Having a job and working hard to keep it is barely the hardest part of employment. Ask any employee and you’ll see that the toughest part of any job is getting it, especially after you’ve been unemployed for a long time.
You’ll have to go through a rollercoaster of mixed emotions while struggling with difficult things such as self-motivation, the pressure of financial stability, and the necessity of an effective planning process that’ll keep you on the right path.
Fortunately, there are several tips and trick you can leverage to improve the quality of your job search and, of course, to get yourself employed as soon as possible. Therefore, in this post, we’re presenting several effective job search tips for unemployed job hunters.
1. Volunteer
Staying in bed and waiting for the perfect job to fall into your arms will definitely not look good on your CV. Therefore, you may want to consider volunteering to fill your gap. Offering your time, knowledge, and skills for a good cause and expecting nothing in return will not only look good on your CV, but it’ll also come with benefits.
Just imagine yourself going back to work after 3 months of doing nothing and 3 months of volunteering. Instead of being socially awkward in the workplace atmosphere, you’ll fit perfectly as you’ve never really stopped working with a team. Also, your self-esteem won’t be damaged as your experience grants you knowledge, skills, and confidence
As Emely Roberts, a veteran content writer wisely advises: “Most employers are pleased to see that one candidate chose to do something with his free time even though he could simply do nothing. This applies especially to those who chose to volunteer in a field related to their job’s niche.”
So, as a job seeker, you should firstly asses your personal and professional skills, your time availability, and especially the niche of the voluntary work you’re planning to take. Of course, any type of activity would look better in your CV than doing nothing, but you’d better raise your chances and please both parties.
2. Network, Network, Network
Networking is one of the best ways, if not the best, to find a job perfect for you. In fact, the best networkers always find the best jobs. Networking can help a job seeker in so many ways. For example, it can grant you new job opportunities in different niches. It can help you get in touch with highly successful individuals in your niche, and it can help you land interviews at companies you’ve only dreamed of working for.
If networking sounds like a new concept to you, there’s no need to worry for you can find everything on the internet, including networking guides. You’ll find insightful tips like the 24-7-30 “rule”, which is about taking care of your connections in a day, week, and month to make sure your relationship is going to last.
Moreover, you must know that networking is divided into two parts. The existing and the potential network.
- The existing network: family, friends, colleges, ex-colleges, college mates, and so on.
- The potential network: formed by the connections that are yet to be made for a professional purpose.
To create your professional network, you must start assessing your existing one and start connecting with old friends that might share some common interests and beliefs with you. The next step would be acknowledging what type of people you must meet and then you should start searching for them on the right platforms and places.
3. Take it Easy
Sometimes we are so excited and impatient for something to happen, so we tend to work, work, and work again until that event is happening. But this is not a wise strategy to achieve any goal, on the contrary, you’ll only sabotage yourself.
Remember the times when you were employed. Did you use to work without taking any breaks? I bet you didn’t. In fact, I bet you took as many breaks as you could, and that’s exactly why you were more efficient. Taking regular breaks while you’re working has a lot of benefits for your productivity.
Therefore, things shouldn’t be any different when you’re job hunting. Moreover, taking the weekend off, giving yourself a break from the job hunting is not only refreshing but it allows you to assess your past week’s performance and to plan on improving your next week’s efficiency.
To be highly effective in your search, you must create and follow a structured plan, in which you should align the working hours with the breaks and launches and divide the day in two – the working session and relaxing session.
4. Develop a Personal Brand
A personal brand is like an online CV, only that it’s better than a CV. The reason for which a personal brand is more effective than a resume is simple to understand: when you get personally involved and start building an online reputation on social media networks, you’re showing your interest and passion in your niche.
If you develop a personal website that showcases your knowledge, skills, and experience, your competitors (who only present a written resume) will stand no chance. Here’s a useful free beginners guide that should teach you the basics of personal branding.
Developing a personal brand sounds terrifying for most employees because it’s extra work. However, this surplus of effort will be definitely worth it for the long run!
5. Improve your Knowledge and Skills Consistently
Job hunting isn’t such a complicated process if you know what you have to do. The way I see it, every job seeker should self-assess his traits and flaws. For example, if you apply for a project management position, you must be aware of the expectations and requirements of this job. Secondly, you must figure out whether you meet those expectations in terms of knowledge and skills.
Every boss wants employees that can consistently create positive results for the company. Taking the last example, to be a successful project manager, you’ll need different skills such as effective communication, time management, team management, research skills, writing skills, and so on.
Now, depending on the industry you want to work in the future (or on the specific job you want to apply for), discover and fully understand what you must improve first. If you work on your own, without expectations, you will slowly build enough confidence to report all those skills you’ve made in the resume or during the interview. This will obviously give you a huge bonus in the eyes of any employer, as most of the times, skills and knowledge matter more than certifications and past work experiences.
Conclusion
With everything that have been said, you should start your journey of improving your job search and finally get yourself employed. There’s so much you can do while you have so much free time, so it’s time to motivate yourself, plan your life, make some clear and achievable goals, and start taking action.
You know what you have to do and where you’re heading towards, so what are you waiting for?! You’re the ruler of your life, so don’t wait for someone else to rule it for you!
