How to Make Yourself More Employable

Whilst we try to face this financial crisis head on it can sometimes feel like an uphill struggle to get a job and keep it. Here we will discuss some of the common pitfalls people make when trying to find a job and help you to secure financial resources for some time to come!

Where do I start?

That’s a good question. It’s a huge task to undertake, it might seem like something pretty easy to do-but when you start hitting dead ends with job applications it’s only natural to start to wonder where you’re going wrong.

The first thing to do is make sure that your curriculum vitae is up to scratch. Without perfect credentials written in a way that flows beautifully you’ll already be at a disadvantage. There are people out there with gleaming CV’s so it’s a good idea to make sure that yours is picture perfect.

1.  Make sure that your CV is typed in coherent sentences, has perfect grammar and is written in a font that is easy to read and clear from the start. This will ensure that you don’t irritate your potential employer with fancy fonts that don’t do you any favours.
2. By all means make your CV look special but don’t overdo it. Make it legible, enticing and packed full of relevant information.
3.  Keep your experience relevant. That basically means don’t add it bits that the employer won’t care about, If you worked at a building company but you’re applying for a chef vacancy he won’t really care about your experience in this field. Try to keep it as relevant as possible, only including skills you have used that pertain to the vacancy.
4.  Make sure your skills and qualifications are up to date. If they aren’t you’re likely to fall under ten other applications who have got the correct qualifications. It’s not rocket science-it makes sense really.
5.  Have references available. State that they are available upon request but don’t give them away instantly. Unless the application specifically requests them it’s best to leave a little mystery there. Not only will this give you an indication of what’s happening with your application when they call to ask for them, it will also give you a head start in not letting your current employer know what you’re planning.

OK, my CV is done…what next?

Revamp your face book page-or make it private. It’s a little known fact that employers will vet potential employees by taking a look into their personal lives. Yes, that means they’ll look at your face book page to get an insight to what you’re really like. Can you imagine working really hard trying to show your employer that you’re the bees knees only for them to see you status that says “God I was trashed last night…missed work this morning because I was so hung over”-yikes!

Then what?

Revamp your wardrobe. A smart exterior will give out great vibes because if you look good-you feel good! This is part of the confidence section that we’ll go through in a minute but you need to make sure that when you go to your interview-you look and feel good. It might mean spending a little more than you’d like on a new outfit but it has been proven to work in the past.

Not only will it make you feel good, it will also reassure you that your employer can have faith in what you will look like when you’re representing his company. This goes a long way in instilling confidence in your abilities.

Now on to confidence…

There is little point in taking the above precautions if you don’t have confidence. It’s like putting beautiful icing on a cake made of rocks. Sure it looks nice-but is it really all that great underneath? Nope.

So how do you increase your confidence? There are tons of ways you can do this. There are even companies that offer confidence and life skills classes-if you think you need those. Look them up in the yellow pages, some offer courses for free with government funding and others charge a fee.

If you’re not really into the idea of going to classes then practice with a friend-or several friends! Have them be the interviewer and you can be the interviewee. Have them ask you hard questions and keep doing it until you feel confident enough to answer any question you have thrown at you.

Perfect your interview technique

This really isn’t as difficult as you may think. All you have to do is take a deep breath, relax and remember that you rock at this! There’s no need to panic. It’s an interview-that’s all! Don’t be afraid to admit that you need a moment to think about the question you’ve been asked. Rather that than sit there saying “erm…”
That just looks like you don’t know what you’re doing. Better to say “Just a moment, I hadn’t anticipated you asking me that,” then at least he knows you’re thinking about what he’s asked you.

Site with your knees together and your hands in your lap. This looks relaxed yet respectful. Then you know you’re not offending anyone or giving off bad body language. Talk clearly and confidently, remember to smile and sit up straight.

Good posture oozes confidence which is ultimately what you’re looking for. The more confident you appear the better you’ll feel in the long run.