In this day and age, everyone wants their dream job, whatever it may be. If you are set on reaching this job, then this article is for you.
Honestly speaking, a good resume can only get you so far. Most people think that companies and organizations will pick their future employees based simply on what is written on their resumes—how long they are, what honors and awards you have, how articulate you express your passion to work with them, or what skills you can offer them, or even what experiences you have had and references you can give or jargon you can speak. However, this is hardly the case.
You were probably taught that a strong resume is key to getting into a good company, and while it is true that a good resume is important, it will not land you the job you want on its own. This is because the best places to work are also those which everyone sends their resumes to. Day in and day out, dozens upon dozens of resumes flood the desks of the human resources department and make their way to the desks of hiring officers. However, most people would not think of looking at it too much. They may take at most a minute to glance at a resume, then proceed to the next.
However, if you were really serious about catching your dream workplace’s attention, a piece of paper you spent so much time on formatting is certainly not the way to go. Now that technology has given us so many ways to connect and showcase one’s talents and skills, the trick to impress companies and to see the value you can bring to an organization is to be creative in marketing and branding yourself and your skills and expertise. At the end of day, you do not want to present yourself as a run of the mill type of person with the average set of skills and average attitude. You need to show that you are worth investing in and keeping as a valuable employee to the company, and unfortunately, a piece of paper that says so much about you and showing you off as perfect can be made up or embellished. The cover letter you send may also be just as worthless, as the company does not need to see you praising the company and yourself up.
Impressive ways of showing that you are interested in working with the company while at the same time showing your skills is through perhaps submitting a case study project that you worked on, or even sending the link to an online blog that shows off your portfolio or work done. Organizations want to concretely see what you have done and what you can do as a member of the organization, and great organizations, comprised of intelligent and creative people, will also want people who show the same attitude and way of thinking—someone who thinks out of the box and does things in a unique way.
Career Security, Not Job Security
You will want to invest in creative ways of marketing yourself to prospective employees because at the end of the day, you should be aiming for career security rather than job security. Do not be afraid about losing your job, there are many others, and if you have developed yourself enough, you should not have a problem finding another. Aside from developing your skills and expertise, you also need to develop your own brand—who are you to these prospective employers? What is your niche? What is your unique selling point? There are so many tools and ideas to let the world know about what you can do and who you are.
One thing that most people underestimate is the ability to network online. Connections are vital in any industry, and so to network and connect with different people not only helps you learn of news and skills that may help you in your field, it will also help you meet new people and put yourself out there for other people to see that you are available for work. Networking can also be done when you mentor people or are mentored by industry leaders, so that it is not just you who benefit but even those after who also need help—now is the time to pay it forward.
Making a portfolio of past projects is one way of showcasing your talents in a very concrete manner, as it shows the results you were able to generate through your effort. If you are allowed to, make your portfolio available online or to different potential clients that you can attract. You can also contribute your own ideas about your area of expertise through journals, publications, and the like. Contributing ideas show just how passionate you are about your field that you wish to engage ideas and dialogue about it.
At the end of the day, to do the things above requires some change, and a desire to start doing something that you love, rather than just trudging along at a nine to five pace at a boring job that you may not necessarily like. Creating your own reputation and self online allows you to go after what you want, to live a life that will make you happy, rather than enslaving you to a job simply in order to earn big money or because “you have no other choice”, or simply because you want to just get by. You do have a choice, and if you will simply take the time and effort to market yourself effectively and aggressively online, you can do more than get by. You will be excited for your job and are willing to spend time on it, rather than feeling like you are simply forced to work.
How you live will definitely be affected once you build up your own brand and image online. All you need to do is to go for it.
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