3 Skills You Need To Succeed In Your Job Search

Ann (not her real name), was sent on unpaid leave in March, just when the first few cases of Covid-19 were announced in the country. Although she wasn’t very worried at first, her worries got the better of her in May, when she thought she would never get another job, and even if she did, it would never be near the level and salary of her last position.

If you have found yourself in a similar position to Ann’s about the future of your job, panic may be setting in, even for you.

Truth is, however, that tough times make tough people. In the current job market that we have never seen before, what worked in the past may not necessarily work today. As such, you need to cultivate, develop, and execute the following skills, to enable you to survive and thrive.

1. Have Grit

In the pursuit of a new job, you may face unrelenting rejection and disappointments. After spending hours, days, and weeks completing numerous applications and submitting hundreds of CVs, you may not hear from the companies. There are even times you will go for interviews and not hear back from your interviewers. 

Possessing perseverance and resilience is what will make the difference for you. 

After numerous applications without any feedback, consider doing things a little differently, such as getting a free CV review from CV writing professionals.

Having grit will push you to jump over all of the hurdles in your way, run through brick walls, and kick down doors to get to the opportunities you want and deserve. 

2. Reinvent

In the current job market, the type of job you previously held may not exist for long, many people have decided to embrace remote working and some companies may want to hire applicants for a lower salary than what you are expecting. 

As such, it may be time for you to consider other options, putting everything into consideration. 

Assess your core skills, background, and experience and check into how you can apply them to a different job or career. With that, you can expand your job search to include other roles. 

Truth is, this is the time to reinvent yourself. Find out what you need to learn to add to your skillset, or the credentials required to start anew.

Also, you may have to consider relocating to other towns that offer more job opportunities or a lower cost of living and take up remote working opportunities too.

3. Sell yourself

Just a few months ago, you could have an adequate LinkedIn profile, contact your networks, send out CVs, and from all that, likely get an interview invite or two. 

In this current situation, you may need to work twice as hard, to get noticed.

This means actively and effectively networking on social media sites, such as LinkedIn. Approaching networking with thoughtful purposes with an endgame in mind. Reaching out directly to hiring managers and the internal human resources professionals responsible for hiring. 

Cold call or email recruiters who are active in your space. Request a video meeting and sell them on yourself. Ask them to share opportunities with you. Do this with several other recruiters so you have several people championing your cause. If—and when—your calls and emails aren’t answered, don’t let it discourage you. Keep knocking on doors until one opens up for you.

It may feel awkward and uncomfortable, but you may also need to contact old acquaintances, former colleagues, and everyone that you can think of who could potentially put you in touch with the appropriate people at a company that has the right job for you.

The more people that you get in front of, the greater chance you have of someone noticing you.

In Conclusion,

In this current job market, the key to successfully finding a new job is having grit, allowing yourself to reinvent, and learning how to effectively sell yourself to recruiters, people who could offer introductions to opportunities, and prospective employers.

Consider getting your CV reviewed for free by our professionals here and the rest will follow. All the best!