Networking For a Job

Most people will have not been out of work for a very long time. Most people will change jobs at least 3-4 times in their lifetime. So what we have to look at now is what skill sets you have. remembering all the work that you have ever don.

So lets start an exercise to get your mind in the right zone. What I want you to do is think back to the fistr job you ever had. For some of you it may be the job you left or were made redundant from.

Now write down the following for that job. In the form of a self accessment. Using the following headings.

What was i good at?
What did I learn or get taught?
What did i get better at?
Who did I help?

With Just those 5 headings you can pratically give yourself a job description, but with a twist as you have managed to write these things diown and will be able to elaborate on them even further. So the next exercise will be to do just that and break them down even further.

This will become more clear after you have completed these exercises. DSo don't read on until you have done this first.

Ok, from the previous module you will now have a sheet of paper full of information and we now need to narrow those things down. Do this but don't dilute what we have recalled from memory and experiences.

Now then the next thing we need to do is to separte the different elements into groups. This is done through a SWAT analysis. If you have heard of this and never done it this will be another learned skill. So we divide everything we have into the following.

Our:-

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

These may seem a bit strange to you but stay with me on this as it will help you with the next task. Take each thing from the fisrt exercise and take it through this systematically and keep the results together on each subject you examine.

This will take you a while if you really dig deep on this and above all be honest with yourself,it will help you. The purpose of this is to show you just how much you didn't know about how much you do know. that sounds abit like a speach I heard a few years ago.

Now that we are now armed with that information we can move forwards with it all. As this will now form a foundation for all of the other activites we are going to be engaged with during the next parts of this lens.

Here is where you put it all together now for your initial searches. The method to use are as follows:-

Determination of your strengths and weaknesses
Evaluation of your job and career interests
Work out where your goals are career wise
Work out which area to work in and why
Look for potential employers
Do youi homework on potential companies of interest
Get your reume/CV in order
Join networking groups locally and anyone who might be able to provide you with job information

Now that is doen we are ready to search. The main places people search are in newspapers and online. There are also networking groups that people goto to speak about getting more customers. here is where you could either become a consultative person in the group with your knowledge. You see your previous skills and knowledge may well be transferable as a conaultant.

You know I said there was a suprise coming thats just one of them. Your already knowledgeable you just need to hone the skills as they say and redirect your energy to gain the edge on others that fall by the wayside.

The trick here is go beyond the sending of a CV blind. I mean to post or give a CV to someone and not have it go to the personm it should.

More large companies are developing career and employment tabs on their websites so that potential candidates can apply online for a position. Sometimes good and sometimes not.

Make sure if your uploading a CV you have it tailored to that job specification or you may just get rejected. Researching the company will help you to do this.

Arrange interviews with potential job variants you would like to work in. Find out what skills you need what will be taught and what the promotional or career mapping is like. this can be very good for gaining knowledge for free.

Online you will find lots of career sites and job shops. Sign up to these and remember your signed up to them. Have an email adrees set up to take all the mail from the job specific to that area as discussed in the SWOT area above.

Local papers are a good source locally but if your looking further a field you will need to find out the local paper and try and get an online version or the hard copy sent to you. Study the ads and how they look and if they look very professional you will find out when you ring them otherwise. If the ad is small it may mean that this is a small company. The email should also contain the cfompany name if your aiming for a more structured position in a company. Again this is not always the case.

Test out the company by rining them and doing a mini intrerview of the person at the other end of the phone. Again this is more free research for you to gain knowledge of the job required.

Going through the phonebook is also another way of getting employment opportunities. Looking through it you will find businesses listed with an address as well in most cases you will be able to send a letter to them and find out if they have any vacancies. As well as calling them to ask about work too.

The local job/employment agencies are also a good way to get onto the job market fully again where the agency will match your skills to a new employer.

You can also sometimes go to the library and do some research and find out from your SWOT list what you really want to do for your new employment.

These are just a few places to look. You will find many more now i have you in the right mindset.

Remember when you did your first ever interview. You were nervous and didn't know how to answer questions. Well it will be exactly the same unless you get some practice.

The reason you need to practice is so that you show confidence and a good solid answer for any questions.

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The folowing will bring back some memories to do with interviews:-

Who ever interviews you reaches a decision about you in the first few minutes

They will look to see that your interpersonal skills are good

Dress for the job interview appropriately - it may not be shirt and tie

If the interviewer has full control and flow of the interview...don't just respond,try and take a bit of control back

Use the research Knowledge you had to fomulate good answers

First impressions count

The interviewer reaches a decision about you in the first five minutes

Good interpersonal skills are extremely important

Have some questions prepared so that you appear to have a broader knowledge

Be confident and pause before making an answer and do not talk over the person interviewing

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Those are just a few things to be aware of when it comes to the interview. Remember the 6 P's

Prior
Preperation &
Planning
Prevents
Poor
Performance

Practice! Practice! Practice!