Job hunting is a project that requires we quickly learn a whole new batch of skills, become familiar with arcane procedures and suffer through unfathomable outcomes. All to uncover a job that fits our skills and experience.
Those deep into their careers and with more responsibilities may have a difficult time in finding the right job. There are fewer open positions, and decisions must be made on income levels and the possibility of relocating.
For job hunters who have been employed 20 or more years may have changed jobs or careers a number of times. In better times when employers were expanding and hiring it was relatively easy to find the right job.
In the current job hunting environment, regardless of experience and income levels, it seems the same mistakes are being repeated and the same assumptions are being played out. The results are unemployment lasts way to long and when the job offer materializes it may be below the job hunters expectations.
There are three critical factors central in generating the right job offer. It's unusual that job hunters are skilled or successful in making effective use of all of them.
Here are the three most common job hunting blunders.
1. Failure to use a focused well written cover letter to introduce the resume. To often the job hunter uses a one size fits all cover letter. Using a generic cover letter is a major mistake. Your cover letter should start with an attention grabbing headline. Focus on the needs of the job. You accomplishments should mirror the job requirements. Don't copy from your resume, keep the cover letter concise and think of the needs of the employer.
2. Using resume templates can be a major blunder. Many have text boxes with too much white space, the margins are too wide and they expect you to cram way too much material in an unreadable small font size. They encourage large blocks of text that are difficult to read. The bullets break out job descriptions. Accomplishments are difficult to highlight.
Design your resume to be concise, readable and accomplishments are prioritized to match the needs of the prospective employer. Do your research on resume writing and formatting.
3. Interviewing skills are lacking. Interview preparation is only started when a job interview is scheduled. Normally, this is way too late. The job interview is a sales call. Failure to prepare and participate in a conversation with the hiring manager leads to bad decisions. First, the job offer is normally not forthcoming and if lighting strikes and a job offer is presented the candidate has little information to determine if the job is right.
Begin preparing for the job interview when you start you job search. Research what general questions you might ask in the interview. Adjust your questions based on specific employer's information you learn about a pending interview.
Do a series of mock job interviews. Tape your performance. Critically view your performance. Practice until you're smooth, engaged, smile, come across as positive, and are an active listener.
In a competitive job market you can't afford to make these basic job hunting blunders. By adapting project management skills to the job search, eliminating these basic mistakes, building job hunting skills and remaining flexible you'll get your planned job hunting results.
Article Source: EzineArticles.com/6321309