How To: Stand Out in a Competitive Job Market
A competitive job market refers to the total number of positions that are available for one job role. A job market can decrease, or increase based on the demand for labour or on how many candidates are applying. As competition for jobs increase, it is important that you do your best to get yourself noticed. You need to be able to stand out by having a combination of the right education, experience, and skills in your industry.
Ensure you have relevant work experience
If you are looking at pursing a professional job, relevant work experience could be the difference between you getting the role or someone else with more experience getting it.
You could do an internship or an apprenticeship in the industry that you aspire to work in. During an internship and apprenticeship you are learning whilst you are on the job so not only are you getting the work experience from being in a working environment you are also getting the knowledge from studying the relevant qualification. The experience and skills that you would gain in this role can transfer into any future position.
Education
To be considered for any skilled role you need to ensure that you have the correct qualifications. An agency would more often than not choose a candidate that has appropriate qualifications and experience over someone who does not.
For Example: If you are thinking of becoming a technician/mechanic you might need a qualification in light vehicle maintenance (qualifications may vary depending on the job role and company). DISCLAIMER: Some companies will occasionally accept people who are time served without qualifications.
There are different ways that you could gain a qualification for the job that you desire. You could go down the root of an apprenticeship (as stated in the ‘ensure you have relevant work experience’ section). Apprenticeships are a good way to get started as you’ll get great hand on experience of being in a working environment as well as getting the education. You earn whilst you learn!
Another way of getting your qualifications could be through college courses. These types of courses can be found on the City and Guilds website or on any other providers websites.
Network
Networking can play a big role in helping you find the best job opportunity for you. Staying in contact with people who are in your industry even though you might not be looking for a job at the time could help you out massively in the future. Even though the people you connect with might not be hiring they could recommend you elsewhere.
Update your CV
If you’re looking around for a new job the first thing to do is to spruce up your CV. CLICK HERE!
You want your CV to be relevant to the job role that you are applying for so make sure that your CV is tailored to the job role. Ensure that your CV has been updated with your most current skills, qualifications, and work experience (you might even want to remove some information that is not relevant to the position).
Prepare for an interview
Whether you are new to job hunting or you’ve been in the game for a while ‘winging it’ should never be an option. Take a look at our tips on how to prepare for an interview. CLICK HERE!
