Top 3 Things To Avoid In Your Job Search

Top 3 Things To Avoid In Your Job Search With unemployment levels rising all the time and the uncertainty surrounding the industry, navigating the job market is becoming extremely difficult for students and graduates who are new to the career market. Thats why we have compiled the 3 tips below to help new job seekers in their journey towards that elusive dream job. 1. Losing track of your progress One of the biggest dangers that new job seekers face when entering the job market is losing track. Trying to apply for as many jobs as possible is always good, but only if you keep a record and remember where youve applied, how long ago, etc. In the occasion that you get a phone call or an email with an interview invitation, you need to know which job this refers to. If you fail to do that, youll appear unprofessional and disorganised. Whether you apply through online job sites, recruitment agencies or your university Careers Service, keep a handy record that you can always easily refer to if you get an unexpected phone call or an email. What would also help is if you keep all the different CVs and Cover Letters for different jobs marked and saved somewhere so you can go through them before a job interview for the relevant job. 2. Taking rejection personally Dealing with rejections is difficult at the best of times but receiving rejection after rejection daily for months on end is an experience at a whole new level. No matter how many jobs youve been rejected for, try to learn one lesson from each and every one you get. Turn the negative into a positive. Always ask for feedback and work on it. Improve with every new application and it wont be long before you start seeing the results of your effort. One of the biggest mistakes that I made after receiving a job rejection was to concentrate on the small details on my interview performance or from the feedback I received. Whereas this was useful in the sense that I learnt from the experience and resolved never to make the same mistake again (and I must say the mistakes I attributed to myself reduced significantly over time), my self-confidence diminished a little bit every time I felt it was my fault for not getting the job. The truth is that, most of the time, the feedback you receive will be completely legitimate and straightforward. You wouldnt know the exact reasons behind the employers decision, and sometimes this might have nothing to do with how you performed at the interview. The best advice I can give you is to avoid trying to read between the lines concentrate on every point you receive as feedback, and every lesson you have learnt from this experience instead. Once you master this skill, youll find that your rejections are not having as negative an impact on you as they used to, and theyll start reducing immediately. Do not let your imagination lower your self-confidence. 3. Showing your frustration on social media You should all by now be aware that employers check your social media profiles before an interview. That might not always be the case but you need to be careful what you post. Especially if you decide to post anything related to your current job, your old job, a previous employer, a job youre currently applying for, or an interview youve had. It might be tempting to show your frustration with the job search to your friends online, but it wont always be your friends whod be interested in your posts. You can protect your privacy to an extent on social media, but theres no insurance against an employer seeing your posts, even though you never intended this to happen. Speak to your friends, share your feelings, create an anonymous account if you have to, but never post anything negative on social media under your name. There have already been cases when employees have lost jobs over social media, so take notice now and dont allow your ramblings on social media to damage your reputation, your job prospects, or even your job once you have it. We have numerous posts about managing your online reputation, so have a look and clean up your profiles today. Follow the above tips, avoid these 3 things and your job search will get easier right away. I wont lie, its a tough job market and youre going to face challenges along the way. However, dont forget that in the end it will all be worth it! 11