Wrong beliefs can frighten you away

Article #6: Wrong beliefs can frighten you away.

What prevents you from finding a new place of work? Perhaps you have some fear that there are candidates who possess more professional qualities? Or else you firmly believe: people get hold a profitable job only by using personal relations? Fortunately, all your beliefs are myths. We decided to discredit some widespread misconceptions about job searching which often prevent people from achieving success.

Wrong belief 1: A good job is got by the most qualified candidate

It's practically the most popular myth about job hunting. Many people consider that the employer looks for "unique candidate", the best one who possesses optimum combination of skills and experience. In theory it is so. However, in practice the employers prefer seeing the whole complex of factors into the person (hence in you too): communicative skills, ability to present yourself on interview, cultural background, personal qualities, activity and readiness and willingness to act for result.

So on interview you shouldn't be excessively self-assured if you feel like the most qualified candidate. On the other part you shouldn't have complex if you know that your giftedness and practice can be insufficiently. Better try to use your best efforts to prove yourself and show your potential to prospective employer by more than 100 per cent.

Wrong belief 2: Having reduced demands relative to the salary, you can enhance your odds to get an acceptable job

Applicants often think that reducing needs concerning size of future salary, they will become more attractive as a candidate. However, it is not so. Opening vacancy, the company mostly doesn't think how to save money. The employer, as a rule, looks for the professional who will cope with work in the best way.

While your requirements for a salary remain within average figures in the labor-market, the employer will choose between you and other candidates due to professional and personal qualities. If you strongly lower your demands, it will demonstrate how desperately covet this job. So the employer will have a guess you are not in demand as an expert for some reason.

Wrong belief 3: One summary for all occasions

Many job seekers consider that it is enough to make the resume once and update it at times. This is a big delusion. According to statistics, the employer spends for viewing of the summary no more than 20 seconds, so it is better capture his attention in the first seconds.

Approaches to visualization of information are constantly changing, so written 5 years ago text often can't quickly draw attention of an employer or HR-manager any more. Certainly you shouldn't rewrite the summary every week. However, you should be in the know of trends and focus on current patterns. For example, check out the Internet for resume writing services - to understand better how to structure information.

Besides, not superfluous will be to correct the summary - to change a sample, to displace accents, depending on where you are applying it. Many employers pay attention how you adapted the resume specifically in accordance with their company, its requirements and style. It is obvious that to get a respectable post in advertising agency and the international corporation with one version of the summary is really difficult.

Wrong belief 4: Employers do not hire the unemployed candidates

Often people, who were retired or lost their jobs, believe that person can to find a job only when he (or she) is holding some post now. But employers are people too. So they perfectly understand that such a situation is not the fault of the person. You can be sure that if on the interview you show yourself as a strong candidate, the employer will not be too much focused on "why you are sitting now without work". However it is better to clarify what was the reason of your dismissal. So, tell the interviewer that the period without work you have been spent with advantage for own development. For instance: attended specialized training programs and courses, continued to monitor developments and changes in your professional field, etc.

Wrong belief 5: You may get a good job only by using personal acquaintance

This myth has arisen among those who are trying to justify own passivity. For example, one popular job search portals include the following data - at the moment there are placed more than 40,000 offers from different companies, and about half of all employers themselves are looking for employees in the resume database before the job posting. "According to the site, this month the amount of the placed vacancies even exceeded number of the summary", says the chief manager of the portal. In other words, companies are actively using the Internet to reach the maximum number of potential candidates.

Really, through your friends you can learn about the vacancy which the company has not yet posted online. Recently, however, many companies are practicing some stages of interview - from HR and to the boss. At each stage of the multilevel interview, as a rule, insufficiently professional candidates are eliminated.

Author: Job-less.info - Find the right job for you
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