HOW DO YOU FIND A JOB?
Getting work is a matter of finding the possibilities, then convincing someone to use the services you offer. You need to “sell” your services to one of the following:
- An employer
- A client
- A customer
Finding opportunities
The first step is to discover opportunities.
In the past, employers had a limited range of ways to find staff, and work opportunities were found advertised in newspapers, or through employment services. Today’s world is not quite as simple as it was – it used to be newspapers, now it is internet and networking, what will it be in the future?
Choosing what to pursue
Keep your options broad. Decide on an industry, but don’t focus on a particular job in that industry until you have got some knowledge and experience in that industry. You may decide on an industry such as construction, health, finance or agriculture. You might consider doing a broad based foundation course while undertaking some work experience, perhaps for 6 months or a year. That approach will allow you to get started, raise your awareness and allow you to make better informed decisions about your next step. It also gives you a bit of experience in the workplace and employers look favourably on that – even if it is limited.
How to pursue it (in business, or to be an employee)
Try to get leverage from experience or skills you already have. If you have operated a business in a different industry - you can bring those skills across to run a business in a new industry. If you have been involved in something as a volunteer, or as a hobby - this should be viewed as a personal strength; experience is always transferable and it can help you get started in a related industry.
First Contact
Your aim must be to raise your own awareness of your targeted industry; and raise the industries awareness of you. This can be done by many and varied means - networking in social media, clubs and professional associations, attending conferences and seminars, visiting retail outlets repeatedly and getting to know staff, volunteering, starting a small business, writing articles for blogs, magazines, newsletters, starting a web site, etc.
How Important is Training or Qualifications?
Many people assume that if they do the right course, they will be guaranteed the job they want.
Most of the time, nothing is further from the truth. In my experience, qualifications help get an interview, but contrary to what many students think, it is not the qualification, but rather what you learn from studying that is usually the thing that gets you a job or promotion.
I have given over 1,000 degree graduates jobs throughout my career. I currently employ around 40 with degrees (in both Australia and the UK). The importance of having a degree might account for 10% - other things are far more important such as their knowledge, skills, ability to problem solve, communication skills, networking, attitude -even speed of thinking and working.
Quote -John Mason, Principal ACS Distance Education, Businessman, Publisher
It is interesting to ask a job applicant to stuff leaflets in envelopes - some with no degree are neat and fast, some with degrees are clumsy and unbelievably slow. A few months after employing them I have commonly found the slow envelope stuffers are less focused, less likely to retain instructions and much less productive at work -and this has no correlation to having a degree or not.
There is an underlying bias toward the importance of a degree in Western society; but when you look beneath the surface, much of that importance is overstated. Wise employers know this - but plenty of big businesses fail - so obviously not all employers are necessarily that wise
So although education can provide some of the things that attract an employer, they will rarely provide everything.