So
much of what is available in the job market, is to be found in what is referred
to as the hidden job market, rather than advertised vacancies. Indeed, looking for a job
is often about who you know rather than what you know. However, what are
you to do if you have been unemployed for some time and are out of touch with
many contacts that you used to have. It can be difficult to go out and about to
renew contacts and make new ones if you have no money for going out, other than
saving the bus fare to go to the job centre to meet with your adviser and sign
on because if you don’t then you get no money anyway. Plus it is so easy for
every minute to be taken up with looking for and applying for jobs, which in itself becomes a job!!
The
Job Centre expects that if you are unemployed you treat looking for a job
as a full time job in itself, and this includes making contacts, not limited to
looking online for jobs.
Some
job hunting advice says that a full business day should be put into looking for a job
….that can well be 8 hours each day , certainly the more time given to it, the
more chance there is of being successful sooner . If you are registered at the
jobcentre, you will have a record of your job searching activities that you
have to keep, but even if not, it is still helpful to track your job searching
activity by keeping a record…These are some methods that I know of:
I
personally like the Microsoft one as it is so easily compatible with other
documents and online systems.
When setting off on your job hunt, the first thing
to do is to identify your experience and skill set , even if you just
desperately need to get any job to pay the bills, you still need to know what
you can do and what you have absolutely no experience or ability for . Then
make your CV or resume, your basic one needs to be generic and then from this
you adapt it for each vacancy that you apply for. However, this generic one
will be the standard one that you use to put on job boards, and it may well be
searched by employers, as well as you uploading it to advertised vacancies.
Prospective
employers know within the first moments of seeing a CV if they are interested
in reading the rest of it or not, and many now use scanning software to look
for the key words that they want to see
to assess applicants suitability , here are some sources of useful key
words :
There
is some debate about the ideal length of a CV /resume , but one page can do you
a disservice and not look good , anything over two pages and you run the risk
of most of it not even being read , two pages is ideal . There is no need to be
anxious about writing your CV/resume as there are so many resources such as
examples and templates online to help you.
Let
friends and family know that you are job hunting and follow the best social
media pages and groups for job hunters, this is especially useful if indeed you
are out of touch with people. If you are reading this, then you can make new
contacts online:
And...My
own page ….https://www.facebook.com/LookingForAJobWhenYouAreOver50?ref=hl
Take
the time that you are unemployed to make yourself more employable …it is true
that there have been huge cuts in the budgets for adult education and
retraining but many excellent and recognised providers have free online courses
Also,
remember to take a break ….Yes, you need to look for a job, but it will do you
no favours to look too desperate and become a job hunting bore, after all quite
likely many people that you speak to and know or meet are also in the same
position. Have things to talk about ,
take advantage of free entertainment, read books, watch the television , use the internet for things like music and fun
social networking , have things to talk about and stay in the loop …you will
seem much more interesting and ultimately
employable
Valerie Hedges
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