8 Tips To Get Your Desired Job

You have to make a job out of getting a job, in other words: It's not just a matter of applying for one job and waiting, or even applying for lots of jobs with the same approach. Getting the job you want is a full time project. It helps if you can plan out the key steps. Here are 8 steps that should help you:

1. Research your target employer and the job role. The more you know about them, the better your chances of winning.

2. Make recruitment agents your competitive advantage. Explain you will prepare well for any interviews as this will raise their chance of earning commission by placing you into a job! Find out which companies they place a lot of people into, as this could be an easier way into your next job. Ask them (or an employer's human resources department) which process they will use to decide who gets the job. Who will be interviewing you, when and what should you prepare? What are the top 3 most important qualities that the interviewer will be looking for?

3. Find out the key requirements: Each time you apply for a job you should find out the key job requirements and make sure you put 3 aspects of your experience that match the job at the top of the first page. What can you refer to in your education, interests, social life or sporting achievements that show you have the qualities that the role requires? Are you able to provide references from people who know you and your capabilities? Do you have any specialist knowledge in areas the job requires, perhaps from holiday jobs or voluntary work?

4. Always put a covering email or letter with your CV. State clearly your interest in the job and one or two reasons why you are suitable for the job. Don't just use the same generalised content every time as it is likely to be ignored!

5. Follow up by phone no more than 3 days after mailing the application.Get through to the person handling the application and ask if it's convenient for the person to speak - people can be busy - if it's not convenient fix a time to call back. When you can speak to the person handling the applications, ask if your application arrived ok, stress your interest in the job and ask what the process will be and when interviews will be held.

6. At the right time, ask for an interview. It's just a question - ask in a friendly positive voice stating that it's really important to you as your research about the organisation makes you really interested in the job. You have a right to ask and they have a right to say yes or no, but if you don't ask you don't get! As soon as you get an interview agreed, find out who you will be interviewed by and what they will be looking for.

7. Preparation: Take time before the interview, think about all the possible questions you could get asked and the answers. Try out the question and answer session with a friend to see how it feels to answer tough questions. Think about, and note down, a few questions you can ask that demonstrate real interest in the job and the organisation.

8. Follow up and time management: Use some kind of a calendar or diary to track your activities in the search for a job. After an interview, not more than 48 hours, send a thank you email to the interviewer and as well as thanking them for their time repeating your interest in the job and re-confirming two or three reasons why you fit the job. In your diary, record who you spoke to, what they said and when to call back or when to expect the next step. With several job applications going on at the same time, it's easy to forget calling someone back or providing a reference by a certain date.

Finally, when you do start your new job make sure you have a plan for early success, try our course Work to help you. LET'S-BEGIN courses are built on a unique range of working experiences from over 30 years in job roles that required very strong inter-personal skills in sales, sales management, general management and organisational leadership. 

How to Improve the Quality of Your Networking?

In this age of metrics, it’s tempting for job hunters to seek solace in the sheer numbers of their effort: 200 job postings answered, 300 resumes mailed, 400 business cards collected for the purposes of professional networking…..   

But if you think about how these brute-force employment campaigns affect the professional on the other side of the desk -- the HR recruiter, the networking contact in a powerful position -- it quickly becomes apparent that the rack-up-the-numbers networker is on the wrong track. That’s because these days employers are looking to select a very few outstanding professionals from a tidal wave of good people who just want a job.

So in the end, the quality-oriented networker, the thoughtful individual who always tries to give better than he gets, should have the advantage. Here are 10 points to keep in mind as you emphasize quality over quantity in your professional networking.

1.    Quantity Is a Turnoff

If you hand out business cards like you’re dealing poker, most folks will fold. “People don’t want to do business with a card thruster,” says Shel Horowitz, a marketing consultant in Hadley, Massachusetts. In fact, speed networking probably does not yield the best return on your investment of time. “Quantity networkers are forgettable individuals,” says Benjamin Akande, dean of Webster University’s George Herbert Walker School of Business & Technology. “If a guy is just looking for his next consulting contract, I don’t want to know him.”

2. Don’t Work the Room

Don’t kid yourself: If you’re always on the lookout for the next professional hookup, people will take offense. “When people spend 50 percent of the time looking over my shoulder, I don’t feel warm and fuzzy,” says Sally Haver, a senior vice president at The Ayers Group, an HR consultancy in New York City.

3. Take Time to Make a Real Connection

When you and a new acquaintance seem attuned, take time to explore how you might help each other out. “A lot of people figure that coming back from a networking opportunity with just one contact makes it a failure,” Horowitz says. “But my hour with one good contact makes it a success.”

4. Make Your Case for Building a Relationship

Recognize that if you’re between jobs, you probably have more discretionary time than most of your valuable networking contacts do. “People are overrun with requests,” Haver says. “Unless there’s a compelling reason for someone to meet with you, they won’t make the time.” So work hard to make yourself useful.

5. Exchange Stories

Don’t forget that you are more than the professional objective at the top of your resume. “Networking is about telling your story, describing your human competitive advantage -- what you do that nobody else can do,” Akande says. And ask a new contact to tell you her story. “At the start of a professional relationship, I ask questions to get unique pieces of information about the person,” Haver says.

6. Respond to Others’ Challenges

There’s no better way to establish a business networking relationship than to contribute to the solution of your new contact’s pressing problem. “If someone states a challenge that they’re facing, respond -- no later than the next morning -- with something of value that addresses their issue,” says John Felkins, president of Accelerant Consulting Group , an organizational development consultancy in Bartlett, Tennessee.

7. Set Yourself Up for the Next Contact

If you intuit that a new contact will have lasting value, start building a bridge to your next exchange before you say your first good-bye. “I ask people what they’re working on right now, which gives me a segue to another contact,” says Akande. “I make notes so that the next time I can say, You mentioned in our last conversation…’”

8. Make Yourself Useful, Again and Again

“If you consistently position yourself as a resource to others -- fellow college alums, former colleagues -- it will make you more valuable to your contacts, and, in turn, their contacts, as time goes by,” says Amanda Guisbond, an account executive in the Boston office of PR agency Shift Communications.

9. Don’t Forget Social Media

Social media are powerful tools for professional networking when used judiciously. But spam is distasteful no matter what the social medium du jour. So be selective, and use virtual contacts to supplement, not supplant, face-to-face meetings. As Horowitz puts it: “Social networking is deeply reinforced by an in-person connection.”

10. Mind These Three Watchwords for Quality

Looking for a slogan to sum up quality networking? Try Haver’s: Selectivity, discretion, mindfulness.

Some exclusive Tips For Getting A Promotion

Once you have found a job that you love, it's important not to get too comfortable in your new position. Although I will be the first to admit that everyone needs some time to settle into a new job, but once you're comfortable with the job, it's time to start thinking about a promotion….

 The tricky thing about promotions is that almost everyone wants one, but very few people are willing to actively work toward getting them.


Working hard isn't enough, however, because most of the time the people who get promoted aren't always the people who work the hardest and never complain. Some people work themselves to death, hoping that a promotion will be tossed into their lap. When it doesn't happen, they become discouraged and their work ethic suffers. Most employers want to promote people who are good at what they do and who have leadership abilities. If you want to get promoted, you have to show that you are eager to learn, willing to lead and take charge of your career path.


If you have been trying to get promoted, here are 5 tips that can help:

 Do your best at every task - When your boss has a project that needs to be done quickly, he or she will most likely give it to the person who is the busiest. It might seem counterintuitive to give more work to the person who has the most on their plate, but the busy person is also the one who is most likely to give the task their best effort. Managers take note of this and soon, the busiest person will be kept busy doing the most challenging and rewarding projects. These projects give them a chance to learn new skills and deliver results to people who will notice them. Which means that they have a shot at showing their skills and leadership abilities to the very people who will make decisions about who to promote.

Always be professional - Everyone tries to be professional, but even the best of us can allow our egos to get in the way of our otherwise professional behavior. In a meeting, when working with a team or even in a dispute with a co-worker, your have to put your ego to the side. Going into a meeting and arguing with someone might make you feel better and you might even "win" the battle, but anything you gain will be short lived. That type of behavior shows that you can't handle stress, criticism and that you don't work well with others. These aren't qualities that employers want in their managers. When it comes to conflict at work, don't take it personal. Instead, use the experience as a chance to show that you can stay cool under pressure and that you respect others - all great management qualities.

Trust yourself - When faced with a difficult problem, we almost always know the right decision, but we often don't act on it. Instead, we over think it and put off making the decision until it's too late. Instead, trust your instincts and make a decision. If you really don't feel qualified to solve the problem, make a list of pros and cons and present the problem, along with possible solutions to your boss. Showing that you are able to work under pressure and make decisions is an important part of being a good leader.

Accept responsibility for your actions - If you make mistakes - and trust me, you will - take responsibility for them. Even if you don't think it was all your fault, accept the blame and move on. Don't take it personally and don't try to defend your honor. Your boss isn't interested in the excuses and they will only make you look bad. Once you accept the blame, move on and don't dwell on it. Forget the mistake, but keep the lesson. Don't fall into the trap of beating yourself up over it. Be grateful for your mistakes because without them, you wouldn't have the chance to learn from them and get better.