How to Impress and Attract Your Future Employer Job seekers Guide

Job seekers
Job seekers

 

As a job portal and a recruitment agency we are shocked and disappointed by the fact that a lot of job seekers lack the basic skills required for job hunting.  We would not be exaggerating if we say that more than 95% of applications we receive on our job portal are unsuccessful.  They simply fail to attract their future employer.  Yet most applicants act surprised that they do not even receive a response.  The universe operates by a set of simple rules.  You have to comply to these rules and not by the rules of your own.  If you fail to recognize these rules there is nobody to blame but yourself.

 

As part of our initiative to enlighten job seekers about the challenges in the employment market we have published several free and paid materials on how to improve your employability skills.  In today’s article we would like to bring to your attention a number of simple tricks and tweaks you can apply while looking for your future job.

 

  1. Follow the application instructions

A lot of applicants think that replying to a job ad with phrases like “interested” or “please view my profile” would count them as serious applicants.  Some would go to the extent of sending an email with nothing but a sentence like “I would like to apply for this job” followed by their phone number.  Employers are only interested to receive your email and not to know that you are interested in the job.  Simply follow the instructions to apply.

 

2. Apply directly and do not waste your time and other’s

Do not ask for a phone number or office location as employers do not operate this way at least in today’s world.  Some would ask for Whatsapp number to send their resume or chat with the employers.  Employers are smart enough not to give their private phone numbers to strangers.  If you are reluctant to send your resume for any reasons others are not.

 

3. Keep your negative personality offline

Most jobs today are offered online on social media.  Post announcing vacancies are published as posts that allow people to comment and reply to.  A lot of job seekers, as well as bypassers, act smart by criticizing the party behind the ad.  Some would creep about the system not helping them find jobs.  Others would comment about how hard the conditions and requirements are.  Some others would say that the pay is trivial and it is not worth it.  Always remember that social media is public and anything you write goes viral.  Everyone, including potential employers can have access to your comments.  If you are not careful with what you say they will discard you as potential candidate when they run a basic search on your social media accounts.

 

4. Apply to the job(s) you are cut for

A lot of time we receive a bundle of applications for several jobs we posted just to discover that it is only only job seekers applying to every single position we advertise.  It is not uncommon to see a fresher applying to the position of a CEO of a multi-million company.  We once had a male mechanic applying for a female gynecologist job!  The moment your resume appears in more than one ad you burn your chances for all the jobs listed.

 

5. Make sure your application is professional

Taking a photo of a document containing what is supposedly your CV and sending it as email attachment is totally unprofessional!  Employers expect neat CVs that take the format of PDF or Word document.  If you have to send a photo along with your CV include it in the CV file or at least have a decent picture attached to your email.  Write a professional CV and contains only the most relevant biodata.  Avoid attaching your driving license, passport or ID card.  Be careful about and never share your official documents too early.

 

6. Ask smart questions

If you are to start asking questions keep your questions very very smart.  Asking about the salary even before your application is considered is definitely not very smart.  Other questions about working hours or allowances make it very easy for the employers to say: Next! Asking the advertiser if you can apply for the job is probably the dumbest thing to do.  Read out the requirements and if you are interested send out your application.  Keep your questions until you are called for an interview and the interviewers ask if you have any question.

 

7. Focus on jobs with low competition

We are not saying that you should avoid highly competitive jobs.  We encourage you to be smart in your job search and track jobs that not everyone know or care about.  Banks, oil and gas, telecom, airline and other hot sectors are always packed with eager candidates.  Retail, hotels, real estate and other less popular sectors always have shortage of staff and open to new comers.  Even if you do not like any of the offered jobs in sectors with low popularity or the pay is unattractive you can always consider them as entry point into the job market.

 

8. Study the market and focus on growth opportunities

More often than not we hear job seekers comment that an X sector has no future or a Y sector is not attractive in terms of salaries and benefits.  Job seekers let a lot of great opportunities go by just because they have no or little information.  Study the market and learn about each and every sector in which you can pursue a career.  You will be surprised to know that a lot of highly prosperous jobs are forgone by the mass on the account that these jobs are of low prospects.

 

 

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