walked a similar path to the one you are embarking on. 3. Continuous development – Don’t stop learning; List books, seminars and conferences you plan to read/ attend in 2016, to expand your knowledge base and stand out in the market place 4. Grow and prune your network – Remember, your network is your net worth. It’s important that you surround yourself with the right people. Also, not everyone around you will be moving at the same pace as you and sometimes this is where pruning might have to come in. Finally, Stay focused, Keep yourself relevant and Dream big. Wishing a Fruitful new year. [landing_block type=”newsletter”] Note: Key dates for 2016 Junior Career Nuggets Summit – June 2016, exact date to be confirmed Career Nugget Christmas Special – 26 November 2016 Kind regards, Morenike [landing_block type=”pricing_table”]
How to break into the market place as a young graduate – Part 3
https://youtu.be/BJXZ0Ab5nvg