I don’t have a job: 7 tips from experts to find one
The unemployment rate in Spain is around 20%, a worrying reality since having a job is, without a doubt, one of the fundamental aspects to feel fulfilled as a person.
Work is health, and being on the unemployment list for a long time can cause us not only economic but also psychological problems . So if you are looking for a job at present, don’t miss the following lines as they may be useful for you.
Tips for finding a job
You may have been unemployed for several months or simply decided to quit your job because it wasn’t filling. It gave you money, yes, but you lacked something: you didn’t enjoy what you were doing and that was leaving you emotionally and morally touched.
As I was saying, work is one of the basic pillars that support our mentally healthy life , because not only does it give us economic stability but we spend many hours there, in our work place. But not working can be frustrating and make us feel like failures. That’s why, if you’re unemployed, in this article we’re going to give you some advice so you can improve your chances of finding a job. Let’s get started.
1. Know thyself
The first thing you should do is reflect on who you are and what you want . This seems like a simple question, but it is not that simple. You have to find out what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are, as this will be useful for the whole selection process if you are lucky enough to get through the stages.
Knowing your strengths and where you’re weak will help you, for example, to build a good CV and succeed in the job interview. When you know who you are and have managed to find out your motivations, then you can look for jobs that fit your skill profile.
2. Developing a good resume
The CV or resume is our presentation to the recruiter and the company offering the job . But according to some research, it takes recruiting professionals about 6 seconds to decide whether you are fit to continue in the process or whether you are not eligible to continue. This makes it essential that you prepare a good CV: that it contains the necessary information, that it is presented briefly and concisely, with the correct spacing, etc.
- If you want to know how to maximize your chances of finding a job and making a good resume, you can read our article: “The 10 tips to improve your resume”
3. Using social networks
The digital world has changed the way in which people relate to each other, and this includes the way in which we get jobs. Although today, Facebook is the most popular social network, when we talk about professional social network, Linkedin is the most important .
If you are going to use this social network you need to pay attention to your profile, because it is very useful for professional promotion and for finding and sharing information related to your field of work.
- To improve your LinkedIn profile, just follow the advice in our post: “10 tips and tricks to boost your LinkedIn profile”
4. Making good use of job portals
Looking for a job can be a tiring task, especially if we don’t use our resources well. The traditional way of bringing the CV to the company is practically extinct, as new technologies, and specifically the Internet, have led many companies to make use of the digital world to select new employees.
If we want to be in the labor market we must know how to improve our chances of becoming visible in this medium . And since there are many job search sites that we can find in the 2.0 world, each one with its own characteristics, I recommend that you take a look at this article, “The 14 best sites to search and find employment”, which will surely be very useful to manage better in this environment.
5. Be proactive
This is one of the most important points on this list, and although it sounds strange, looking for work is our job when we are out of work . What does this mean? It means that we should take our job search seriously. We have to be always on the move and we have to put in the hours. The key is to be constant.
Although sometimes it can happen that someone offers you a job unexpectedly, in most cases you have to be on the spot and do an active search. Finding the job you want can take time.
6. Doing a great interview
If you made it to the interview you can be sure that there is something about you that they liked . Now you have the opportunity to play a good role and leave them wanting to hire you. Mistakes are allowed in life, but if there is one place where mistakes can be paid for dearly, it is in a job interview. The image we give in this space of time can determine, in the eyes of the interviewer, whether or not we are suitable for the position we are applying for.
Therefore, it is necessary that you take this phase seriously to leave a good image of yourself. Dressing appropriately, arriving on time, informing yourself about the organization, etc., are aspects that you should take into account so as not to miss this opportunity to express your worth.
7. Work on your personal brand
The above points are necessary to find work, but, at present, the competition that exists between professionals of the different guilds is much for a reduced labor market like the one that exists in our country. A concept that has gained ground in the last decade is personal branding , that is, making a mark on oneself.
Because personal branding is more powerful than any CV, because it comes wrapped in emotions and confidence and, consequently, puts you in a preferential position in other people’s minds. Through personal branding, the recruiter identifies and perceives what you communicate: your worth and competence, your usefulness and reliability. In short, it sends a unique message that sets you apart from others.
There are different ways to improve your personal branding, for example, through a blog or your youtube channel. If you are a psychologist, you can learn how to improve your personal brand with this article: “Personal branding for psychologists on the internet and social networks”.