Your 101 on Job Searching Made Easy

Written by: Chane da Costa

Job searching is a full time job. Finding a job in today’s economy is not an easy task for those who have experience as well as those who don’t have experience. Although, there are more challenges for those without experience, many job seekers don’t know how or where to apply for jobs. For first time job seekers, don’t get discouraged by rejection, it is important to keep optimistic whilst searching for jobs. During your search it is important to know what criteria you are looking for when you are searching for your job.

Criteria to keep in mind before searching for a job:

1.          Job location
2.          Industry
3.          Skill level
4.          Job description
5.         Growth prospects
6.         Salary and benefits

Searching for a job is very time consuming and it is important to know exactly where to apply -  one thing varsity doesn’t teach graduates. After graduating many graduates are clueless as where to even start their search and how to apply for suitable jobs. 

The digital age is taking over and with this, the old school ways of searching and applying for jobs have subsided. Although, taking your resume personally to your potential employee and introducing yourself is still considered an effect way to apply for a position, it is very time consuming and costly. Therefore, companies, recruitment agencies and job portals have simplified the process by creating online pages that allow you to upload your resume and apply for positions with a click of a button.

Recruitment Agencies

Recruitment agencies might be in the candidates favour as submitting your resume to a recruitment agency may open many doors by dispersing your resume to various industries. A personal relationship is often formed with the recruitment consultant who may be beneficial to the candidate during the offer negotiation process and in future when seeking growth opportunities. Another benefit of using a recruitment agency is that by meeting you, a recruiter can sell your resume to a potential employer as the perfect candidate just by knowing your morals, values, goals and objectives.  To find recruiters you can search online or make use of online Job portals, and if you see a recruitment agency advertising their services you can rest assure if they can invest in marketing they will invest in you. At Electus you are not just another candidate or resume on a desk.

Companies with Job Portals

Candidates can apply on a company’s online portal. These portals allow candidates to register and submit their resumes online. This process also ensures that the companies keep candidates resumes on a database to review them if a suitable position becomes available in future.

Job Portals

Online job portals can be seen as the middle man where candidates and recruitment agencies/companies find each other. In South Africa there are many online job portals available where candidates create an online profile and upload their resumes for companies and recruiters to search.  These companies and recruitment agencies can also advertise job posts that candidates can apply for using their personal profile, therefore reducing the hassle of submitting your resume to a different company each time.  Below is a list of the most popular job portals in South Africa:

1.  Pnet
2. Careers 24
3. Jobs.co.za
4. Career Junction
5. Best Jobs
6. Jobmail
7. Linked-In
8. Jobvine

For more information on how to Jump start your Job search with online job portals, one of our 2013 blogs Jump start your Job Search by Tiffany Lynn provide you with detailed information on these portals and why they are beneficial.

7 Top Tips for Job Seekers

1.       Always apply to positions with a recently updated resume, ensuring that all your info is correct. It is also beneficial to know how to use wording correctly to ensure your CV is found at the top of the pile when recruiters conduct their searches on online database portals

2.       Only apply to positions that are relevant to your job title, level of experience and skill set.

3.       Have all your supporting documentation ready and available to save time and speed up the application process.

4.       It is important to remember that when you have applied for any positions to always keep your phone on standby, and keep an eye on your inbox for recruiters who might contact you via email. Also ensure you have provision in your schedule for interviews.

5.       Always prepare to land the job in your interview. An interview is where you make your first personal impression. Read up about the company, what they do and recent information on the industry to impress your interviewer. Prepare a list of questions you can ask about the organisation and position to show your interest in the position.

6.       Networking – contact and reconnect with friends and trusted professionals, inform them you in the market. They might just have the job you have been looking for, or if something comes up you will be top of mind and can be referred. A good reference from someone trusted by the potential employer is always positive.

7.       If you stuck GET HELP!!! Utilise inexpensive services that provide career counselling and assistance in the job search process. In months to come Electus will be offering such a service, empowering our candidates through providing insightful advice and a platform on which to develop your personal brand. 

The golden Do’s and Don’ts of writing a resume

Written by: Chane da Costa 

As an active job seeker marketing your personal brand correctly to the potential employer is an important aspect in landing your dream job.  A resume is your opportunity to make a good first impression and differentiate yourself from other candidates in the running for the position. You could have a great resume, but tiny errors could potentially land your resume in the bin. It is not all about your qualifications, experience and correct structure of your resume, what your resume looks like represents certain characteristics and personality traits that you may have.

Your resume is a tool to move you from application to interview, it speaks your first words to your potential employers so rather put in that extra bit of effort and ensure it is perfect, rather than rushing it and you cost yourself your dream job. The golden do and don’t guidelines for every resume might seem logical but you will be surprised how many candidates have these errors on their resume and what tiny errors you have missed.

The Golden Do’s

The following Golden Do’s will ensure that the most obvious and obscured details of your resume exhibits you as the perfect candidate. Do:  

1.  Be honest and truthful, in this modern age it has become easier for potential employers to attain information about you.
2. Customise your resume and closely as possible to the job description that you are applying for.
3. Ensure that your resume is updated regularly, you do not want to miss out on providing information that your most recent opportunities have provided. This will also help in ensuring that you do not forget about these details.
4. Use spell check, often potential employers discard resumes because there are silly spelling errors. These errors often represent your carelessness or that you lack attention to detail.
5. Ask a person experience in formulating their resume, to proof read your resume for any mistakes.
6. Make use of reverse chronological order. Start from the most recent qualifications or employment history down.
7. Always ask your selected references for permission to list their contact details in your resume.
8. List your job title, duties and reason for leaving with your employment history. Candidates often only list the company they worked and the duration period they worked at the company for.
9. Use the correct formatting; it is easiest to formulate your resume in Microsoft Word. You can also PDF your resume to ensure everything stays in place.

The Golden Don’ts

The following Golden Don’ts are critical to check before finalising your resume and applying to your potential dream job. Don’t:

1. Repeat the same information already mentioned once in your resume.
2. Write excessive detailed sentences, a resume should be a summary not a story.
3. Stress about the length of your resume, if you are short and concise with all the relevant information and your resume exceeds the narrated two pages, it is ok.
4. Be tempted to shrink the font or reduce the margin size to fit all your information in. Stick to one font type, Headings 14pt and normal text 12pt.
5. Use various colours and graphic, your resume should look professional and not like a birthday invitation.
6.  Provide unusual nicknamed email addresses, try keep your resume as professional as possible.
7. Don’t lie on your resume, if you caught lying on your resume, this will affect your reputation negatively and forfeit your chances of landing the job.
8. Bad mouth current and previous employers when providing a reason for leaving the company.
9. Use social network links unless it adds professional value to your job application, although this may provide a sense of transparency it could also allow intervene with your application with regards to posts being contrary to that of potential employers opinions.

Should you put social media links on your resume?

 Written by: Chane da Costa

Mashable reported that 10.9% of resumes have links to social media profiles, and this continues to grow. However there is a big debate amongst recruiters as to whether or not resumes should have links to social media profile.

Although social media profiles provide a sense of transparency and help potential employers become more comfortable when it comes to hiring you, it can however have a negative influence on your application if you have inappropriate posts that can be viewed.

This does not mean that if you don’t have links to your Facebook and Twitter page that potential employers won’t seek and view your profile. For those active job seekers, I cannot stress enough how important it is to monitor your profiles and ensure that your posts are decent and appropriate in case potential employers search your name.

There are 3 main social media platforms used on resumes. To determine whether or not you should use them, I have discussed each one with guidelines on how to use them.

1. Linked-In     

For those who don’t know what LinkedIn is, it is a social networking website for people with professional occupations.  It is mainly used for connecting with and growing a professional network as well as job searching. 

Linked In’s personal profile is in a similar format to that of a resume, which allows your networks and potential employers to view your qualifications and experience without requesting your resume. This will also allow potential employees to view your professional network, projects, skills and endorsements as well as recommendations from former colleagues and employers. It is however essential to constantly keep your profile updated so that it reflects all your recent information.

Often the LinkedIn profile URL’s are long and can make your resume look untidy. To shorten and personalise your URL, follow the steps below:

1.       Go to your profile

2.       Click the edit tab

3.       Under your name will show your URL, with an edit button next to it.

4.       Edit and  personalise your URL

2. Facebook 

Whilst Facebook is the most popular social media network in the world, whether or not to add your URL onto your resume is a difficult decision. Although it creates a sense of transparency for the potential employer, the purpose of your resume is to market yourself to the employer considering your applicant and Facebook might do the exact opposite. We generally use Facebook as a more personal platform to connect with family and friends about our comings and goings as well as our own personal thoughts and opinions. These thoughts and opinions could be contrary to that of what the potential employer associates with and could potentially intervene with your application.

So when deciding whether or not to add your Facebook URL, you can ask yourself if your Facebook page adds value to your job applications or not. If it would not add any professional value do not add a Facebook URL. However as stressed earlier this does not give you reason to relax and not monitor your profile, as potential employers can still do a search and view your profile.

3. Twitter

Twitter, like Facebook is an online social networking platform where users can send and read “tweets”. Twitter differs slightly to Facebook by being able to read and receive tweets about a specific professional industry. By tweeting with your industry specific influencers, you are able to get a foot in their network and this could show your potential employers your knowledge about the industry and your professional networking skills. This could create a good impression.

The correct way to put your Twitter handle on your resume: @ElectusRecruit - Never use the URL link.

The employee transparency subject that was brought up will come up again with Twitter. However, if you are not interacting with your industry/influencers of choice and are using Twitter for personal use this will have no benefit for your potential employers to view your Twitter profile.

As social media recruitment slowly becomes as an integral part of our lives, slowly the distinction between professional and personal social networking platforms will fade. It is of utmost importance for social media users to maintain a reputable online presence whether they are job seeking or not. Remember even if you do not include social media links this does not mean your potential employers won’t search your name.