Landing the perfect job

It’s the crippling feeling of inferiority that makes the job search so dismal. However, the answers are all in your head. All the negative, depressing, defeating thoughts that you entertain as you send out resumes and trudge through interviews ... you can fix them!

So, what can you do?

Make your presence felt — virtually and physically.

To the employer, you are nobody. Anonymity is safe. But anonymous, absent job-hunting is a formula for safe unemployment. If you stay holed up at home in your pyjamas in front of your computer, you will never stand out before an employer.

Employers, by the way, are people. To be somebody, you need to connect with somebody — not a website. Spend at least a couple of hours every day connecting with real people. Wasting away the hours on Facebook or Twitter isn’t a waste if you are socialising with purpose. Use LinkedIn. Let people know you’re looking for work and listen to people who are looking to hire. Make lunch appointments, make office visits and discuss your industry with people you like. This will greatly increase the chances of working with people you like.

Think beyond the refrain ‘I need to get a job’.

Most job candidates have one objective in mind (usually stated nebulously and needlessly atop their resumes): to get a job. But if you focus solely on getting a job, you’re probably ignoring how you could succeed at that job. Shift your attention away from you. Think about the needs of the company and how you could help meet them if you had the job. If you can imagine yourself doing the job instead of just landing it, an employer will find it much easier to imagine hiring you.

Contrary to what you think, you’re good enough for the job.

If you think you’re not good enough — do you know what happens when someone arrives at a job already perfect at everything? They get promoted to a tougher one.

If you have the basic skills necessary to learn the job, you are a viable candidate. Most employers will expect new hires to go through some sort of training and develop along the way. They will see your potential if you see it.

Don’t let the job description intimidate you.

Most job descriptions are professional gibberish that fails to portray what you will actually be doing. Cut through the fancy HR talk and figure out what the job is really all about. Call someone at the company (or find someone with an online presence) and ask him or her to tell you about the position. No real person talks like a job listing. Talking to a person will give you a clearer picture of what’s essential to the job. The main reason most job descriptions are inaccurate is because most positions evolve according to the strengths of the people who fill them and the ever-changing shifts of the company.

Practise how you want to describe yourself.

Nobody likes talking about themselves. The people who do are usually not very likable. But the only thing worse than listening to someone boast about how great they are is listening to some self-conscious twit stammer through a wandering stream of consciousness with no direction, meaning or enthusiasm.

You may know your weaknesses better than anyone, but don’t force a room of interviewers to live inside your head. It is okay — no, it’s mandatory for you to put up a polished veneer of confidence and pride in your accomplishments and qualifications.

Try these tips out for yourself. The key is to use any apprehensive thoughts to your advantage and stand out in a crowd.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2013.

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