Four Tips for a Successful Job Search

You’ve got the grades, the experience and the skills, but you still haven’t found a job. Jumpstart your job search by changing how you look for a job. It may be that you are approaching your job search in the wrong way. Competition is fierce in the job market, and you must rise above it to secure the job you want.
Interviewing
Researching the company and the job before you interview is perhaps the single most important thing you can do to help you get a job. When you demonstrate to interviewers that you care enough about the job to learn more about it, you stand out from many other candidates. Bring up topics you learned about in your research in your interview. For example, you might say, “I recently read in the ‘Wall Street Journal’ that this company has experienced phenomenal growth in the last few quarters. What do you think is the single most important factor contributing to this?” After the interviewer answers, relate how your skills and background can help the company further its growth. Always connect your experiences to the job requirements to show you are well-qualified for it.
Network
Online job boards are not the only way to find a job. “Networking” refers to finding job leads through your colleagues, acquaintances, friends and family members. Whenever you have the chance to strike up a conversation with someone new or to reconnect with an old colleague, do so. Go to industry conferences, job fairs or professional training events where you can meet people who may know of jobs opportunities. Join your college’s alumni association. Contact alumni who live in the area of the world you want to move to for advice on finding a job there, or call other alumni that studied the same subject you did to find out how they found jobs in their fields. Also offer to help those with whom you network to find a job.
Customised Resume
Each resume or CV you send out should be tailored to the job you seek. An employer will toss a generalized resume that does not highlight the skills required for the job into the bin. Read the job posting carefully before you revise your resume and submit it. Look for key skills and qualifications the employer wants to see. Then connect your past experiences and skills to those required for the job in your CV.
Instructions
Pay close attention to the instructions an employer gives in his job advertisement on how to apply. A detail as small as forgetting to send copies of your college transcripts if they are required can disqualify you from consideration for the position. In some countries, it is important to send a picture with your CV or resume when you apply for a job. However, in other countries, particularly in the United States, you should not send pictures with your application materials. Knowing the differences in conventional job application practices in different countries in addition to carefully reading the application instructions are pivotal to landing a job. If you have any questions, contact the person in charge of the job advertisement. Professionally asking questions about application customs or instructions is preferable to guessing and having your application thrown out.
A bit of extra research and writing can help you land a job. If you blindly apply for jobs, you risk being taken out of the running. Other candidates who take the time to connect their professional and academic experiences to the job’s requirements and who network to find job openings stand a better chance of getting a job than someone who waits for the next email from an online, automated job search agent.
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