Boost Yourself for Employment

Boost yourself for employment

Many of us have something that we fear will be a barrier to employment. Maybe it’s being indecisive, maybe you don’t socialise too well with large groups of people or maybe you have a disability that you fear will limit the work you can do. Whatever it may be, it is important to overcome these insecurities and know how to use your weaknesses to your advantage for employment.

There are two types of these “weaknesses”. First, is a general weakness you feel may negatively impact your ability to get employed; the other, is a specific weakness or inability you feel may prevent you getting employed in specific jobs. Whatever it is, remember you are not the only one. Try not to focus on these so-called weaknesses and concentrate on identifying your strength. By doing so you can better understand yourself as a person; relate your strength to the jobs at hand; and a thorough self analysis and self understanding is your best weapon in employment.

Employers look at you from six general perspectives to determine your employability:

Dependability: Are you dependable? Can the company rely on your to work to your best abilities?

Attitude: Are you easy to get along with? Do you have a can-do attitude?

Ability: Why are you the best for the job? What skills can you bring the company?

Network: Are you able to work with your colleagues? Can you attract the right kind of people to the company?

Presentation: Are you dressed in a respectable manner? Do you take yourself seriously or can you be adequately presentable to clients?

Motivation: Are you self-motivated? Are you motivated enough to work to the best of your abilities?

It is through these six perspectives that you must find your strength in each, and also know your weaknesses in each so you can overcome them. It is essential that you are very honest with yourself and you do not try to justify your abilities too much. If you cannot be honest with yourself, you can’t expect others to be able to depend on you.

Once you have identified your strength and weaknesses in each of the above, it’s time to develop a plan of action to your barriers to employment. Be aware of the common attitudes you may come across and you must learn to defend yourself from them:

I don’t think I can do anything about it – Have you been lying about your weaknesses or simply giving up on doing anything about it?

I don’t think it’s my problem, the employer should be able to handle it – Perhaps you’ve been avoiding those employers you think will have a problem with your barriers and trying to find an easy way out?

I don’t think these “weaknesses” are a barrier to employment – Or maybe you have been ignoring the issues and perhaps it’s true, maybe it’s not a barrier to employment, however these barriers may actually be holding you back from advancing your career and you just haven’t noticed?

Without help, I can’t do anything about it – It’s also important not to be too dependent on others. The goal is to be self sufficient and being able to overcome these issues to your advantages.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed with all these information? Don’t be. Your competition is probably feeling about the same right now. By this stage you should understand what your strength and weaknesses are and it’s now time to turn them to aid your employment. Work on your weaknesses one by one. Work on filling in the gaps between your employments histories; find your passion; start practicing touch typing or simply strengthen your emotions to cope with stress. Other ways to overcome your weakness and barriers to employment are:

1. Learn a new skill – there are plenty of community colleges and university short courses available for those looking to improve their employment skills
2. Find out all you can about the job and position you are applying for – and then match your strengths to it
3. Changing your attitude about yourself – if you have been using your weaknesses and barriers as an excuse for unemployment, then you must change that to a can-do attitude. Employer can sense your confidence level.
4. Prepare well for the interview – and develop good answers that may concern your weakness. A good advertising recently had a group of young people looking for a fashion retail job, and when asked for their weaknesses, the person who got the job did not lie about not having a weakness, but simply said “shoes”.
5. Broaden your job perspectives – maybe you are not looking in the right places for jobs. Sometimes you need to broaden your job search and allow yourself to be creative. Just because you can only type doesn’t mean you are stuck being a secretary. Perhaps there are other jobs out there you can do.

Finally, remember. No one else but you can create opportunities for yourself.

Good luck.