How to Find a Job
Looking for a job is a job in itself, requiring an investment of time and effort.
Successfully finding the right job requires planning appropriately for the task, and demands interpersonal skills, social connections, motivation and professional proficiency.
All of these can be learned and acquired.
Three top tips before setting out:
- Take the initiative – nothing comes to those who just sit and wait… act and be persistent!!
- Be creative
- Show enthusiasm
How do you start?
- Define personal objectives and goals – prepare an organized plan for finding a job, set targets and a timetable and follow up your progress.
- Prepare a résumé and accompanying letter.
- Look for sources of information – family and friends can often help you find work.
Talk to people in the field and find out about their personal experiences, their recommendations and their professional opinions. - Study the job market and the array of employers – in preparation for looking for work and for job interviews.
Check and map out the market, and after you have found an area that interests you or looks as if you would fit in, choose and approach potential employers. - Prepare for the job interview – practice interviews for different kinds of work.
- Make sure you keep an orderly list of the employers you have contacted, when you contacted them, who the contact person is, and so on. Show a consistent and caring interest
Check and improve yourself at every stage of the process with a potential employer you have contacted (especially if you have applied to a number of employers) and apply the lessons you have learned from one meeting to the next. Even an interview that does not "bear fruit" in terms of a job offer can play a significant role in the continued search, if you learn and apply the appropriate lessons.
An employer looking for an employee has to decide whom to choose. This is partly based on objective data, such as professional education, general education and work experience, and partly on a personal impression of the candidate, from the introductory conversation, personal interview, letter of application and résumé, and even the initial telephone call.
Specific knowledge and skills are required for performing the work involved in a particular job, and not infrequently employers prefer to examine your past activities - employers relate to your previous work experience as an indication of your skill and knowledge. Make sure you present this experience in a convincing manner that will advance your cause.
Success in finding suitable employment is influenced by a successful mix of methods used in looking for work, such as:
- Identifying possible places of work
- The employer's various selection processes
- Behavior during the job interview
The process of obtaining work usually involves a number of stages:
- Submitting an application - letter of application, résumé, transcripts, certificates, letters of recommendation, etc.
- Job interview by a member of the organization or firm - the interview usually looks at professional knowledge, appearance, the applicant's objectives and goals, professional aspirations, general impression, salary conditions and so on.
- Acceptance tests - tests of knowledge, ability, and skills, personality and situation tests, and personal interview by an occupational psychologist. Some workplaces examine the applicant's suitability with the help of selection institutes and/or graphology assessment.
The degree of investment depends on the level of the position; the more senior the position, the greater the investment in the selection process. - Negotiating terms of employment.
Important advice for jobseekers:
The most common and best way of finding suitable work is to apply directly to a potential employer. You need to reach "the right person in the right place" - the right person being the one who has direct influence on the position or the employment opportunity that you are interested in.
It is important and worthwhile to draw your immediate interest in employment to the attention of the “in crowd” in your professional field, and let it be known that you are looking for a suitable job. Spreading the word has great marketing value. In Israel, where the assumption is that everyone knows everyone, a large number of potential employers belong or are connected to the same social circles. Develop a network of connections with employees and employers.
Analyze and define your personal career goals, including self-assessment (your relative value, interest, skills, talents, achievements in the past, previous experience, and the letters of recommendation that you have), and investigate the employment opportunities in your area of interest.
There may not necessarily be one job that incorporates everything. Try and define the position and the professional field that will match most of your needs and preferences.
What suits you at one workplace might not suit you in another workplace.
Also, the track that suits one person may well not suit another.
Looking for work can take several months, which may be characterized by highs and lows along the way.
If the search is lengthy and does not produce immediate results, don't indulge in blaming yourself, but look for another strategy to promote yourself.
While you are looking for work, it is also recommended that you undertake other constructive steps, such as taking part in professional courses or conferences, and relevant professional training to promote your career.
In a situation of protracted unemployment, it is particularly important to plan for the period of job seeking in general, and the daily routine in particular.
If you are in the financial position to do so, it is worth not compromising too early in order to gain an immediate and soothing solution. If you have to support yourself, be honest with yourself with regard to the price of any decision that you make.
The longer you can hold out, the greater your chances of not being trapped or choosing a position that does not match your expectations, while simultaneously having more time to examine alternative offers in depth.
Answering job offers, tenders, registering with employment agencies, initiating direct contact with employers or organizations, and making contact with people who are at employment junctions - all these are potential ways of finding work.
It is important to be equipped with persuasive letters of recommendation that can sway the balance in your favor.
"A job for life" is not a realistic expectation today. Most people need to plan for a number of changes in occupation in the course of their working life, and even greater changes in the number of jobs.
In conclusion:
Many processes of choice involve a number of stages. The employer weeds out applicants at each stage of the process.
Try to be at your best at each of the stages along the way. When you are looking for work, you have to persuade a potential employer that you are the right person for them.
Even if you plan to be self-employed, you will have to persuade potential clients or financiers, so take a look at your ability to market yourself right from the start in every respect as if you were a "product".
Law students!
The market is tough and very crowded, competition is even more tough, and therefore it is essential that your search for an internship and continued employment is as effective and constructive as possible.
In recent years, large numbers of law school graduates have been joining the job market each year, all competing for the same internships.
In the current market, it is hard to find a place to work after completing an internship.
Moreover, even after completing the internship there is a gap between the number of potential workplaces for lawyers and the number of lawyers competing for vacant positions. So it is important to plan your career path wisely, years ahead, even while you are still studying.
Think ahead about your vision! Where do you see yourself in a few years time? A private attorney? An attorney in a public office? Working in management or in another position in which you can make use of your legal education? Plan the stages of your job search and your career path according to the answers that you give yourself.
The social code among the "lawyers guild" is "one friend brings another ".
Therefore the placement agencies that are relevant to other professions are hardly applicable in this field.
Do all you can to expand and enrich your network of acquaintances and referees in the field, as sources of help in your future career.