How to Rethink your Job Search

When you have been out of work for a while and your efforts at getting a job seem to be getting you nowhere, it is completely understandable to feel completely disillusioned and frustrated. You may feel that applying for jobs is a waste of time if your applications are never acknowledged, or feel that there are never any jobs out there which suit you. However, rather than dwell on all the negatives, the best thing you can actually do is start all over again and spend some time in completely overhauling and rethinking your job search strategy. To help you do just that, we’ve outlined a few top tips:

Take stock
Spend some time evaluating where you are at. Ask yourself some questions – what type of jobs have you been applying for, where have you been looking, what locations are you considering, what is your CV like etc – the list goes on. What you have to remember is that if what you’ve been doing hasn’t been working, it’s time to do something else. Changes are absolutely essential if you really want a positive outcome.

Update your CV
Take a look at your CV and try and see what changes you could make. Are you really selling all your skills adequately? Are there any updates you need to make? Have you obtained any new qualifications, undertaken any courses or had any voluntary experience since you last put your CV together? If so, update your CV accordingly. Remember your CV is your shop window – so make sure it is selling you sufficiently.

Places to look
If your job search has generally consisted of looking at the same newspaper or job site every day or week, it’s time to see what else is out there. There are more and more job sites springing up these days – are you aware of them? If you aren’t already doing so, start using one of the meta-search engines like Indeed or Adzuna and get daily updates of jobs in your area. Have you tried using Social Media to get a job? Updating your Facebook or LinkedIn profiles could alert former colleagues or employers to the fact that you are on the lookout and opportunities may arise. Have you considered attending networking events in your local area? The reality is that if you don’t start looking in other places, your job search may remain unsuccessful.

Help yourself
If you have registered with some recruitment agencies and have never heard anything from them, it’s time to face some facts. They will generally only call you if they have a position for you or if one of their clients is specifically interested in candidates with your skillset. You could of course try contacting them again to reaffirm you are still available and actively interested in work. However what you could also do is to do what many recruitment consultants would do anyway – start contacting employers on a speculative basis to see if they have any current or imminent vacancies. After all, not every vacancy gets advertised.

Consider other jobs
If you have been continually looking at the same type of job in the same market sector, then start looking elsewhere. Identify your transferable skills and consider other job areas where they could be used. Also, if you have only been looking for permanent jobs, then perhaps you ought to consider temping. Admittedly they may not be ideal but certainly could do help in the interim and may actually lead to something on a more permanent basis. Another option would be to undertake some voluntary work. Not only would this be of value and worth to the organisation you are helping, it could also develop your skills, improve your self esteem and it will certainly be viewed in a positive light by any future employer.

We hope that these basic pointers may give your job search a little boost. Of course if there are other tips that you feel you’d like to share, please do let us know via the comments section below. Why not Sign up for our free newsletter for more top tips and articles…