How to Get a Job

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Whether you're looking for your very first job, switching careers, or re-entering the job market after an extended absence, finding a job whittles down to two main tasks: understanding yourself and understanding the job market.

Steps

1. Make looking for work a full time job. Devote 40 hours a week to this endeavor. Sometimes it takes luck to find a job, but you have to put yourself into the position to be lucky by putting in the legwork. Remember that "Chance favors the prepared mind" (Louis Pasteur).
   
2. Analyze yourself. Write two lists. First, a list of all your talents. Secondly, write a list of every task you remember doing. Don't just include jobs, include unpaid internships, volunteer work, civic involvement, extracurricular activities etc. Using the task list, decide what skills you enjoyed using the most. Review any personal factors that may be holding yourself back from your dream job. For instance, some people are night-owls so classic 9-5 jobs may not fit their biological clocks. It is important to add these factors into what kind of job is good for you. Some circumstances will greatly affect how you search for a job:
   
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3. Review the opportunities. Investigate various career paths, both in books and in real life. Look at what everyone is doing and ask yourself if you think that's something that you would enjoy doing and that you could be really good at. Think about what you really want from a career and how hard you're willing to work to get those benefits. For example, are you willing to move if you find your dream job in another state?
   
4. Decide on a career field. Construct a list of potential jobs within that field that best match your experience, skills, and interests.
   
5. Write a resume. Even if the kind of job you're looking for has an application process where a resume isn't necessary, the process of writing a resume can help sort your thoughts and prepare you for an interview. Having a written record of your work history makes filling out an application much easier, too.
   
6. Get your wardrobe in order (power suit, shined shoes, etc.). Get a manicure, a haircut, a tan. Start going to the gym and lose a few pounds and start to feel stronger. Cover your tattoo. Do whatever it takes to look or dress like the people already working at the place you are considering as a place to work. Be prepared for the interview - no white socks with dark suits (unless you are in the fashion industry)!
   
7. Develop your personal elevator pitch. This is a good time to rehearse how you will answer the question of all questions - "Why should I hire you?"
   
8. Research companies, agencies, organizations or non-profits that could or will meet your needs and create a list. You can check the yellow pages, online jobs searches, government sponsored employment lines, and or ask around within your inner family and social circle. You can also make yourself available to recruiters or headhunters. Tell everyone you know you are looking for work, and explain what kind of work you're interested in. Call everyone you know and ask how they/their family/their dogs are doing. Slip in the fact that you are job searching and get their ideas (and any leads). Job opportunities often do not come from the usual routes like classified ads, employment agencies and unemployment offices.
   
9. Apply for jobs that match your needs.
   
10. Cold call. Locate a specific person who can help you (usually the human resources or hiring manager at a company or organization you're interested in). Call that person and ask if they are hiring, but do not become discouraged if they are not. Ask what kind of qualifications they look for or if they have apprentice or government sponsored work programs. Ask if you can send your resume indicating what field you want to go into. Indicate whether you would accept a lesser job and work up.
    
    • Reflect after each phone call on what went well and what did not. You may need to write out some standard answers on your list of skills so you can speak fluently. You may need to get some additional training to break into your chosen field. None of this means you cannot get a good job it only means you need to become further prepared to do so.
      
    • Another option is to apply for an unlisted job by writing a letter, although phone calls tend to get a quicker and more reliable response.
      
    
    
11. Show up at interviews with a good attitude, eagerness to work, and an eagerness to learn. You can demonstrate how interesting and individualistic you are later on when they get to know you. Thank the interviewer for their time. After each interview, try to figure out what mistakes you might be making during interviews and avoid making them. Little mistakes can cost you.
    

Tips

• Realize that you may have to work your way up. For example, if you want to become an apparel buyer, work for a company that manufactures or sells such goods.
  
• Remember you are doing some HR workers a favour when you present yourself and they do not have to go out and find workers like you. If you get a snotty person, be happy you don't have to choose to work for them.
  
• It's also possible that your true calling is to be self-employed or an entrepreneur, in which case your task is not so much to find and get a job, but to create a job. Most people who work for themselves, however, often started off with a "day job" that paid the bills until their preferred income source could take over.
  
• 80% of all available jobs are not advertised
  
• Pay is not everything, it is good to have a high paying job but even better to enjoy because if you enjoy it you are more likely to stick with it for a long period of time and when you go to switch careers it will demonstrate that you have commitment and employers like to see that.
  

Warnings

• If you're doing a thorough job search, you will get rejected. If you're not getting rejected, you're not putting yourself out there enough. And if you don't learn to see rejection as a chance to improve your approach, then you'll have a very difficult time getting a job.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Analyze Your Skills and Job Options
  
• How to Find a Job for Stay at Home Moms
  
• How to Apply for an Unlisted Job
  
• How to Write a Resume
  
• How to Switch Careers
  
• How to Get a Job for Which You Are Not Really Qualified
  

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