HOW TO GET A JOB

                                                  HOW TO GET A JOB

Whether you're looking for your very first job, switching careers, or re-entering the job market after an extended absence, finding a job requires two main tasks: understanding yourself and understanding the job market. Presuming you've already chosen a career and are currently searching for jobs, here are several ways to actually get a job.

STEPS:

Part One: Build Your Qualifications

Revise your Resume. Before you start job hunting, make sure that your resume is as complete and up-to-date as possible. Be honest, never lie on your resume. Use active verbs. Review your resume several times for grammatical or spelling errors and keep the formatting clean.

Develop your personal elevator pitch . Many structured interviews, particularly those at large companies, start with a question like "Tell me about yourself." The interviewer doesn't really want you to go back to grade school and talk about your childhood. This is a specific question with a right answer: in two minutes or so, the interviewer wants to get you to relax and loosen out your vocal cords, understand your background, your accomplishments, why you want to work at XYZ company and what your future goals are.

• Keep it short — between 30 seconds and two minutes — and have the basics of it memorized so that you don't stammer when you're asked to describe yourself. You don't want to sound like robot, either, so get the skeleton of it down, and learn to improvise the rest depending on who you're talking to. Practice your elevator pitch out loud on someone who can give you feedback.
• An elevator pitch is also useful for when you're simply networking, at a cocktail party or with a group of strangers who want to get to know you a little bit more. In a networking situation, as opposed to a job interview, keep the elevator pitch to 30 seconds or less.

Make a list of work-related skills you'd like to learn. Your employer will be interested in hearing about how you intend to become a better employee. Think about which skills will make you more competent in the position you're applying for. Find some books and upcoming conferences that would significantly improve your abilities. In an interview, tell the employer what you're reading and learning, and that you'd like to continue doing so. Here is a list of some of the most important job skills, wanted by employers, that a job-seeker must have to be sure of landing a good job and just as importantly, keeping it.

Prepare for a behavioral interview. You might be asked to describe problems you've encountered in the past and how you handled them, or you'll be given a hypothetical situation and asked what you would do. They'll basically want to know how you'll perform when faced with obstacles in the position you're interviewing for. Be able to give honest, detailed examples from your past, even if the question is hypothetical (e.g. "I would contact the customer directly, based on my past experience in a different situation in which the customer was very pleased to receive a phone call from the supervisor"). You might find yourself listing facts--if so, remember that in this kind of interview, you need to tell a story. Some questions you might be asked are:

• "Describe a time you had to work with someone you didn't like."
• "Tell me about a time when you had to stick by a decision you had made, even though it made you very unpopular."
• "Give us an example of something particularly innovative that you have done that made a difference in the workplace."
• "How would you handle an employee who's consistently late?"

Research the company. Don't just do an Internet search, memorize their mission, and be done with it. Remember that you're competing with lots of other candidates for a single position. You may not be able to change your natural intelligence, or the skills that you come to the job with, but you can always change your work ethic. Work harder than everyone else by researching the company or companies you wish to work for like your life depended on it.


Change your attitude. There's a difference between making phone calls and going to interviews thinking "I'm looking for a job" versus "I'm here to do the work you need to have done". When you're looking to get a job, you're expecting someone to give something to you, so you focus on impressing them. Yes, it's important to make a good impression, but it's even more important to demonstrate your desire and ability to help. Everything that you write and say should be preceded silently by the statement "This is how I can help your business succeed."





Fit the job to the skills rather than the other way around. Many people search for jobs, then try to see how they can tweak the way they present their own skills and experiences to fit the job description. Instead, try something different. Instead of this top-down approach, start from the bottom up.

• Make a list of all of your skills, determine which kinds of businesses and industries need them most (ask around for advice if you need to) and find businesses that will benefit from having you and your skills around. You might find that you get more satisfaction and enjoyment out of a career that wasn't even on your radar to begin with.
• It's important the nature of the job fits your personality and salary requirements, otherwise you'll have spent a significant amount of time to find a day job you dread getting up for every morning. So be realistic about what you expect, but be open to what you explore.

The most common barrier to success encountered by college students is a lack of effective techniques for study and exam preparation. Here are some suggestions to increase your effectiveness as a student.

1. Always take the notes for a particular class in the same notebook. Spiral bound notebooks were invented because they solved the problem of keeping related information consolidated in one place. Take advantage of this. 

2.  It is best to review the material right after class when it's still fresh in your memory.

3.  Don't try to do all your studying the night before the test. Instead space out your studying, review class materials at least several times a week, focusing on one topic at a time. 

4. Find a comfortable and quiet place to study with good lighting and little distractions. Try avoiding your own bed; it is very tempting to just lie down and take a nap. 

5. Start out by studying the most important information. 

6. Learn the general concepts first, don't worry about learning the details until you have learned the main ideas. 

7. Take notes and write down a summary of the important ideas as you read through your study material. 

8.Take short breaks frequently. Your memory retains the information that you study at the beginning and the end better than what you study in the middle. 

9. Space out your studying, you'll learn more by studying a little every day instead of waiting to cram at the last minute. By studying every day, the material will stay in your long-term memory but if you try to study at the last moment, the material will only reside in your short-term memory that you'll easily forget. 

10. Make sure that you understand the material well, don't just read through the material and try to memorize everything. 

11. If you choose to study in a group, only study with others who are serious about the test. 

12. Test yourself or have someone test you on the material to find out what your weak and strong areas are. You can use the review questions at the end of each chapter, practice tests that the teacher may give out or other pertinent materials. 

13. Listening to relaxing music such as classical or jazz on a low volume can relieve some of the boredom of studying. 

14. Don't study later than the time you usually go to sleep, you may fall asleep or be tempted to go to sleep, instead try studying in the afternoon or early evening. If you are a morning person try studying in the morning. 

15. Ask your teachers for guidance especially if you're having trouble, whether it's grasping a new concept or understanding something you learn.