'Market yourself positively to advance career'

By Sonia Chinnaiyah

Finding your next job has become tough because it takes lot of effort, similar to preparing for an examination or a competition. There are so many out there in the job market, who have equal potential and are looking out for new jobs to advance their careers.

A company could get thousands of CVs even for a junior post such as a management trainee or financial analyst. The advent of social media such as Linkedin, has created tremendous opportunities for companies to source talent not only within Sri Lanka (SL) but also from other countries, which further intensifies the competition for job seekers.

Therefore, if you are looking out for a new job, you must market yourself positively and use the maximum available sources in the job market.

First time

The first step to finding a new job is to prepare your CV. The preparation should be done professionally as it is the first contact point between you and your prospective employer.

This is mainly because your prospective employers may see you for the first time on paper if they have not met you before. 'First impressions' are crucial. Ensure your CV gets the attention of your prospective employer.

Key points to note before you send your CV is to first check whether your CV is updated and ensure it is customised for the job for which you are applying.

For an instance, if you are focused on a career in marketing and you apply for the post of Sales Manager it is important to highlight your sales skills and any notable achievements in meeting sales targets and any other new initiatives you undertook to acquire new customers.

However, if you are applying for the post of Brand Manager, it is important that you highlight your skills pertaining to brand management. There are so many tips for writing an effective CV which could be easily obtained by a single click on Google. I will highlight other tips for effective CV writing in another article.

Entry level jobs

After your prepare your CV, as a job seeker you need to contact prospective professionals who may have access to job vacancy details and keep them informed that you are on the lookout for a job.

For entry level jobs such as, internship, management trainee or financial analyst, your professional or academic educational institutes are an ideal source to get details about vacancies.

There are companies which are corporate partners with leading educational institutes and you could easily get access to many vacancies by regularly being in touch with the career development and guidance or students' development section of the educational institutes.

For an instance, there are a few companies which directly advertise their vacancies through these educational institutes and sometimes such companies may not even advertise on other public media.

Hence, it is worth sending your updated CV and to be regularly in touch with your educational institutes to receive more details on upcoming vacancies which may not be available on public domain, either in newspapers or job vacancy websites.

C-Suit jobs

However, if you want to ensure a smooth job change without upsetting your present employer, then contacting reputed headhunting and executive search firms would be ideal. This is more suitable for those who are looking for managerial and C-Suit (high ranking jobs such CEOs, and Directors) positions.

Headhunters could assist you to find your next job without giving indications to the present employer that you are seeking a new job. Further, they could also inform you of any suitable job vacancies which may not be advertised externally as they are regularly in touch with the industry.

Headhunters could also arrange interviews that are convenient for the prospective company and the candidate, thereby helping you to face interviews without unwanted anxieties.

These anxieties may arise if your Headhunter fails to handle your CV professionally and confidential information, that you are on the lookout for a job elsewhere, is leaked and your present employer also becomes aware of it.

Unwanted stress may also arise when Headhunters send your CVs to companies which you are not interested in and thereby you may face an embarrassing position because it is too late to rectify the reputational damage.

However, one should bear in mind credibility and professionalism before you forward your CVs to Headhunting firms to ensure your CVs are handled in a professional and confidential manner to avoid such anxieties.

A professional Headhunter would be focused on setting their business deals based on trust, reputation and long-term relationships.

They will not be rushing to forward your CV to every 'Tom, Dick and Harry' to close the deal to earn quick money but rather, a professional Headhunter would strive to establish their credibility and conduct the whole job seeking process in a professional manner.

Therefore, before you send your CV to any Headhunter or Executive Search firm, it is worth checking their professional background and past track record.

Keep looking

As a job seeker you should always bear in mind that not every interview will be successful even after you have prepared perfectly for the interview. It is best if you can find out the reasons why you were not selected.

The writer is an Associate HR Consultant at HR Cornucopia and a Visiting Lecturer at IPM-SL and SAITM, Faculty of Management and Finance.