Are you interested in employment? Do you want to discuss issues with others?
2008
Job Seeking is a Competition
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Starting today, I will discuss some secrets and tips to help you fine tune your job search techniques. Pay attention and I’m sure you will get something worthwhile from this.
Have you ever thought about it … job seeking is a Competition in which you are entering to win a prize.
When you write your job application, you need to sit in the employer’s chair. What do I mean? Well, if you were employing you and were going to spend $35,000 per year in salary, plus additional sums in worker’s compensation premiums, superannuation levy, orientation and training costs, and provide an office or workshop etc, wouldn’t you be asking, “What can this person do for me? What return will I get on my investment?”
Of course you would.
The implications are that when you are being considered for a job, employers don’t care as much about the skills and experience you can bring to their job, but what they will get for their money. The difference is subtle. It doesn’t matter if you are a highly skilled motor mechanic, what does matter is how you can turn those skills into a benefit for your prospective employer. Do you see the difference?
Here’s an example: instead of writing in your application, “I am able to tune the most modern motor vehicles”, write, “On average, I can tune 3 cars more per eight hour day than the average motor mechanic, thus increasing your profit margin”.
Well, you’ve already guessed that I’m no motor mechanic, but you get the drift of what I mean; fill your application with benefits, not skills and experience. At the end of the day, the person who wins the competition will be the one who shows how their skills and experience benefit the employer. The employer wants to know, “What’s in it for me?”
Action
Write a list of your core skills, knowledge etc and next to each, try to identify some benefits that you can bring to your new employer. Consider any successes you had with previous employers that you can bring to your new employer eg, “While at Acme Finance, I redesigned the accounts receivable system and reduced bad debts by 12% … I can do that for Western Finance also”.
When you write your next application, stuff it full of benefits.
The prize goes to the person who can write the best application, not necessarily the best qualified or experienced person.You want to write the best application and you can do that largely by displaying benefits.
Tomorrow I will discuss how you can stand out in a crowd of applicants.
Robin
“Think success - Achieve success”
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