Land your dream job

jjones | Guides | 10/11/2009 12:25pm
One Comment

Has your career not progressed the way you’d hoped? Maybe you feel unappreciated in your job. Perhaps you’re stuck in a rut and would simply like a change. On average, we spend 30 per cent of our lives at work, so it’s important that we do something we love. If you’ve lost your job during the recession, you could turn things on their head and use this as an opportunity to enter a whole new profession.

Although the economic climate is still pretty unsteady, there have been some encouraging signs that it is on the up, and there are still a lot of job vacancies – you just need to know where to look. Thankfully, your computer and Windows can make the job hunt easier than ever, and by following these tips you’ll be on your way to an interview for your dream job in no time at all.

What’s on offer?

One of the hardest things when searching for a dream job is knowing where to look. In the past you had to scour the jobs pages of newspapers to find appropriate vacancies, which was a time-consuming process. Thanks to the internet and job search websites such as www.monster.co.uk or www.guardian.co.uk/jobs, you can enter the criteria of your dream job and search through hundreds (or even thousands) of vacancies. For example, if you’re looking for a job in the media in Manchester, with a salary between £17,000 to £25,000 a year, enter these requirements and the website does the hunting for you. Don’t be dismayed if nothing relevant is returned – you may have to change some search criteria to be less specific. And if you really want a dream job, you may have to relocate to get it.

Most websites enable you to save your searches so you don’t need to re-enter them the next time you visit the site, and they can also email you when job vacancies that match those criteria appear on the website. This is great if you don’t find anything you want the first time you look, and you don’t have to worry about missing out on your ideal vocation because you haven’t visited the site recently. All you need to do is check your email regularly, and sign up for as many websites as possible. This could mean that your inbox is flooded with emails with job opportunities – you can change how often most websites email you, and if one website repeatedly sends emails with no relevant jobs, remove yourself from its mailing list. A full inbox may be a small price to pay for landing the job of your dreams.

Put yourself online

Having an online presence, such as a profile on a social networking site, can also be a great way to show potential employers why you’d make an excellent addition to their team. A lot of job search websites enable you to create a profile and upload your CV to their website, so employers and recruitment officers can see what you’re made of. Having a good profile that really sells your strengths can increase the number of people who contact you about job vacancies. It is not unheard of nowadays for employers to check social networking sites such as Facebook for applicants. A friendly profile that highlights your interests and achievements can improve the chances of getting the job, while on the other hand a profile full of pictures of drunken exploits could damage your chances.

If you’re looking for a job that requires you to offer examples of previous work, for example in the creative industry, you can create an online portfolio to show off your work. By pointing prospective employers to your website or blog, they can see straight away what you are capable of, and most will be impressed that you have your own web presence. You don’t need to be a whizz with complex code to create your own website – there are a lot of products on the market, such as WebSite X5 (www.websitex5.com), that can help you create your own site in just an hour or so. Free blogging services such as Windows Live Spaces (http://home.spaces.live.com) enable you post and display your work for all to see with minimal effort.

All that remains is for you to decide exactly what it is you want to do with the rest of your life.

Online courses

Boost your CV with these online courses

Computers are such an integral part of most businesses these days that you are almost certain to need to use a PC in your new job. If you feel your computer skills are lacking, or would like extra certifi cations to add to your CV, check out our online courses, which can help you get that dream career. There are several courses on using Microsoft Office 2007, for example, and knowledge of Microsoft Office is always something to boast about on your CV, possibly giving you the edge over other candidates. There is also training for IT professionals, so if your dream job is working with computers, why not look into one of these career-enhancing courses?

ONLINE Windows: The Official Magazine shop http://learning.officialwindowsmagazine.com/

Prepare for your interview with your PC

You’ve bagged an interview – now use your PC to help you clinch the deal

1 RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH! Impress your prospective employers by showing that you’ve researched the company. Search the internet and visit the company’s website. Prepare questions to ask that will impress them.

2 ARRIVE ON TIME! Find out how to get there with Bing Maps (http://www.bing.com/maps). Type in the postcode, then click Bird’s eye or Aerial to see where it is, and click Get directions to find your way in plenty of time.

3 BE CALM! Interviews can be stressful, but don’t let it get to you. Be cool, calm and collected. To help you relax on the way, listen to some music. Print out your CV and take it with you, so you can refer to it during the interview.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 12:25 pm and is filed under Guides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.