Resume Lady: 10 Worst Mistakes for First Time Job Hunters

Friday, January 6, 2012

10 Worst Mistakes for First Time Job Hunters

When you are searching for your first job there are some ultimate boo-boos that many job seekers will make. If you happen to be a recent college graduate or looking for a job after you have been out of the loop for a decade or so, you may see some benefit from these useful tips of things to avoid.

Avoiding these mistakes will help you get the job you seek and save you a lot of time and headaches in your ultimate quest for employment.

1) Don’t delay your job search

There are some people that are procrastinators. This is simply a given. However, in our current economy you simply cannot afford to be. If you start to delay your job search a couple of weeks will generally turn into a couple of months and before you know it you will be wondering where the time went. Guess what? So will the employer that looks at your resume. Where did the time go? It went to in front of the television in your bathrobe. Don’t put off your job search.

2) Why didn’t you network?

Believe it or not networking actually works. Networking is not showing up to a few fundraisers and shaking hands. Networking is getting in touch with the folks that can help you get that job. This is a person that may be able to tell you something as simple as who is hiring or who isn’t. Networking is important and shouldn’t be understated.

This is generally the worst part of hunting for a job for many job seekers. However, don’t underestimate what it can provide you.

3) Apply for more jobs

Don’t rest on your laurels. Even if you think you have the in for a position you never really know the outcome until you know the outcome. Apply for more jobs. Even though a job is a shoe in with your brother in law you never really know until you shake hands and sign on the dotted line. A lot of job seekers will put in one or two apps and believe they are set to go only to find out later they should have been putting in more apps while they sat around for two weeks waiting to hear back on an opportunity.

4) We make our own way

You are responsible for your own future. This means that you need to do the work. Get up off of the couch and go to the job. Believe it or not the job won’t come to you. Don’t ask your uncle to pick you up an application on his way home on Tuesday. If you are too lazy to get it done yourself how does this relate to the work ethic you take with you. If your uncle forgets and you let a prime offer slip through your fingers it’s your own fault. Make your own way

5) You never know who is watching

Always be professional. This is a must no matter what. There are times when you may meet a friend or relative in your job hunting road to success. Remember to keep it as professional as possible for a couple of reasons. One is you never know who is watching. The second reason is work should be work and outside of work is outside of work. Keep your professional game face on at all times when you are job seeking.

Your new boss may be watching your unprofessional behavior and not understand this is one of your old fraternity brothers and hear things he shouldn’t or see things that were better left at the Saturday barbecue. Keep it professional because you never know who is watching.

6) Be a professional and keep it professional

Keeping it professional means dressing, talking and acting like you are a professional. Don’t show up for the interview in jeans and a t-shirt even if this will be the work attire for the position. When you answer your phone remember that you gave this number as a contact for the office where you applied. Keep it professional.

7) Have you kept track of achievements

Achievements are important and display to a prospective employer that you are someone that makes goals and reaches them. It says that you care about more than yourself and can work as a team. Achievements say a lot about someone. Achievements can be those that you received both in and out of the office. For an example, you organized and led the breast cancer walk for your block or church. Achievements are great and whether you put them on your resume or not you may need to discuss them during the interview. Keep track of how great you are.

8) Develop relevant skills

If you majored in art history, you may have wasted a lot of money. There aren’t a lot of marketable skills on a wide canvas with that one. Therefore, you need to make certain you are developing other skills to go along with that in the work environment. Take a few IT classes for certification. If you are returning to the workforce after a couple of decades of being out of it and need to learn how to use a computer-get on it before returning to a new course in job seeking. Develop as many relevant skills as possible.

9) Be honest

Honesty is the best policy when it comes to working in the marketplace. Don’t lie about why you left your last position. There are different ways of saying the same thing. This is nice to remember if you were fired or outgrew your previous position and you and your current boss realized it simultaneously (wink). Be honest on your resume and your interview.

10) Perseverance is key

You probably won’t get the first job you seek or maybe even the sixth. However, you need to continue on your quest. This is the key to success. Many job hunters will give up when the next job they would have gone after would have been the one. Don’t be defeated. This is hard work and anyone that tells you different never had to do it.