Motivating Yourself to Find a Job

Motivating yourself to find a job

I am lazy. I like web design because I ultimately want to work (and I use the term loosely) from home.

I don’t like mornings. I don’t like working set hours. I would rather work through the night than drag myself out of bed each morning and go to work.

During the times that I was unemployed, I really didn’t do as much as I should have to find work.

This article is a retrospective reflection on my experiences with some advice on how to motivate your self to get out there and a find a job.
Set your goals
You first need to decide on what you want to do.

Are you looking a job that is the same as the one you had before, or do you want to move up a level? Perhaps you may want to change industries altogether? Or do you just want to pay the bills?

You have to decide what you want to do right at the beginning of your job search – it’s the basis for your CV and all the job applications you make.

Looking for jobs
Set aside some time each day where you can concentrate on looking for jobs.
Initially, you should be spending a lot of time creating an effective CV. After this you can spend time on the following areas:
Registering with recruitment agencies
Searching recruitment websites
Scanning the local and national press
Finding trade journals that may have jobs advertised for your industry
Sending out speculative letters to potential employers
Applying for advertised jobs (and customising your CV and covering letters if necessary)
Chasing up old contacts to find out about vacancies
Check the local job centre / employment office
Following up any letters you have sent out
You should split your tasks up so you can use your time efficiently.

For example, you can enter local recruitment agency information (address, etc) into a database and mail merge your covering letter. This way you can get them all out and mailed in the same day. This is also useful for sending out speculative letters, although these should really be customised for best effect.

From a marketing point of view, it may be worthwhile calling the office and finding out the name of a contact there to send your CV to. Instead of your letter going into a “to be actioned” pile of mail, it will go directly to the recruitment consultant.

You can use MS Access to set up a simple database to do this and print out your personalised covering letters from MS Word.

If you haven’t used these before, then don’t worry. Although it seems difficult to begin with, you can pick it up in no time (and Microsoft products have tonnes of guides, templates, help and online tutorials to assist you).

Staying motivated
It is a difficult process looking for jobs, as it can take a while to find results. There is a great uncertainty that we all go through – we don’t get replies to our letter, we don’t know when our next pay cheque will arrive, we are not achieving anything with our days, etc.
Don’t worry about it. You are not alone – we all go through this.

There are some things you can do to help your job prospects and stay motivated at the same time.
Keep busy (it will take your mind off any responses you are waiting on)
Voluntary work (shows that you are doing something useful with your spare time and helps add to your CV and build your experience)
DIY (get those shelves fixed and paint the bathroom)
Sport (any kind of exercise can help you reduce the stress of job hunting)
Socialise (difficult if your mates are all at work, but you can use your free time to catch up with people)
Chat with people on our forum (the are others who are going through the same thing as you – you can exchange job hunting ideas with each other)
The main thing to remember is to not over do it!

Even when unemployed, you still have a job to do – find a job! And it is perhaps one of the most difficult and stressful jobs to do. You must balance your time between finding work and keeping the stress levels down.

Are you confident that you have done everything you can today to find a job (be honest)? Good! Then relax a bit – there’s no point in stressing about stuff you can’t control.

The Most Common Reasons for Rejecting a Resume.

The most common reasons for rejecting a resume.

From a survey of 2,500 recruiters/headhunters:
Spelling errors, typos, and poor grammar [often leads to automatic rejection]

No clear sense of specific accomplishments

Missing or inaccurate dates [include month and year for employment]

Missing or inaccurate contact data

Poor formatting

Functional rather than chronological arrangement

Too long for accomplishments

Long, dense paragraphs

Inadequate qualifications -- does not match requireds

Inclusion of irrelevant personal information such as interests or hobbies

Missing employer information

Misleading or lying re: qualifications

Generic, fuzzy, or irrelevant career objectives, goals, and introduction

Poor font choice or style

Use of inappropriate or difficult to open digital format such as a ZIP file

Irrelevant images, graphics, or URLs

Inadequate summary of skills and accomplishments

Written in the first or third person

Unexplained gaps in employment

Burying important information

Objectives of Placement

The professional training placement provides students with the opportunity to spend twelve months working in industry, commerce or for a professional body. It gives them an insight into their subject and career potential.
The aims and objectives are as follows:To enable students to relate their University studies to the practical situations encountered in the working environment.

OBJECTIVES OF PROFESSIONAL PLACEMENT

The three parties involved in the Professional/Industrial Placement Scheme have different but complementary objectives. These may be summarised as follows:-

FOR THE STUDENT

To learn, develop and apply new skills appropriate to the professional setting in which they are working
To apply knowledge and skills acquired in the academic setting to the practical demands of the employing organisation.
To develop and utilise appropriate interpersonal skills in the organisation setting.
To develop and refine the communication skills required of a person working in a professioinal capacity.

FOR THE EMPLOYER

To contribute to undergraduate learning so as to produce gradutaes with the knowledge and skills which are of value to the employer.
To enhance the links between university and employers to the potential benefit of both.
To employ (for a limited period), an intelligent and committed individual who will contribute to the effectiveness of the organisation.

FOR THE UNIVERSITY

To provide students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills as an employee in a professional capacity.
To promote university links with industry, commerce and professional bodies.
To keep abreast of developements in the social and behavioural sciences as applied in a 'real world' setting.
To make graduates more attractive to employers and enhance their chances of employment
To produce a more rounded and mature graduate.

RENUMERATION

The salary students will receive during their placement year will be negotiated between the employer, student and the Professional Placement Tutor.

In some circumstances, students may have to undertake an unpaid placement. Some professional areas which are of direct relevance to social and human science students cannot offer paid placements. These include clinical, educational, forensic and health psychology placements, social work and some social research placements.

Those students in unpaid placements are dependent upon their student loan, part-time work and parental support where available. Students on placement will pay half the amount of the fees that they would normally be expected to pay - subject to the usual LEA assessment. Students on unpaid placements that conform with those stated in Schedule 5 of the grant awarding regulations will be able to apply for a full student loan, all other students will receive a half the amount of the loan to which they are entitled.

Job Hunting Tip - Time Management

Job Hunting Tip - Time Management

There is an old adage that "Looking for a job is harder than working." How true! The rigors of job search are magnified by the turmoil we experience: lack of self-confidence, humiliation, financial pressure, and the undercurrent of emotions that color all we do: fear, anger, depression, anxiety, loss. One practical step we can take to lower the stress and conserve our energy for finding work, not feeding our bloated worries, is to manage our time effectively.Have you ever noticed that you get more chores done when you’re busy? If time is limited, we squeeze in those extra demands because we know they have to get done by a deadline and we fear putting them off. When time is unlimited, such as when you take a few days off work, there is no pressure to rush—"I’ve got four days, I’ll do it tomorrow." Suddenly, you are back at work and realize that you didn’t accomplish half of what you had planned.This lack of structure is magnified when you are unemployed. There is no pressure to get up, get dressed, get out of the house by a specific time. We know we have things to do. We need to update our resume, create some new cover letters, research some possible job openings. It is so hard to get started because we hate having to do it, we don’t feel creative or excited about the whole prospect, and we dread having to go through the horrors of interviewing. We procrastinate, telling ourselves that when we are ready, it will just "flow." For a few hours, a few days, we’ll just indulge ourselves and relax.When the end of the month arrives and we compare our diminishing bank balance to our multiplying bills, we mentally beat ourselves up for not having accomplished what we had so earnestly intended. Now we generate our own pressure, magnified by guilt and self-reproach. Stress levels and blood pressure rise. We feel resentful, angry, depressed. "I didn’t ask to get into this situation. It’s unfair. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it."Adopting a reasonable schedule can avoid reaching this point. Try these ideas:1. Take a day to do nothing but plan out what you are going to do, and when.2. Concentrate on not over-committing yourself. You may be used to working 8 or more hours per day and think that is what you will now spend on job search. Remember that adage: your hunt for work is a lot more difficult than simply walking into a familiar employer and pursuing your daily routine. Recognize that and limit your job hunting to fewer hours per day.3. If you rigorously limit your job hunt-related activities to 4 hours per day to start (you can always increase later), you may find yourself forced to stop before you are ready. This creates the impetus to get you going the following day -- you can hardly wait to get back to what you are working on.4. When your "work time" is over, stop. Consciously focus your attention on relaxing: take a walk, read a book, throw a ball, watch television, whatever pleases you. You will be able to relax because you know you completed exactly what you planned. The guilt, and the sense of "I should have, I should be" no longer exist and you are free, for a short time anyway, to do anything you want.5. Identify your priorities by looking at what day of the week is best for each kind of activity. If you are searching the classifieds, Sunday is the premium time to do it. If you are networking or cold calling, concentrate on the morning weekday hours. Agency visits, whether for temporary work or head hunting, can be relegated to the afternoons when employers are difficult to reach and already fatigued.6. Analyze your own daily energy patterns and put them to work for you. Make sure that during your high energy periods you are "out there," contacting people and presenting yourself. Use your low energy times for solitary, mundane tasks: researching companies and jobs, organizing your paperwork, planning your next day’s activities.The inevitable stress of unemployment and job search can never be totally eliminated, but managing your time and being gentle with yourself can turn a painful situation into simply an uncomfortable nuisance.

Job Fairs

Job Fairs - create a lasting impression at job fairs

Job fairs. Speed dating for job seekers and employers! Or like a cattle market.

Most Colleges and Universities organise job fairs round about graduation time to allow students to meet new employers - it's a fairly common method of recruiting recent graduates.

Job seekers can use job fairs to find out a bit more information about employers, working life and general industry information. This is what most people use job fairs for.

However, the opportunity exists for job seekers to use the brief few minutes they have with employers to create a lasting impression (er, a "good" lasting impression!) and sell themselves, for job fairs are also an opportunity for the cream of the crop to rise to the top!

So who are those people hanging about the tables?
Employers and recruiters tend to send HR personnel along to job fairs to either weed out unsuitable candidates or pick out some young potentials from the crowd.

Unlike trade shows (which have basically the same format), job fairs aren't "staffed" by marketing people - they aren't trying to sell you anything. They are there to be sold by YOU! (the obvious exception is where you are such an attractive prospect, you get them chasing you, but let's face it - if that was the case, then you wouldn't be reading this!)

You are a salesman competing for business amongst hundreds of others. You could leave your CV with the recruiter. Would they remember you?

Dress for an interview!
Yes, job fairs are interviews and you should treat them as such.

Simply sauntering along in jeans and a t-shirt to see what's going on isn't going to get you anywhere, regardless of your skills and abilities. There are literally hundreds of other people there with the same aim as you - finding meaningful employment!

So, go along to job fairs and be prepared to make an impression!

Do your homework on the fly!
You see those glossy brochures the recruiters have strewn all over their little tables? And the posters on the walls? And the conversation the recruiter is having with the other jobseeker next to you?

This is all valuable information! And you NEED to use it to make your impression!

Find out about the company. Find out about the jobs they are offering or their graduate programme. Listen to the questions the recruiter asks other people and the information he or she gives out.

If you wander on up and ask some vague question about health plan or holidays, the recruiter is simply going to answer you and will soon be distracted by someone else. There it was. That was your chance. It's gone now.

You need to engage the recruiter - not simply hold a one sided conversation with them! At a job fair, a conversation is your best friend, because the longer you spend talking with the recruiter, the more likely they are to remember you.

At least....
The least you should leave a job fair is with some background about your industry (an idea of the types of jobs available), and some information about employers. At best you leave having made a positive impression on several employers and have a few job prospects to look forward to!

Experience for a Purpose

Experience for a Purpose

Good jobs need experience. But you can’t get the work experience without a job, right?

Well, I’m afraid it’s time to pay your dues!

The very least you want to do is find a job in the industry of area that you want to work in – even if it’s a crap job.

Crap jobs can be a means to an end.

A few tips on how to get work experience from crap jobs and other sources

1. Find out about the industry you are working in. I temped for 3 years in various areas that are all largely irrelevant to me now, but helped broaden my knowledge base. It may seem that the ins and outs of the administration of an office are irrelevant to your ambition to be a rocket scientist, but valuable interpersonal skills can be learned, as well as some industry knowledge.

2. Ask for more work. If you can suggest something to your manager that would be of use to the company / department and also be of interest to you, then you will gain valuable experience from it. You can go along to your next interview and say, “Well, yeah this was my job (and it was quite dull), but I also did this…”. This will show initiative and make you look like a damn good worker.

3. Use these dull jobs to hone your computer or other skills. Boring admin jobs can be good practice for working with databases, email, corporate intranets and other information systems. And like anything else, your keyboard skills and IT literacy will improve with experience.

4. Try voluntary work. It shows commitment and initiative (even if you aren’t doing anything to mentally taxing) and, again, you can increase your industry knowledge and may discover a new career path that you hadn’t thought of before. It also bulks out your CV (oh, and yeah, it helps other people). Voluntary work can be online editor positions, charity work, or I’m sure any number of other things.

Good Luck!

Finding a Job

Finding a Job

It’s difficult. No two ways about it.

Here are some methods of finding a job:

Local Newspapers
Local papers are a good source of finding a job in your local area. They are the first place that smaller companies will advertise their jobs, as it is more affordable than advertising through a recruitment agency or employment website.

There is also the benefit that if the job you are going for, then there is likely to be less competition in your local area.

National Newspapers
National newspapers hold the same benefits for job hunting as local papers - the jobs advertised are local to you.

National newspapers hold the additional benefit of attracting larger employers and having larger, more varied recruitment sections.

Websites
Very few people get jobs from a website. The best that you can hope for (and this is just my opinion) is good, solid information.


Referrals
Larger organisations sometimes offer bonuses to employees for suggesting a candidate for a job – do you know anyone that may be able to refer you to their employer?

Send you CV out
Make a list of employers that you would like to work for and send your CV and covering letter to the HR departments of these companies. Remember to follow it up with a phone call.

Check out these articles on writing your CV:
Writing a job application covering letter
CV Advice
Writing your CV

Recruitment agencies
Just send them your CV and give them an idea of what you want to do (ie permanent or temporary?).

Some articles on recruitment agencies:
Recruitment Agencies
Web based recruitment agencies
A light hearted look at recruitment

Promotions
If you are working in a job that you don’t like, then try for a promotion to do what you want to do. If the position doesn’t exist, then suggest it to your boss – the worst that can happen is that he or she will say no! Just pitch him or her with the benefits of your idea and why you are the perfect person for the job.

Have a look at my articles on keeping your job and getting a promotion.

Trade journals
If your profession has a journal the chances are that it has a recruitment section.
Good luck in finding a job!

Beating the System for Experience

Beating the System for Experience

We've all heard it: "You can't get a job if you don't have experience, but how do you get experience if no-one will give you a job?". Doesn't seem fair, does it? 

Some kids are lucky. They've got an uncle or brother or cousin who can pull a few strings for them. Once they're in, they can say they've got that magical stuff called "job experience" that every boss looks for. 

Some kids are so smart. You know the type. They skip grades in school and all the colleges are begging for them. They're too busy being smart to be cool. They really make an impression on potential bosses, and they get hired. 

Then there are the kids who find underhanded ways to make money. They don't want a real job. They usually look pretty cool driving around in big fancy cars flashing wads of money. They don't look so cool years later sitting in a jail cell. And finally, there's the rest of us. We walk into one personnel office after another, filling out job applications. By the time you're finished, you've memorized your Social Security number for life. They all say the same thing: "We'll let you know."Only they don't. You never hear from them again. 

There is a way to beat the system. It's a pretty ingenious solution, too! But you've got to want it. What I wanted was to be a bartender, but my idea will work for almost any job. It started when I signed up for a bartending school. The contract gave me three days to change my mind and cancel. In those three days, I went around to different bars and asked the managers if they'd hire someone who'd gone to this school. They all said no, not if the person didn't have any real-life job experience.

So going to this school wasn't going to get me a bartending job. I cancelled the contract and went back to square one. (That's a good way to find out about any trade school, by the way. Ask the guys who do the hiring if they'd hire someone from there.) Job experience
They all wanted job experience. So I went back to all the managers I'd talked to about the bartending school, and asked them if they'd train me - for free. I offered a proposition: "I'll come in on my own time. You don't have to pay me. I will train for free. Train me, and if you like my work, then you can hire me with pay." For them, it was a win-win situation. They didn't lose any money by giving me a chance. And if I did real well and showed an aptitude for the job, they could then hire me and we'd both make out. 

(HELPFUL HINT: Smaller companies are the most likely to go for a deal like this.) I found one man willing to take me up on my deal.
It was a small Italian restaurant with a tiny bar. He let his best bartender train me. She told me the drink ingredients, I wrote them down and took them home to memorize. She'd quiz me, and let me make drinks. After about three weeks, he put me on the payroll. I was a bartender! It didn't take long for me to find out why he was so anxious to train me for free. It was such an awful place to work that everybody kept quitting on him. They had a complete staff turnover about once a month. He was desperate for employees. But that didn't matter. I got what I wanted - job training and job experience. Even if it was a crummy place to work. Sometimes you have to start out that way. I don't regret it, and I'll tell you why. I worked there until I couldn't stand it anymore, which was longer than most of his employees stayed.
Remember, I needed that job experience, no matter how crummy it was to work there. 

After working there a few months, I went to several nicer bars, and told them I had job experience (which I did!) One of them hired me. It turned out to be one of the best jobs I ever had. Everybody there was super nice. His staff didn't play head games on each other the way some do. The boss really cared about his employees. He did have to fine-tune my bartending, as I needed more training than I'd gotten at the Italian restaurant. But when he saw how willing I was to learn, and how eager I was to do the best job I possibly could, he took me under his wing and taught me everything he could. I repaid him by becoming one of his best bartenders. This can work for just about any job you want to go for: office work, sales, factory, carpentry - you name it. If you really want it, you can do it. 

Sometimes things are worth doing for free now, for the payoffs you'll get later on. Be eager, be willing, swallow your pride and go for the JOB EXPERIENCE. One final word: I don't bartend anymore. I'm a bookkeeper, accountant, writer and carpenter (skills also learned "on the job"). 

But the job experience I've gained from all the different jobs still pay off. I know that no matter what happens, I will ALWAYS be able to find work, because I'm skilled in more than one field. That's not the important thing, however. What's important is how I came to be skilled in so many fields. You get that by being:
A good worker who's willing and eager to learn and has a lot of enthusiasm for the job.

Be willing to do more than you are being paid to do. 

Help others in higher positions with their job, and you'll learn how to do their job. This is a great way to boost your experience.

A reliable employee who they can count on to be there every day and ON TIME.

An employee who gets along with his co-workers.

An honest employee who doesn't steal or lie to his employer.

An employee who knows that the customers of the business are where your paycheck really comes from and making sure to treat them with respect and enthusiasm.

And always try to leave a company on good terms, so that you can use them as a reference.

Treat the business as if it were your own, as if you had stock in the company, and you'll get the job experience and job skills you want. Potential employers can see that enthusiasm in you.

TIPS FOR PLACEMENT SUCCESS

12 TIPS FOR PLACEMENT SUCCESS
As this year’s National Convention approaches, CCPA thought it would be helpful to share a few tips for our fellow colleagues participating in Placement. We hope you find these tips to be useful during your job search process!

1. RESEARCH. Go to the websites of each of the schools you are interviewing with and print out their mission, vision, values, etc. Also print out any information about the department/people you are interviewing with so that you can reference certain events, positions, resources, etc. Additionally, this should aid you in coming up with a couple of questions about the job/institution/ department at the end of an interview to answer any lingering questions you may have about your potential future work environment. This is sure to impress your interviewers, as well as hopefully make you feel more comfortable about the interview.

2. JOB DESCRIPTIONS. Make sure to print out and bring the job descriptions for each of the positions you are applying for. It's also a good thing to print out the cover letter you submitted for the position too, just to remind yourself of the experiences you highlighted!

3. ORGANIZATION. A plastic folder with dividers is helpful to organize different positions and institutional information for easy access pretty much anywhere. A great time to review the information is on the plane ride to Atlanta, in between conference sessions, or while you are relaxing in your room.

4. THANK YOU CARDS. Don't forget to bring a box or two (depending on the number of interviews you have) of Thank You cards and promptly write them as soon as possible after your interview! If interviewing with multiple people at one institution, write each one a personalized card! They will truly appreciate it and they will have something more than just your resume and some notes on your interview to walk away with.

5. ORIENTATION. Orientation is your key to navigating this entire experience to the best of your ability. Make sure to go to the Candidate Orientation early so that you can familiarize yourself with the facility and focus more on your upcoming interviews than trying to figure out how it all works!

6. COPIES. Bring about 5 clean copies of your resume to the conference. You will be able to put some in a resume binder, as well as just have a few handy to give out if necessary. It is also a good idea to bring a flash drive or disk with your resume and cover letters on it so that if an institution posts a job while at the conference, you can easily use the business center to print out a personalized cover letter and resume for the institution and drop it off. Don't forget to bring your resume paper too!

7. WATER. Make sure to bring a bottle of water with you to hydrate with, because you will hopefully be doing a lot of talking! The water fountains are almost always crowded with other candidates, so bringing your own is a great idea!

8. BREATH MINTS. Gum can also work too! After talking, your mouth will start to feel icky inside, which is potentially a sign of bad breath. Bringing mints or gum with you during the conference will ensure that you will always have the freshest breath possible...and therefore not causing your interviewers to pass out!

9. COMPETITION. Avoid sharing a room with colleagues or friends who may be interviewing for the same positions as you; it can create tension and an uncomfortable atmosphere in an environment that should be your place to relax after a long day of interviewing.

10. DRESS. Wear clothing that makes you feel confident and comfortable. Your interview will convey how you feel about the position and you definitely don’t want your potential employer to think you’re uninterested because your shoes are killing you!

11. BUSINESS CARDS. Exchange business cards once the interview has concluded. Employers' contact information will come in handy to write any follow-up emails.

12. THE CONFERENCE! Don’t forget to get out of placement and to the conference at least once or twice a day. Attending sessions, business meetings, socials, and committee meetings are excellent ways to network and learn more about potential employers and future job opportunities! Network, network, network!

BEST OF LUCK AT THIS YEAR’S PLACEMENT!

HOW TO REGISTER WITH EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE IN INDIA

HOW TO REGISTER WITH EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGE IN INDIA

National Employment Service Exchange is run by the Directorate General of Employment and Training, Ministry of Labor. Employment Exchanges in various states (over 900) provide assistance to unemployed educated youth residing in the respective States to pre-register for impending job vacancies occurring in different sectors of that State.on the basis of qualification and experience. Employers can request these exchanges to provide a list of job seekers to choose from the registered candidates as per their requirements. As per the Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959, the employer in every establishment in public sector in that State or area has the compulsion to notify that vacancy to such employment exchanges.

How to register?
Candidates willing to register with an Employment Exchange need to fill up the required application form, which is either available online for download or with the Employment Exchange in their area of residence.

Attested photocopies of all educational and experience-related certificates are to be submitted by the candidates along with the application form.

Also have original copies of all the certificates with you to produce for verification at the time of registration.

Caste Certificate (optional) and photographs taken within last three months.

Any proof of residence/identity in the area: Voter card, ration card (issued at least one year ago), passport, domicile certificate, any proof that shows that father or husband of a female (shifted to the area after marriage where willing to register) is a permanent resident of the area.

Certificate of Date of Birth.

Certificate of SC, ST, OBC, Ex-Servicemen, Physically Handicapped, Ex-Servicemen etc.

A registration number is issued after registration in the employment exchange.

Registration is free of charge and no fee is to be paid for the registration. 

Registration can be made for a maximum 4 occupations with suitable qualifications and experience.