Finding Jobs in Testing Times

In 2009, as the World economic crisis deepens, a number of candidates find themselves unemployed in the Australian Job market. Smarter strategies are needed to find work in such a market since around 75% of all jobs are not advertised.  It is also critical that candidates engage a good mentor to work with to assist them in their job search.

Some such strategies include:

• Having an excellent resume generated by a certified professional.  Some candidates spend less time producing resumes and hence have very ordinary resumes. It is important that a well structured resume is developed, preferably by a professional resume writer who is qualified and accredited. It is also important not to flood the market with your resume.
• Having excellent cover letters which attract attention immediately.
• Having the flexibility to work anywhere in Australia. Sometimes, restrictions such as not being available to go where work is makes it harder to find work.
• Engaging in extensive networking. Candidate's need extensive networks to approach the market. The best people to network with are those who recommend an organisation to work for or a person to approach.
• Posting resumes on sites such as Resume Express, Seek, Job Serve, Career One, Hippo, etc.  This enables registered recruiters to obtain copies of resumes easily. However candidates need to be aware that many recruiters have to pay a lot of money to access resume databases and registering resumes on these sites is not the only means of recruitment.
• Working through True Local or Yellow pages websites to identify a number of employers the candidate wants to work with and writing directly to CEO's of those organisations searching for work.
• Preparing for interviews well.  In Australia behavioural interviews are conducted. Since there are few interview opportunities, preparing well for interviews is critical. Within 24 hours after initial interview, the candidate should communicate with the interviewer to express interest in the role and reiterate any qualifications relevant to the role.