By now, after months of hard work, you will understand and appreciate the dedication required to secure your first job or next career move... We didn't say it would be easy and it can be tough to jump the hurdles and make it past the finish line.
To give you some up to date context before we (hopefully) dispel your job woes, take a look at the stats below we read, in Personnel Today yesterday. Their article highlights some recent figures about online job hunting (stats courtesy of Total Jobs). The facts, in short, are as follows (brace yourself!)
- There is on average approx 18 applications per job (this varies from industry to industry)
- There has been a reported 1% year-on-year increase in job availability but...
- A whopping 15% increase in job applicants
Our main tip is all about networking and making the most of your online resources. Technology has transformed the way we work and communicate; therefore it is the prime time for you to use this to your advantage:
- Set up a Twitter account - Stay ahead of the trends and follow people in your chosen industry. There are also various recruiters and job searchers in this forum who post new jobs all the time. For example, Right Management's own expert job researcher Andrew can be found @researchah
- Get LinkedIn - In short LinkedIn is the professional answer to Facebook! Join groups as well as friend's, make the most of their growing network to build contacts. Answer questions on forums to broaden your profile. Join groups, companies and interest areas that will help you develop.
- Network and be visible - Connect with friends, family and part time colleagues. Talk about your work (or desired work area). This means offline too.
This is just a starting point. If you are hooked up to all of these already, then just keep going - and go some more! With tenacity and a professional and intelligent approach, you could soon be feeling proud at the email which confirms you have landed that first job...
For more support and guidance with your job search and on starting a new career, please contact us for a FREE copy of the GradGuide2010.
A few more tips for online job searching, in what is an increasingly competitive market:
ReplyDelete1) RSS Feeds - RSS Feeds allow you to subscribe to jobsites according to the criteria you’re interested in. The benefit of these over standard e-mail alerts is that they are more regularly updated because the reader regularly checks the site for new updates. This means that you, the candidate, can apply for the role almost as soon as it has been posted, ensuring your CV is at the top of the pile.
To use RSS Feeds you will need to:
A)download an RSS Reader. You can download one for free from Google or Yahoo and you can also integrate it with Outlook.
B)look out for the RSS Logo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS and subscribe to relevant feeds.
C)download an RSS App for your phone to review opportunities while on the move.
To find out more, type ‘RSS Feeds for Job Search’ into Google.
2) Companies’ own Job Boards - On some sites you will see these referred to as ‘un-advertised jobs’ as they are not posted on the major job boards, but it’s still fairly easy to find these vacancies. Consider major employers in your local area or in the industry you are interested in working for and look up their website to locate their jobs/careers page. Often Local Authorities have these lists on the Business section of their websites. Many companies now recruit directly from their own company site as it’s more cost effective for them. More and more will also use Twitter and LinkedIn to recruit directly without the need for job boards. Some companies also have RSS Feeds you can subscribe to, keeping you on top of recruitment news.