It’s not always easy to get a job, or more to the point, to find the job that you want! The economy may be down, the competition can be fierce, and obstacles may stand in your way. However, with a little work, you can make yourself stand out. Here are some strategies to help you get a job.
People care how you look. Dress professionally. It’s best to dress like the existing workforce, or a step above. Also, don’t forget to groom your face and hair in similar ways as well. It may not always be nice, but unruly hair, a nose piercing, or a bright blue beard can definitely lose you the job!
Bright Blue Beard
Go outside. If all you do is make phone calls, send emails, and fax out your résumé, you aren’t doing yourself any favors. People are really good at ignoring the telephone and fax machine. They know you’re serious when you show up in person, and ask them for work.
Some of the easiest places to find work, are the places where people are -paid- to help you become employed. You haven’t job hunted effectively until you have personally visited all these places in your city, and asked the people working there to help you get a job.
These places have people who are paid to get you working:
Workforce Development Centers.
These organizations are usually run by a state or city, and they are probably the first place you should visit. They often have large databases of up-to-date job listings, resources to help you develop your résumé, vocational rehabilitation programs, and job counselors. In general, they have lots of resources to help you on your way.
Employment Agencies and Temporary Work Agencies.
Don’t let the name fool you, a huge percentage of “temporary” jobs are actually “temp to hire” positions. That means that if you do good work, you’ll typically be offered a permanent position. If you work a temporary position that really remains temporary, you’ve still earned good money for a few months, and now you can get another assignment from the same agency much easier, since you’ve shown them that you are reliable. Visit the employment agencies in person, and ask them what jobs they have available.
These are also great places to find jobs:
Talk to your friends, and talk to your friends friends.
People you know can often have the inside track on new job openings. They may know about existing or upcoming positions long before the jobs get advertised, or even before they are posted to a company’s job board. Ask these people if they know where there is work available, or if they know good places to look. You may be surprised at at the power of your own personal network.
Look up the largest employers in your city.
With a little research on the internet, or at your local Workforce Development Center, or your Chamber of Commerce, you can obtain a list of the largest employers in your city. Employers of a large size are constantly losing and hiring employees. Visit these companies in person, and ask them where they list their job openings. You can also ask about their hiring process. Where do they want you to submit your application?
Visit the job office at your local college.
Go to the largest college in your area, and visit their job office, or job board. These colleges often maintain an extensive listing of local positions to help their students find work. The list will usually include jobs on the campus, and postings from employers in the surrounding city.
Use the traditional channels, too!
Grab the Sunday newspaper for its employment section. Pick up any local job magazines. Visit the top employment sites on the internet, including CraigsList, Monster, CareerBuilder, SimplyHired, Dice, Yahoo HotJobs, and the classified section of the website for your local newspaper.
High Demand Jobs
People that train for jobs that are in high demand, will rarely have difficulty getting work. To get a good idea of which fields are in demand, look at any publication with a large number of job listings… such as your local Sunday newspaper, or an online job site. Count the jobs that are posted under the different categories. You’ll start to notice that some jobs have a lot more listings than others.
You’ll also notice that some listings are offering perks, flexible hours, and high pay, while other listings have many difficult sounding requirements. Employers tend to offer perks when they can’t find enough workers, and increase the entry requirements when they’re finding too many workers.
You should also know that high demand jobs tend to stay that way for years or decades. As an example, registered nurses have been in high demand almost continuously from the 1970s to the present.
Jobs with high pay and high demand include: nursing, other health care fields, accountants, and people with degrees in management or business. This is not a complete list, so be sure to do your homework.
How to avoid Job Scams:
Never pay money to someone you have not met, to get you work. Some people will use excuses to prey on the jobless population. They may ask for a “specialized training fee”, or try to charge you for a “list of job openings”, or charge you for a “starter kit”, or a “job placement fee”. Valid employers have money, and they will pay for these things for you. If you you have to pay money to get work, then it’s not a traditional job!
Things to Remember:
The best opportunities may not be advertised very widely. Dress nice. Include all the people who are paid to find you employment. Visit companies in person. And most importantly, ask for the work! “What jobs do you have available?”.
