Better Careers – Employment Advice & Job Hunting Guidance

Successful careers – employment that’s more passion than work, where the pay is obscenely high and the future is ever so bright – have as much to do with chance as with hard work and planning. This means that it is often good jobs that find the candidate, rather than vice versa. But that shouldn’t stop anyone from preparation, so as to be ready when opportunity knocks.

This calls for a lot of introspection, in order to figure out a perfect career choice. Why this is important is because the one thing that all successful people have in common is a love for the work they do. Unless work is a passion and an enjoyable activity, it’s hard to call it a satisfying career.

But passion alone is insufficient and won’t be of any big help to new-comers in finding or doing the job. There’s always a steep learning curve which starts with an education and a lot of hard work. Needless to say, it needs an early start in the right direction and a lot of parental support. It is still possible to change careers later on in life, by gaining new skills or certification through distance learning or part-time courses.

After the career choice, education and certification, the next step is to get ready for the great job hunt. An internship is the best way for those who have the time to go through the process. It adds hands-on experience and looks better on the resume.

This leads to the next stage – preparing a sizzling CV that effectively conveys a summary of qualifications, experience and career goals. A CV that’s a cut above the rest opens doors that are normally reserved for those with more experience and qualifications. While a self-written CV will suffice, it may be a big help if a professional can improve the flow and make it look better.

After this is the critical period of searching for a job. There is no right or wrong way to do this, but what most people do is simply post resumes wherever possible and take the first job that is offered. This may be the easiest way, but it more often than not lands people in a big hole, career-wise. Another way is to do some research and create a list of companies that the candidate wants to work for, where there’s a good chance to build a promising career.

Send individual applications to each company on the list. It can be via snail mail or email, depending on what the company in question prefers. Follow up on each application with a phone call after a suitable period, if there’s no response. This may seem like overkill, but it is, in fact, extremely effective.

The follow up call has the benefit of either striking the company off the list, or virtually guaranteeing an interview. In either case, it offers closure and is a whole lot better than leaving it hanging in the air which kills motivation to keep trying. It’s also possible to get hold of a suitable job by using an HR firm and making it clear to them what kind of a job and career the candidate has in mind. There’s a lot more to talk about, especially with regards to the things that need to be done after getting hold of a job. But that’s another story.

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