The last year has had some big challenges for anyone facing unemployment. Businesses have undoubtedly tightened their belts and are more wary of committing to taking on permanent staff or additional positions. The effect this has had globally on the job market is making employment for anyone more elusive and challenging. This can also affect your self esteem if you are one of the people finding it difficult to gain a new position.
The good news is that there are many ways to increase your success rate when looking to gain a position in the workforce. Many people just don't realize how many extra steps you can take to increase your success rate when seeking a new position. I have put this article together to assist many of you to address common questions I am asked and also to provide some extra tips that only a minority of people have been utilizing to obtain employment.
Getting Clear On the Position
Many of you will find that you are seeking and applying for positions in just about anything you think you have the right skills for. While this may seem to increase your chances of success, it is actually very important to define what your skills are and what area they are transferable into. Resumes need to be written to show clearly the areas of work that you fit into. Once you clearly know what position you are seeking, you can begin to clarify and focus your resume on perfectly matching the skills and experience required for particular positions. This alone will increase you success rate of your resume being read.
Transferable Skills
Taking time to assess your transferable skills involves some initial work. Work skills can be categorized in three areas:
1. Human Relations (communicating, teaching, coaching and supervising)
2. Information (record keeping, researching, translating and compiling data)
3. Objects (operating computers/equipment, assembling and repairing).
By making the time to identify your work skills, you will be able to prove to employers that you have the necessary skills add value within your area of career choice.
Where to Look Up Work Skills
Employment Sites - Position Ads
Search the jobs you feel would be a good fit and review the skills it requires. You may not possess all of them, but look for skills that are somehow related to those you developed via another career, hobby, personal or educational pursuit. For example, a home maker who has a network marketing home business making the transition to sales might find that presentation, organizational and interpersonal skills are desirable for salespeople. She could then highlight her experience giving daily group presentations, creating and launching educational programs, and building team morale. All of these are examples of transferable skills you may overlook, because they come easily to you.
Industry Networking
It is useful to speak with workers in your desired field, read trade publications, study employer Web sites, network at industry events and connect with industry associations to learn which skills are important. Once you have a good understanding of desirable skills, you'll know which ones to emphasize.
List Your Transferable Skills
It is estimated that approximately 50% of your old job skills are transferable into a new position. Start by writing down your old skills and whether they could be used at your new job.
Proving that you are qualified for your career can be portrayed by prominently displaying your transferable skills onto your resume. By showing your skills upfront the human reader can readily see the keywords they are looking out for which will entice them to continue reading your resume. Your transferable skills can be written under various titles including: "Key Skills" or "Highlights of my related skills include:" followed by a pointed list of your transferable skills.
Back up your transferable skills by including examples of how you successfully used the skills in another career field or other experience. The following is a great format to show the value of your skills.
* Challenge: List some of the challenges you encountered?
* Actions: List the actions taken to rectify any challenges?
* Results: Specify any results of your work?
This will start to develop your resume into an accurate reflection of your best skills and attributes to find your ideal job.
Author Resource:-
Do You Need Help To Find A Job? Download The Complete FREE ebook "How To Gain Employment In 2010" off my melbourne resume site at: www.melbourne resume.com
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