Learn skills to get noticed

With so many people applying for so few jobs at the moment it has never been more important to make a good impression.

As an employer, as a training provider and as a plain speaking woman who has read more résumés than I care to remember, I need to tell you something. If you want to get a job, an interview or just be noticed in a crowd then remember this, you need to be interesting!

Far too often I come across people who tell me they are desperate to find work. They’ve applied for dozens of jobs but have never had an interview. They think it’s because they are too old, too young, live in the wrong place, have used the wrong font on their résumé (yes really!) or they simply just can’t understand why an employer hasn’t plucked their application from a pile of hundreds, “They probably gave the job to someone they know,” I hear all the time.

Well the simple truth is this, it isn’t who you know, it really does boil down to WHAT you know.

Sure as a stay at home mum for the past 10 years no one could argue that you don’t know how to multi-task, handle a budget and manage a team, you and the other 150 stay at home mums going for the same admin assistant position. Same goes for a mechanic who has run his own workshop for the past five years, of course you know how to do the books and organise staff rosters, you’ve been doing it for long enough.

But what if you could back up your anecdotal skills with some solid evidence? A Certificate III in Business, current First Aid certificate and a maybe a relevant industry induction safety ticket, now that would be impress an office manager.

An MYOB course to brush up on your book-keeping and a Certificate IV in Front Line Management would tell your future employer not only that you have the relevant skills, but also you were serious enough about finding a job that you made the effort to bring your qualifications right up to date.

Suddenly your résumé has moved from the reject pile to the short list, and all it took was a few weeks of study. And with the current Productivity Places Programs being run by state governments there is a very good chance that you could up-skill for free. If you are an Australian citizen or permanent resident, unemployed and seeking work, then you probably qualify for funding. Check with the Department of Education and Training in your state to find out what free training is available and how you can apply.

Take a look at your resume. If you haven’t added a new skill, or consolidated an old one with a formal qualification, over the past 12 months then do something about it. Tell an employer that you’re interesting, that you care about having the best skills for their business and that it isn’t who you know, it really is WHAT you know.