[CHAT] Work it
Whether:
- you are going for your first ever after school job at 14 & 9 months, or
- you've left school and looking for an apprenticeship/traineeship or
- you are trying to work to support your study at uni or tafe or
- you've finished your study and you want your first full time job or
- you haven't worked for a long time but it's time to get a job...
- you are working hard for the money...
Looking for a job and/or working can be a pretty nerve wrecking experience, especially trying to keep everything running smoothly!
You might be wondering how you can find the right kind of job that suits you; how to make it through the dreaded interview; how to make sure you are not taken advantage of; how to manage your pay & make it last the fortnight; and before any of that - resumes these days have become an art form!
Or what about this age old conundrum:
Here's a story from a forum member, Chonty
"The first job I ever had was working in a fast food joint after school and on weekends. I remember wanting to quit in the first week because it was all too new and I didn’t like the manager. I also remember how exciting it was to get my first pay, and I’m pretty sure I spent it immediately on new clothes and forgot all about wanting to leave. That’s pretty much how I spent every pay for two years straight, without a thought about saving for future things.
It wasn’t until schoolies came around that I realised I didn’t have enough saved to do all the things that had been planned! Luckily in the end my family were all able to chip in in and it all worked out, but they let me sweat it for a while. Being in a position where I realised I hadn’t managed my money as well as I should have wasn’t the best.""
@Mermaidgirl6 Government jobs can def be intense with the application process! I remember applying for one and hearing back like 3 months later lol! The process was pretty long too, I guess they have so many applicants.
@copse That's the way to do it, there's something to learn from every experience, even getting a rejection. Never be afraid to contact the company and ask what you can improve on or what didn't work well in the interview, they are usually always happy to offer valuable feedback 🙂
@copse Well people aren't always going to be helpful! Just have to take it in your stride and keep your chin up and look forward to the next opportunity
SO. Resumes have been mentioned a few times which is perfect, since we're just leading into our next question.
2. What are some of your tips for making the best resume when applying for jobs?
Personally, I think some of the most important things are making a professional looking resume, making sure you include skills relevant to the job you're applying for (which means altering it for each job you apply for), and adding any activities you do that might be relevant, like volunteering !
Space out your resume (lay it out clearly), ensure there are no spelling mistakes, and highlight your skills (E.g, make a small list of 3 or 4 relevant skills under each job). I also recommend getting someone (like a careers advisor) to look it over for you and give you feedback, I found it really beneficial when I was applying for graduate jobs 🙂
Getting a careers advisor is great advice! They can def help pick up on stuff that you might not be aware of.
Some really positive and constructive stuff here 🙂
Time for the next question I think!
what are some of the websites or ways you apply for jobs?
what are some of the websites or ways you apply for jobs?
Indeed
Career one
Jobfox
Ecademy
LinkedIn
Facebook has ads
Jobster
Craigslist
Gumtree
Jobseeker
These are some websites that you can make profiles on or just to look for things, also you can look on the personalised websites and click employment or jobs or careers, and personally send them the resume and do the requirements for it
@Dreamer 95 has linkd in actually worked?
people say its a place where employers 'look for you'. But my feeling towards it is that in reality you would make a profile and it would remain domant forever. Unless your in a very specialised field and that field actively searches out ppl in the area with expertise
@Troy I've always had the same mindset but lately I think it's making a comeback, been hearing it discussed a fair bit recently!
I would say yes, I have a careers advisor from my course online and she has told me that it would help, so i've had one for a little while but I have other things, but I know a friend who got a job from it, it may or may not help, it just depends on whether you want to try 🙂
The ol newspaper! That's a good one that I wouldn't have immediately thought of 🙂
Oh! I forgot about Newspapers @FItzChivalry ! They're still make them, don't they?!
@Bee Newspapers! Another one I forgot about! Another great way to find stuff, i've seen heaps of good casual stuff in there, particular stuff that doesn't require much experience which is good for alot of us students.
@Dreamer 95 that's a pretty awesome list there! LinkedIn is def an awesome one. I think creating a LinkedIn profile is really helpful, particularly if you're working towards gaining employment in a specialized field.
I just goggled 'Job search' and a few different sites came up, I think my main ones were 'seek' and job search or a gov based job search, I can't even remember names! I also paroosed every newspaper. And as soon as I saw a notice, I was all over it. Writing down details and going straight to that store. It was a bit crazy.
3. What are some of the websites or ways you apply for jobs?
I use seek.com.au and jobsearch.gov.au, but i've also recently taken to looking for companies in the field i'm interested in and checking their websites for employment or volunteer opportunities. Often I find volunteer stuff that isn't advertised anywhere so it can be a great idea!
What are some of your tips for making the best resume when applying for jobs?
Make sure you are able to have these simple points:
- That you are employable
- How you meet the job requirements
- That you have the right qualifications and education for the job or what you want to apply to them
- That you have the right experience and skills
- That you have the right level of professionalism for the job (this is good to have due to the fact you don't want to be too immature for the job you want to apply for, you need to keep professionalism if you want to find a good job, unless the job you want doesn't need too much)
Totally. Addressing the job requirements and making sure you have the qualifications and educations shows that you've read the ad properly and are serious about the job. That's a really good checklist anyone could go through to make sure their resume is good for an application !
My tips, are to definitely update your experience as you go along, anything you achieve update it as soon as you remember. Also updating and modifying it to suit the job your applying for is a good idea. In my experience blanket resume's don't work. Also have character references handy.
At school one of the most memorable lessons I learned was not attaching a photo to your resume. You don't want a workplace to be judging you based on your physical appearance rather than your skill set!
