From Jobless To Employed

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The rate of unemployment rises during times of uncertainty and economic downturn. So what makes a given candidate more employable than the next? There are a huge number of people desperately looking for employment so standing out from the crowd does prove to be difficult. There is no denying there are challenging obstacles when candidates are looking for work and probably feel as though they have tried everything to grab the attention of employers; however there are a number of things one must consider that can help improve their chances of getting a job.

Your first step is to take the initiative. Don’t sit around waiting for jobs to be advertised, there are a large number of job vacancies that don’t get posted so you need to find a way of being ahead of the competition. A way to do this is to create a list of companies that might have the type of job roles that you are interested in and send a letter head along with your CV to the HR Manager or the senior member of the department. The latter often works wonders. Locating the Head of a desk (for example) is often the best route to take. He or she at the end of the day has the final say on who gets employed.

Don’t get yourself down if you receive a response saying your details will be kept on file. Yes, this may often be a polite way of saying ‘we are not recruiting right now’, ‘your CV may get looked at in the future’ or simply ‘we don’t think you have what it takes to do this job’, but you must always remain confident and persistent.

Another way to stand out is to be different from the rest. Check out what comes up on Google when you search your name for example. Some employers use this tool to get an understanding of a potential candidate and what they are like. Keep your profile sensible at all times.

Results that come up on Google searches may be from Twitter, Facebook and any other social media site, so it may be worth updating your pages regularly and keeping them clean to ensure nothing detrimental is on there that could jeopardise your success. Having fully functional social media pages could improve your chances of landing a job quite significantly and is a great way to get your personality across without actually saying anything.

Networking is another great piece of advice. A high percentage of job vacancies are filled by people someone in the company knows personally. Friends and family of staff within the company that is recruiting normally hear about a job vacancy first, meaning they are ahead of everyone else. Getting to know people in the industry (you are interested in getting into) may give you that extra edge when looking for a job.

Gain your qualifications. This may seem obvious but sometimes it is easier said than done. After leaving school or college it is quite easy to fall out of the ‘educational system’ and find yourself taking on part-time roles in a number of different places. If there is an industry you are particularly interested in, then it would be worth enrolling on a course to gain the necessary qualifications to make you appealing to recruiters and companies alike. If you do not have the time to enrol on a full time course then there are many courses that can be done from your own home and work around hours that suit you. Qualifications will go a long way to strengthening your CV and increase the odds of you landing that job you have been after.