Applying for jobs is an absolute minefield. All you know is it’s you versus hundreds, sometimes even thousands of other candidates. You’re not exactly sure what the employer is looking for, and it can feel more like a game of chance than anything else. While of course every employer will have distinct things they’re looking for, there are a number of others that they will all be looking for. Here are just a few of them.
Qualifications and Experience
Hands down, these are the two most important things on your resume (speaking of which, needs to be meticulous. You can find examples for resume objective online) Many jobs will only consider you if you have qualifications in a related topic, whereas others will be more general and will want high school qualifications, a college degree or a university degree. Find out what certification you need to do the job you want to do. Even if you didn’t leave the education system with the qualifications you needed, these days you can study online from home in a flexible way- even around your current job. So if you have plans of changing or improving your career, you don’t need to take time off to go back and study.
Good Communication
Being able to portray a clear message is a skill that will benefit you enormously in the workplace. While we’ve all been speaking since we were young children, sloppy speech littered with slang or self consciousness that leads to talking quietly can both be an issue. One way you can go about improving this is by taking elocution lessons, if your problem is down to confidence then work on ways of boosting this in general. You could push yourself out of your comfort zone and take up a new hobby, start saying yes to social invites or plan things like parties and events for loved ones. The more you mix with people and use your communication skills the better they will be. You could go a step further and enrol onto a public speaking course- a great skill to have as it’s something lots of people are very scared of. If it’s your written communication that needs work, how about starting a blog or journalling? Even reading more can help dramatically as you’re exposed to new words so are constantly learning new things. If you use an e-reader it’s easy to search any words you’re unsure about right from the text.
Organisation
Very few of us are natural born planners. If a person is organised, it’s because they have made the effort to be, which is good to know as it means you can be organised just like them. Write lists and make notes on your calendar. Set goals and tick them off. When you’re organised, you manage your time well and don’t end up stressed and rushing around. Of course, as well as being useful for day to day life, being an organised person with the ability to plan is also a useful skill to have in the workplace and is something that employers have been shown to actively look for when they’re hiring.