Apply | LifeCareer

APPLYING FOR JOBS

Are you trying to find the right job for yourself? Are your nights spent while making red circles in the job section of the newspaper? Do you find yourself hunched in front of a computer, looking for opportunities online? Perhaps you should think about writing a stellar job application!

Applying for a job is the one of our major concerns as a fresh graduate. We have a lot of expectations from the place we want to work in; we would want a good environment to work, a good pay, and an interesting and creative workplace, thereby we look for it accordingly. However, what we should be careful about is what the employer would want to know about us.

Why do you need to write job applications?

To begin with, you should start your job search by looking through the job advertisements, job search engines and through the career development centers your educational institutes have, whereby prospective employers advertise the vacancies in their organizations. It is important to understand the language of the job advertisement so that you can get back to the employer in the best way possible and provide him with the details that he would require. But the questions that need to be answered include, what do you need o take care of before you apply to jobs? How important is it to use an appropriate source? How will you be able to reach to your desired workplace?

WAYS TO LOOK FOR A JOB – SOURCES WHICH CAN BE USED TO REACH YOUR DESIRED EMPLOYER

Job Advertisements:

One of the most common ways used by organizations to reach out to the masses is by advertising jobs, be it through print media or electronic media. Job advertisements can be present in newspapers, in a certain section catering to a certain target audience. However, with the widespread of the World Wide Web, a number of jobs advertisements can be found over the internet where most of the companies have their applications available, thereby allowing you and other job-seekers to apply online.

Job Search Engines

Job search engines are used to search top job sites, company sites and online newspapers, you can make your side hustle work if already have a main job to get extra income. You can enter keywords, such as your field of interest, location, your skills set or even your qualifications and you will end up with a lot of options available not only in your own locality, but in areas that are farther as well, such as another city or country. You can select any option and can work upon it later on.

Employment Agencies

The work of an employment agency is to match the employees to its employers. You can send them your CV and then they will contact you as per the job openings that they will have available from different companies. Your skills and expertise will be matched accordingly and you will then be able to contact the company for further processes. The benefit of employment agencies is that head hunters and recruitment agents find job seekers to fill in all sorts of jobs. These may vary from temporary or full-time jobs in a number of career fields.

Career Centers / Job Fairs

You can easily get in touch with the career centers located at your university; send them your CV and let them know your field if interest and they will get back to you if they receive any job opening of your interest. Career centers also act like employment agencies with recruitment agents and head hunters to find the right job seeker for the right employer.

Job fairs are another way for companies, prospective employees and institutes to meet. Sometimes they may be arranged by universities whereby, alumni from different organizations come over and guide prospective recruits. These are usually for entry level jobs and you can easily give them your CV. It also provides a good opportunity for the companies to talk to you in person where they can tell you their expectations from their potential employee and answer your queries. However, there are online job fairs conducted as well whereby you can talk to different companies’ managers through live chats or can see videos. There is also material available for you to download and get benefitted from.

Your application while applying for a job should follow a standard pattern which will make it look professional and appropriate. Also, it must contain relevant and concise information, for example why are you the best person to work in a particular organization, the skills that match the requirements and any previous experience that you have.

ESSENTIALS IN A JOB APPLICATION

Cover Letter

It is very important to write a brief covering letter as it will instantly tell the employer your suitability for the job. It will demonstrate your writing style and will give a personal touch which the CV will not be able to portray. Also, you should have done complete research about the company before you are applying because the cover letter should be able to make a connection between your job description and the company’s culture.

Format of the CV

CV‘s are a very important component to applying for any kind of jobs as they are your first screen meeting with your employer. It should include a summary of your academic background, skills, research and any kind experiences. Different styles can be used for different positions you are applying to. If you are applying as a fresh graduate then you can focus on your personal details (for example, date of birth, nationality, etc) and academics, but if you have an impressive work record and experience, then you can mention other details further on in the CV.

Education and qualifications

The basic requirement of a job application is to make the employer aware of your education qualifications. This section will include the name of your educational institute and the degree you have obtained from there. Also, any extra-curricular that you might have participated in, like sports, societies you were part of or events that you may have organized.

Your skills/ strengths

Here you are supposed to clearly mention your personal and academic strengths which will specifically be beneficial for the organization. For instance, if an organization encourages group or collective efforts you can say that teamwork will enable you to work with a large group of people in a friendly environment.

Another thing that should be mentioned here is any particular skill that you have mastered in. This can be a good control over specific software, like Microsoft Office applications which include Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel or Microsoft PowerPoint, as these are in demand for the job. Including these specifications in your job application will instantly give a boost to your skills set and make your application stand out in the hay stack of resumes that are available with your potential employer.

After you have identified your skills, and the role of the prospective employee, you should make the connection between the two. Competency based questions can be answered easily by combining the situation and task given to you, then the action you are going to take to complete the particular task and eventually the result.

Attention: Important things to remember:

Moreover, you have to be careful about certain aspects of your job application. Sometimes, even after providing all the details you CV is filtered out of the stack. Why is that?

Avoid providing false or doubtful information on any of your applications:

Providing your complete and accurate information is essential, but giving additional or irrelevant information will not please the employer. Your potential employer will not invest his precious time looking at a very lengthy CV with irrelevant and false information. As a result, due to the time crunch and tough competition for that job, your CV will get not through to the next stage.

Distracting Formats

The format you choose for your application should be concise and highlight your unique skills set, strengths experience and performance in prior vocations or occupations. Also, the font used in your resume should be legible, not too big nor too small, not colorful so that it is easily read and fulfils its purpose. It is of utmost importance that your resume should not contain basic mistakes of dates and titles as it will reflect an unprofessional light on your application.

In the end, during your quest to search for an appropriate job you may face several hurdles as there is no exact formula for obtaining the perfect job. There may be many decisions that you take which will not end up in your favor but that does not mean that you give up. Moreover, there may be places where you may not get the job satisfaction that you imagined and dreamed of, but your mistakes will make you learn a lot as a person learns from every experience. Each and every one of your experiences as a professional will teach you what steps to take in your future job search and will result in making better decisions. Thereby, it is important to look at things from a wider perspective rather than just looking at things superficially. Good luck!

Related Job Application resources and references:

Tipes for How to Find a Job, http://www.drphil.com/articles/article/606
Six Things To Remember When Applying For Jobs, http://excelle.monster.com/news/articles/3389-six-things-to-remember-when-applying-for-jobs
Applications and Interviews, http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/applicn.htm
Applying For A Job, http://www.jobs.ac.uk/careers-advice/jobseeking-tips/1055/applying-for-a-job

Key hashtags:

#jobs #application #apply

@jobs @apply @application