Boost Your Employability: Key Tips
In this day and age, everyone is aware that the job market’s competitiveness is growing by the day. You can’t control whether or not a recruiter chooses you, but you can do everything possible to boost your employability by standing out from the crowd.
Here are ten key points to improve your employability prospects
Sharpen your interpersonal and soft skills
Commonly known as C-skills, interpersonal and soft skills are a must-have for the students and graduates of today. Developing these skills is just as important as any professional skill. Employers are looking for evidence of skills such as communication, creativity, cooperation, and time management during your studies, extracurricular activities and past work experiences.
Prepare for interviews
It can be quite painful having to answer the same generic questions in every interview, but being one step ahead of the game can give you an advantage. Instead of giving a generic answer, make the answer based on the role, and use your past experiences, knowledge and passion to sell yourself to the interviewer. They want to find the best candidate as quickly as possible, so make sure you meet them on the same seesaw.
Don’t forget to turn the table and ask questions that are important to the role such as company ethics, social events, training, and questions that also show your passion to work for them. Do not ask questions that can easily be Googled or how to do your job.
Keep your CV up-to-date
It is easy to forget what you have accomplished over some time, so whenever you complete a course, take on more responsibilities in your work role, or learn a new skill – remember to add each accomplishment to your CV. Keeping an up-to-date CV is essential, as you never know when you may need it!
Employers will be looking for candidates to tick all the right boxes, so be sure you read the description carefully and tailor your CV to that role. It is important to remember that any transferable skills you may pick up along your journey could be beneficial to your next role.
Lastly, be sure to add a professional-type email. Don’t use the email you created as a 12-year-old, but rather one with your name and your surname. We all know that many have been taken, but pick one that looks the best and stick it with.
Be nice and keep lasting impressions
It can be quite difficult to be nice to people you consider foul. On more than one occasion, you may want to shout and argue, but you should also be considerate about the consequences of your actions. Most industries are close-knit and leaving a foul scent behind could cause you low employability, especially if your industry is small.
Careers are long and one day you may be offered a job by a previous work colleague or an old friend. People make business, and people employ people. Don’t burn the bridge, enter and leave respectively.
Don’t forget to say your please and thank you, people will more likely remember the bad things about you rather than all the good things you have done, so making sure you are kind and nice can go a long way.
Keep your social media professional
Social Media is a huge part of everyone’s life, whether or not you spend your time on it. But there is a limit to how you should portray yourself to the world. If you are one to party a lot, it may be best to avoid taking images or being tagged into one. If you are one to pick fights, avoid trigger-causing posts. Keep any personal views personal, and any risky images private. If you want to share details on social media, consider sharing your work experience, qualifications and any skills gained on Linkedin, increasing the potential of recruiters or in-house hiring managers approaching you for your services.
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and credit reports
In the UK, some employers will require you to take a DBS or credit check before signing a contract. Some roles such as schools, hospitals, and other public servicing roles will require a mandatory DBS check to see if you are suitable to work with certain groups of people and in a certain industry – it is a method of safe recruitment. Some may ask for a credit report as well depending on your role and the industry.
Keeping both of these clean is preferred and will instantly push you above anyone who fails the above.
Learn new skills
The world is constantly changing and with that, so are the industries. You have to upskill with it and constantly get new training. Your role 5 years in the past will be different 5 years in the future. With new tech, new skills and an array of new trends you must learn to keep up with the industry and social standards.
Enhance your skills
One thing recruiters do not like is seeing gaps in your CV. Whilst you should indeed remove anything not relevant to the application, you should also inform them of other work in that space. Everyone has a dip in their CV, but it’s what you do in that dip that makes you stand above the others. Did you sit at home and complain, or did you undertake some free courses to improve or hone your skills?
Show the recruiters even on the hardest days you did not sit back but took the initiative to improve yourself.
Work experience
One way to upskill yourself in a job application is to show relevant work experience. If you work in a similar role to the one you are applying for, you’ll have a better chance of getting an interview than a role in which you haven’t. This doesn’t always apply, but some volunteering roles can also push you ahead of the competition as they show commitment, growth mindset, leadership, intuition and passion for a certain area.
Consider what you’re looking for in a new role
Put some real thought into what you’re looking for in a new opportunity. The more precise your ideal environment is, the better you will be able to target in your job search. To better understand your ideal work environment, ask yourself these questions:
- What salary are you looking for (and any benefits packages/perks)?
- What would be a deal-breaker?
- Would this role represent a sensible step forward in your career?
- Are you prepared to be flexible (in work hours, travelling)?
- What kind of culture and work environment would you like [or not like] to join?
Lastly, keep yourself positive and motivated. A brighter outlook and a positive attitude will greatly aid your employability success. Everyone goes through failure, but it’s those who use rejections to their advantage are the ones who succeed.
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Indeed. How to improve employability for graduates. https://uk.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/employability-graduates
