All people, sooner or later, face a problem such as finding a job or finding employment. For some, finding their own workplace is a completely new and incomprehensible situation, for others it is ordinary. Some people cannot find a suitable job, although they have a good education, positive qualities and extensive work experience. All this suggests that they make a lot of unnecessary mistakes when looking for a job. This article will help job seekers avoid making mistakes when looking for a job and provide advice on finding a job. After all, almost every person dreams of a decent job, financial independence, and career growth. However, not everyone manages to achieve such success and confidently climb the career ladder. So, now we will look at the main mistakes that people make in the process of searching for a job, and also give advice on how to eliminate such mistakes.
Mistakes when searching for a job
Error 1 . Doubts and fears. This problem often arises among young people who have recently completed their education and are faced with finding employment. They are afraid of refusals, do not know how to behave during interviews and try to somehow distance themselves from awkward situations. This is considered a psychological barrier.
Advice: I can only advise one thing - to overcome yourself, take the first step towards the unknown. You need to “program” yourself for success and be confident in your abilities. Imagine this situation - you leave the interview with a satisfied face and understand that you have already been hired for a good job. Replay this success in your head and it will help you in real life.
Error 2 . Undefined goal. Often the following ridiculous phrases are written in the “Goal” section of a resume: “Looking for an interesting job with the opportunity for rapid career growth,” “Looking for a job with a decent salary.” I don't understand why you should get a job at all if you have no idea what you want.
Advice: State specific goals and do not use hackneyed phrases that have no basis in reality.
Mistake 3: A poorly written resume or an ineffective resume. When looking for a job, your resume should make an impression. Now on the Internet there are a large number of different templates and even recommendations for correct composition. We even have such an article, I recommend reading it here. But even if your resume is perfectly composed, beautifully designed, but does not contain the essence, then your resume will go to the trash.
Tip: Avoid formulaic resume writing and stand out from the crowd. Create your unique resume by carefully listing your achievements and benefits. Don’t be lazy and spend at least 2 hours writing your resume.
Mistake 4. Passivity in job search. The average applicant, having sent his resume to several companies and posted it on the Internet in the hope that he will be bombarded with response letters, sits and waits. And he doesn't do anything else. Yes, if your resume is written well, they will call you and invite you for interviews, but this will only last a couple of weeks. And then there will be a lull.
Advice: Don’t just sit there, call the companies yourself and ask if the resume has arrived and when to expect a call back. Take the initiative, remind yourself more often, seek meetings.
Mistake 5. Unadapted resume. Almost all job seekers make this mistake. They mindlessly send the same resume to all vacancies, forgetting to edit them to suit the specifics of a particular vacancy. Such people try to take advantage of the mass numbers, and not the quality of the resumes sent out. For example, an applicant has various skills and work experience, such as a programmer, SEO optimizer and designer. Typically, such applicants try to create a complete resume that will fit all vacancies at the same time.
Advice: It is necessary to describe in detail your experience that is interesting to a particular employer. There is no need to touch on other aspects of your experience.
Mistake 6. Unreasonable salary and career ambitions. Employers like to ask this question: “What salary do you want to receive?” Many voice exorbitant amounts, and the reason is that they do not know how to evaluate their skills in the labor market. If high salaries are announced by highly qualified specialists with extensive experience and worthy recommendations from previous jobs, then this is normal. But when such a salary is demanded by people who are nothing in the field they are applying for, then it is clear that these are unreasonable ambitions.
Advice: Focus on the labor market and skillfully evaluate your knowledge and work experience.
Job search: psychological tricks
Sooner or later, almost everyone has to look for work. There are many search channels, and companies use them all when looking for the right employee. It must be admitted that applicants at the first stage of the search have a very large choice. How not to make a mistake? After all, you can easily lose your way and, instead of your dream job, again get the wrong position and the wrong salary that you wanted.
Olga Marchenko
HR manager and psychologist, and presenter of the training How to find a job and pass an interview about this .
Where should you start looking for a job?
You need to start with what you want yourself - by defining a goal. This is the simplest and most difficult question: “What do I expect from my future job? What do I ultimately want to get? This needs to be addressed purposefully. Often candidates come in and cannot give a clear answer to the question about what their expectations are from their future job. It is natural that in this case the employer cannot meet the candidate’s expectations. And how can you even find a job you like if you have no idea what it should be like?
What common problems do you encounter among candidates looking for a job?
Firstly, job seekers often do not have access to all job search channels. As a result, they are faced with the fact that they cannot find a job, and all the normal places are occupied.
Secondly, many people, somewhere due to low self-esteem or uncertainty, are afraid to send a resume, afraid of deviations from the resume (for example, they do not know any computer program that they need to know, and which, most likely, is not key). Unfortunately, few people can imagine themselves in the employer’s place and think like him.
Thirdly, people are not so often willing to learn. Although the employer is ready to spend the appropriate funds on their training. Somewhere they perceive it like this: “Here, I’m 30 years old, I don’t want to study anymore.” Although in fact, wait two months and the vacancy will be very good.
Do candidates often apply for a position that is not suitable for them?
Often. The opposite situation also happens: when candidates possess skills whose names they do not know. And only during the discussion it turns out that they have already encountered all these functions once.
But in this case, it’s hardly possible to create a good resume?
Naturally. Your resume is your business card. It won't be presentable if you don't know your goal or the names of the skills you have. The resume must fully describe your knowledge, skills and abilities, and must be properly structured.
A fairly common occurrence is a very bad resume from an excellent specialist. And, naturally, it’s the other way around: when candidates try to show off. As a rule, this is useless. An experienced HR manager will see all the inconsistencies, and you will be wasting your (and not only your) time.
Can looking for a job be a fun experience?
Looking for a job is a stressful situation. These are contacts with strangers who evaluate you. They are not always pleasant. To psychologically facilitate this process, you need to seriously prepare yourself for this. Not everyone is ready to hear a refusal. Some people give up and simply don’t want to continue their search. Others, on the contrary, are not ready for the fact that they may have several offers at the same time, from which they will have to choose, because choice is also stressful. Can you do it right? If you suddenly find yourself in such a situation, do not forget that in this case a rational approach is necessary. The main thing is that the additional criteria for evaluating future work that you will focus on, in addition to salary and functions, are significant for you.
An interview is no less stressful...
I constantly see how excited candidates are. As a rule, an interview is a confrontation with the unknown. Many are not ready for this. Many people feel afraid. Many simply do not know how to behave in a given situation. What, for example, should you do if the manager is silent, looks through his papers with his head down, and does not notice you, although you are already in the office and have come for an interview? Or, for example, you are invited to sit down. Which side of the boss should you sit on to make the right impression?
Of course, a lot depends on who is interviewing. Competent specialists will give you the opportunity to show yourself on the positive side.
A common practice is tricky questions that cannot be answered correctly. For example: “Where do you want to see yourself in five years?” Or: “Why should we see you as our candidate?” How to answer them correctly if you have no idea what the company wants from an employee? Does she want him to strive for career advancement or not? And there are a lot of such questions.
This is exactly what I will talk about in my training.
Interviewed by Maya Kraskovskaya, PR specialist at the Center for Successful Relationships
You can register for the training here.
Rules for a successful job search
- Assess your abilities as a specialist
- Correctly formulate your job search goals
- Compose a competent resume, cover letter and recommendations
- Create the best job search strategy based on your experience and abilities.
- Be proactive in recruiting
- Prepare thoroughly for interviews
So, you have been presented with mistakes when searching for a job and tips that will help you avoid them. Good luck in your job search!
Problems with colleagues. I can't decide on a job.
Question for a psychologist:
Hello. After graduating from university, I got a job in my specialty. The work, the conditions, the salary - I like everything. Moreover, I have become a pro in this matter, I am pleased to realize this and want to move on. But sometimes it seems to me that it is better to change jobs, but in our small city and with such a rare specialty it is almost impossible - all the places are occupied. In addition, I like that my job does not require me to constantly communicate with people. This is probably why relationships with colleagues did not work out the way I would have liked. We sit in one large office and edit texts. I am the youngest, with the shortest experience, and also recently returned from maternity leave. The birth of a child became—I’m ashamed to admit—an outlet; I temporarily forgot about the bad relationships with my colleagues. And I would like to be friends with them, because it would be easier for me to work, it would be easier to consult with them on professional issues. And sometimes I just want to talk as a human being, to participate in their reasoning. At first, I tried to integrate into the team, more or less actively participating in discussions - both personal and professional issues. But then I realized that they were not entirely interested in my reasoning, and besides, sometimes I was wrong. And then I stopped participating in conversations. Sometimes, if there was something to talk about, she shared stories from her life to support the topic, but she stopped speaking in work debates, even when she was sure that she was right. In general, talking and working when you have to proofread and edit texts is difficult, it is fraught with mistakes and falling behind the norm. There are 10 of us in the office, and it’s hard for me to communicate with all of them. I got tired of the side effects of this talk and just started working. They treat me with respect, but there is a feeling of awkwardness in their approach to me when, for example, someone shows everyone a photograph. I’m generally silent about professional moments. It would be better not to notice me at all than like this. It’s unpleasant for me that only by my presence I oblige myself to be taken into account... I don’t do anything bad, I don’t slander or gossip, but it’s clear that I seem superfluous, uninterested in them, and not as experienced as they are. After maternity leave, I began to get nervous about work, I was tempted to quit, but I never decided, because there is no such normal job for me in our city. Now I’ve calmed down a little, but I feel that the child has begun to pick up on my mood and get sick more often. I think his illness is not so much an adaptation to kindergarten, but a reflection of my experiences... Yes, by the way, both at school and at the university, I irritated everyone with my desire to learn, to try myself in different fields. She remained the black sheep she was. In the near future, another employee will return from maternity leave, and there is less work, they will probably fire me, because I am the most inexperienced. I want to run before this happens (although it may not happen). At the same time, I am afraid of being fired and want to quit so that I can breathe a sigh of relief. I’m thinking that maybe I should change my profession so that the “black sheep” will be a plus for me. Forgive me, everything is probably clear here, but once again looking at the vacancies in the city, I realized that I had nowhere to go. I don’t understand where to start... Thank you for your attention.
Question author: Olga Age: 27
Revealing your talents and abilities
Take some time to reflect on what you do best in life. Remember everything, even the most insignificant inclinations can be useful and successfully used in a new workplace.
If you have a talent for creativity, offer your services at your nearest art house. You are interested in photography and filmmaking, look for a job as a photographer.
If people around you have repeatedly noted your neatness and desire for orderliness, then the professions of a librarian, secretary, or archivist may be good for you.
You can determine your talents and abilities by taking a psychological test - to do this, click on this link.
There is one golden truth - a person who is interested in his profession will most likely achieve more.
Step-by-step job search plan
- Solemnly celebrate such a happy and fateful event in life as dismissal. It doesn’t matter whether it happened by choice or not.
- Give yourself the right to do nothing for a while. You can, according to the already known scheme, conclude an agreement with yourself indicating a “period of idleness” that is comfortable for you.
- Realize that you and only you are the main center within your universe. Microverse. This means that any choices must first come from you, and not from anyone outside. Even if in a month of active searches you received only one “yes” from an employer, you still choose whether to tell him a “yes” in response, or not to say and look further.
- Only after point 3 start writing a resume. This significantly increases your chances of success.
- Don't be afraid to ask questions during a telephone interview. Otherwise, you risk wasting time.
- During the interview, keep your focus on your choices. This will help you let go of all unnecessary expectations, which means increasing your chances of success.
job search
Causes - effects
It doesn't matter if you've changed 100,500 jobs or been stuck in one for 5 years, the "X" moment comes. Just before you slam the door loudly, figure out what brought you to this.
"Tyrant or Samodura"
The most common problem is disagreement with the manager. It will be great if your boss is ready for dialogue and it will be possible to eliminate the cause of dissatisfaction in your direction. But if you are tearing your veins from the first day, and instead of a satisfactory nod you are kicked in front of your colleagues - thank him and goodbye!
"Snowball for thank you"
In order for a new person to get comfortable in a new place and not go crazy, it is normal to gradually increase his workload. It’s another matter if the probationary period has long ended, and you work for three for the price of one. D - Demotivation!
“There’s nowhere for the soul to turn around!”
You are capable of designing a hadron collider, but all that is asked of you every day is “Lyusenka, bring some coffee to the meeting room, hurry up!”? Most likely, your knowledge and skills are much broader than what is needed for your position. If there are no real prospects for career advancement, why not use your strengths where they will be?
How do we usually look for work?
Conventionally, there are two approaches to job search, which are generally similar in scheme, but have a big difference in the perception of the process itself. And as a result – radically different results.
Most are looking for work in the so-called two-dimensional space. The two-dimensional coordinate system known from secondary school is a kind of full face, front side, wrapper.
All events here unfold in the external picture of the world, and the applicant’s focus is on the employer. Fired or quit, started looking for a job, wrote a resume, sent a response, went for an interview, passed or failed it. Eventually he went to work. Sooner or later. And he started working. Exactly until the cycle repeats again. And it will certainly happen again. But nevertheless, two-dimensional space is a very well-known and well-trodden path that a good 90% of applicants follow.
It is precisely within the framework of two-dimensional space that the seeker... asks. Here the applicant will always feel head and shoulders below any ordinary employer.
An important idea: searching for work within a two-dimensional space is always stressful. The focus of your attention is completely external. You only care about what the employer thinks about, how he perceives you, whether he liked you, whether he will hire you, etc., etc.
Nevertheless, within the framework of this approach, you can find a prestigious, well-paid job. But you often have to forget about pleasure. This kind of work is like in the song: “I’m pregnant, but it’s temporary.” Since you chose the job without focusing on your own desires, it will not bring you pleasure. This means you won’t stay in this job for long, and if you do, it will be with extremely negative, devastating bonuses. This path is a kind of “soulless” scheme. Dry drawing.
