Finding and Landing your Dream Job
You’ve decided that you’d like to find a new job. And you’ve also decided that the one you go to next will be way more fulfilling and enjoyable than the one you’re leaving. If you’ve previously been on the job market, you’ll know it can be a bit of a minefield. There are loads of adverts out there, recruitment agencies that purport to be the very best at what they do and multiple ways of applying.
Fortunately, you can take steps to ensure the next job you have is your dream job.
Step 1 - To land your dream job, you have to know what you love to do
Learning about yourself is probably the most important step in the whole process. You can’t fulfil a dream if you don’t know what that dream is. Think about all of your skills and which of them you love doing the most. It helps to do this yourself manually and there are also tools available online to help. What you want to end up with is a list of things you love doing so you can compare any job opportunities to it.
The second part is to consider the qualities you’d like to see in a potential employer. Many organisations are now very clear about their culture and what they stand for. You’ll be able to check these on adverts, job specifications, and company web pages. It’s wise to understand which of these are essential to you, so you don’t end up working for an organisation where those are mismatched.
Step 2 - Update your CV. Straighten-out your online presence
Before you start looking and applying for jobs, it’s important to make sure that your CV and online presence are up to date. Your CV should detail very clearly all of your key skills and attributes. Try to write a tailored profile at the top of your CV so that anyone reading it gets a good snapshot of who you are, what you’re capable of, and what it is you’re looking for.
On your CV, a skills matrix is usually a good idea. Again it gives the viewer an accessible way of understanding your critical skills at-a-glance. Social Media has the potential to scupper any job application before it gets off the ground, so trim anything embarrassing and, if you use it, make sure your LinkedIn clearly shows your employment, skills, and recommendations.
This is also an opportunity to showcase any extracurriculars you’re involved with. Are you part of a Tech Meet-Up? Do you volunteer at a local charity? Make sure it’s visible, and it will go in your favour.
These are potential employers’ windows to you. Make sure that the room is nice and tidy when they look through that window.
Step 3 - Start searching and applying
As mentioned above, there are multiple routes to finding your new job. It’s entirely up to you to do this, but a good first port of call is utilising any contacts you have. Doing this first will increase your chances of finding a job closely matched to your skills and passions. It will also increase your chances of getting an interview and getting the job. It also takes a lot of leg-work out for you. A referral from a connection is worth its weight in gold.
Another popular method is approaching a specialist recruiter who operates specifically in the area you’re looking for a job. Are you an API person? Maybe you want to work in Analysis in Healthcare? There’ll be a specialist recruiter for that all you have to do is search the internet. Linkedin usually is pretty good for this.
You can also search on job websites. Again there are industry-specific job sites and generalist job sites. There’s a myriad but the most popular in IT are Jobsite, Jobserve, CWJobs and Indeed. LinkedIn also has a trendy Jobs section.
If you’re lucky enough to be in your dream job, remember there’s no perfect job. Everything has positives and negatives, and a job is no different.
Good luck in your job hunt, and if you’d like to talk to us here at Brio Digital about this or any of our other services, please get in touch.
