How to find work
This article could be called “how to find a job online”, but the tips described here apply to any job.
Introduction
You need to be open-minded. There is a person who will choose you. This person should do everything possible for their company, their business, and their boss. In this context, your problems don’t count: if you get the job, you’ll have to solve the company’s problems, not the other way around.
You must know how to solve problems. You have to understand why someone should pay you to do what you know how to do. You must therefore know how to do something, and be able to demonstrate that you can do it.
And above all you have to facilitate the job of those who select: a large percentage of cover letters and resumes do not even pass the first phase.
Consider the flow of an intake:
- Send cover letter and resume;
- the recruiter reads the resume and the letter;
- if the letter and CV are of interest, a meeting is set;
- do one or more interviews and practical tests;
- get hired!
In each of these stages someone is discarded. Let’s see what to do and what not to do to get through the various stages.
Cover letter and CV
The letter must be well written, without grammar, logic or spelling errors. It has to be short. The person who will read it should not waste time in vain.
The resume must be well done, without errors, precise and short (maximum 2 pages). It must be quick to download, in pdf format (which retains the formatting and now everyone reads), unless of course you are asked in different formats for specific business needs.
All the references to contact you must be present: email, telephone, skype, home address.
Curriculum vitae and letters arrive daily with errors: we discard them mercilessly and do not even get to the next stages. If a person does not know how to put care and attention in something as important as sending an email and a resume to find a job, let alone what care they can put into the work they will do.
The letter must be personalized and edited, directed exactly to that person or company. Nobody cares about sending impersonal resumes in bursts. Choose the offers compatible with what you know how to do and take care of them well. You have to make it clear to the recruiter that you are talking to him, not that you are shooting in the pile.
A meeting is scheduled
- Be found.
- Respond to emails right away.
- Provide any additional details that are requested.
The references you give must be correct: check them carefully. You must respond to the phone numbers, emails and contact details you provide. Those who have to select you are in a hurry and have many people available: not being found on the phone or answering the email after two days can mean not having that job.
Interview and practical tests
Be yourself and don’t pretend: you won’t be able to pretend for all the work, so you might as well find a job that suits you as you are, and don’t try to be another person.
Show up on time: maybe job seekers have a lot of free time, but for companies time is money, so a delay is not tolerable, especially in the preliminary stages.
Present yourself clean and tidy : yes, you have no idea how many people are discarded because they are unkempt or careless. Obviously you can’t tell them, but nobody wants to sit next to someone who doesn’t care about their hygiene all day.
Don’t talk about your problems: everyone has problems, and whoever hires you does it to solve them, not to get them. Anyone who talks about their problems in an interview proves to be selfish, presumptuous and not very empathetic. He thinks that his problems are more important than the rest of the world, and he is a person to avoid because he will create problems rather than solve them.
Don’t underestimate yourself, but don’t overestimate yourself: the skills and competences you say you have must be supported by facts. The facts must be verifiable. Intentions and good intentions are not made, for example.
Don’t lie and be honest: those who select by trade know better than you can tell lies.
To avoid various errors
- Asking to hire you because you need work: it doesn’t work, because the company in this context is looking for a skill, it is not doing charity.
- Saying that you are desperate: it does not work, because those who are desperate do not work well and are less reliable.
- To say that you don’t know how to do that job but that you will learn quickly: it almost never works. Not in times of crisis like this, where there is certainly someone who already knows how to do that job.
- To think you can have that job because a lot of incompetent people do it so you can do it too: it doesn’t work. If you don’t have a job, you can’t presume to judge who has it. Focus on what you know how to do, not what others can’t do.
- Continuously ask for information or feedback after sending the resume. I know it sounds cruel, but companies often don’t have the time to answer everyone. A quick check done once to make sure the mail has reached its destination may be fine, but don’t be angry if they don’t answer you, and don’t expect a response. Sometimes hundreds or thousands of requests arrive, and it is not physically possible to answer all of them.
The latest tips
If you are really looking for a job, the job search should be your full-time job : dedicate all the time you can, do it systematically, don’t waste time or opportunities, keep a ‘agenda.