The top 20 mistakes made while job seeking
People have a tendency to occasionally shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to job seeking. Although this expression is not unique to job seekers, sometimes it might as well be. Barry Whelan reports
Print11 February 2011
Every day, job searchers make avoidable mistakes and blunders whilst looking for work, most small, but some catastrophic. With a little thought, job seekers can avoid most common mistakes. Our top repetitive mistakes include:
Recycling
Great for the environment, not so great for job applications. We see this error time and time again, when a candidate will draft a cover letter to apply to a specific company and role and then not bother or forget to change it when applying for a different company and role. It looks unprofessional and frankly lazy. A cover letter is tailor made (indeed nowadays so is the curriculum vitae).
Funky email address
Often distracting and always humorous, although sometimes offensive, the email address you set up with your college pals may not be the best one to use when job seeking. Change it to your name, preferably Gmail. It has adequate space to deal with job specs and readily accessible spam folder. Sirtwinkletoesthethird@hotmail.com just doesn’t cut it anymore.
Fail to prepare….prepare to fail
Plan your job search- know the answers to the following questions for a start- ‘Tell me about yourself?’, ‘Take me through your career history?’, ‘ Why are you on the jobs market?’, ‘Why do you want this job?’.
You often only have one chance at an interview; make sure you give it your best shot through adequate preparation.
Look your best
I recall vividly interviewing a candidate who practically had his lunch on his face. It was a difficult interview and very distracting, almost comical. Have a quick look in the mirror before you go in to the interview. We all know how we must dress to impress in an interview – 20% of an interview is based on appearance, but this last hurdle is often overlooked.
Shooting off CVs
It is important that a job search is focused and researched; don’t just fire off a bunch of CVs. In today’s market your CV must reach the right person. There is no point in falling into a black hole of unwanted applications.
Not really networking
We all know how important networking is, especially in a small country like Ireland. In essence, networking is creating mutually beneficial business relationships. It can only really be done effectively on a one on one basis. Turning up at the latest trade conference is only as effective as the amount of one-on-one meetings you create out of it.
Gramatical and speeling errors!
You wouldn’t want to know the amount of CVs we here in Excel have to run through our grammatical and spelling software. I would hazard a guess at 90% of the applications we receive. This is an error that comes up time and time again from directors down to entry level. Check your application for grammatical and spelling errors before sending it. Always have someone proof read your CV.
Social media
With Ireland heading towards world records in Facebook membership, it is worthwhile keeping an eye on social media. Google yourself, don’t have embarrassing information on your social media page and if you are job seeking, make sure you have a Linked In page.
Next month – part 2
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