How to Land a Job Right Now. These 5 Strategies Will Help You | 5 Job Search Strategies

This is Careers with Nelly, and I'm happy to have you back yet on another episode of learning. If you're here for the first time, my name is Nelly. And if you're a returning viewer, thank you so much for coming back. And I hope this channel has added value to you. Thank you for supporting this work. If you're here for the first time, this, um, this channel, I share content on career growth, uh, job site strategies, personal development, and how, um, impactful workplace conversations to shift how we do things for the better, and also to help you build a rewarding and fulfilling career. I share topics on job search on, uh, career strategies, because I'm passionate about building a rewarding and fulfilling careers. So today's conversation is an interesting one because I know we are in times where, you know, the festive season is where we are relaxing. We are sitting back to enjoy, um, to enjoy what we've made or rather the hard work, the fruit of our hard work throughout the year, we are taking back to sit down and relax with families, a very interesting time, but again, it does not mean that you're going to put our careers on hold. So I'm here yet with another conversation on how you can take advantage of this festive season, if you're looking for a job, or if you're looking to grow your career, because I believe that even with the festivities, um, vibe going around with the celebrations, we just have a few weeks to go back to work. And if you've been on job search throughout the year, I know you want to slow down. I know it has been tiresome, but there's still something that you can do to still land a job during this time. So today I want to share with you, uh, five powerful strategies that you can still use to land a job right now. So the five strategies I'm going to share with you are powerful jobs and tips that you can use at any time of the year, not only now during the festive season, but I'm focusing more on the festive season because that is where we all are now. That is where all the mood and all the energy has been transformed and has been transferred to. So you can use these five tips to land this job or during your job search at any time of the year. So if this is something that you're interested to learn more about, then I'm sure you want to stick to this video till the end. So the first strategy is that you do not need to slow down on your job search right now. Why am I saying so? Because we are in times that are slow and at any point, you do not need to slow down on your job search because companies are always hiring. We could be in the festive season. We could be in times of celebration, but remember the companies have not closed down. Even though people are slowing down or taking breaks to go on vacations and all that companies are still hiring. So you do not need to slow down in your job sites. And the advantage of looking for a job now is that there is less competition. There is less competition because any other normal job seeker is slowing down. Every other person is on vacation. Every other person is going on break. So there is less competition right now. That means there are higher chances of you landing a job right now than it is during any other time. So at any other time that you're looking for a job, never ever slow down. We say that you don't give up, you don't stop the race until you reach your destination. So do not slow down now if you're looking for a job. The second strategy is to carry out an honest self audit. And why I always like this point and I say it a lot if I encounter job seekers is that, you know, sometimes we expect different results while doing the same thing over and over again. If you've been looking for a job for the last six months, one year, but you're not getting the job, then it is only fair that you sit back and analyze what you've been doing. It could be the strategies you've been deploying are not working. It could be you've been using the wrong job search tools. You know, your CV cover letter, your LinkedIn profile, your application is not right. It is time that you sit back to do an honest audit of your job search process. If it is your job search tools like the CV, look at it. Does it, is it crafted in a way that it is aligned to the jobs that you're applying for? If it is your interviewing skills, are they up to date? Are they really matching the standards for the interviews that you're attending? If it is how you apply for jobs, are you the type of person who is applying for quantity instead of quality? You know, I've encountered people who say that they apply for at least a hundred jobs in a day. There can't be a hundred jobs that match your, match your skills at any particular time. So that means you're applying for the wrong jobs. So you need to do a self audit and see what is it that you're not doing right and correct where necessary. Strategy number three is to get help. Guys, I encourage you to get help because I always say that you're not a subject matter expert in everything. So it is only fair if you sit back and get someone who understands the process, help you. So for instance, if you're looking for a job, you need to get a career coach to walk you through. You need a job search strategist to help you. You need someone who's good with CVs, cover letters, you know, interview coaching, you know, you need a mentor to help you walk through. This may come at a cost, unfortunately, or sometimes you can have someone who's willing just to walk you through and help you, but you need someone who will guide you. You need someone who will look at your applications and tell you this is what you need to do. You need someone who will look at how you interview and tell you you're doing it correctly or this is how you're supposed to do. So don't ignore mentors. Don't ignore working with career strategists. You need to work closely with recruitment firms because they are the people who have those opportunities from people who are hiring, from employers who are hiring. So you need help. And it is only fair that you prioritize to get help from relevant sources. And this will honestly make your job search journey very short. The fourth strategy, which I also find to be very powerful, is look for jobs beyond normal applications. And what are normal applications? Seeing a job online, doing your CV, doing your cover letter and applying. So you need to look for jobs beyond normal application. And what do I mean in this point? You need to get to know or to learn about different vacancies through referrals. Guys, I don't want to say I don't want to use through your network because it will sound like a buzzword, but really that is it. You need to learn about the vacancies through your friends, through your networks, through referrals. It is easier that way because that is the surest way to tap into what I call the hidden job market. And the hidden job market is where all the jobs that never make it to the public eye. That is where they are. You know, those jobs that are being filled or those vacancies that are available within different organizations, but they're never advertised. So instead of just applying for jobs blindly, check your level of networking. Check your networks. Could be people that you've worked with previously. Could be your family friends. You know, could be people that you meet in social events. Could be people that you meet in church and so on and so forth. You know, so look for jobs beyond applications. It is the easiest way to tap into the into the hidden job market, which is rich of opportunities or rich with opportunities and will help you land a job quicker than you can ever imagine. Strategy number five and the last strategy is to target the right jobs. And this is one of the reasons that we get it wrong when it comes to job search. I have spoken about quality over quantity where I discourage you from applying for many jobs, but I encourage you to apply for few where you closely match or where you exactly match what the job is looking for. Let me give you an example. If you're the one who's hiring and let's say you're hiring an accountant and you say you're looking for an accountant with three years of experience, they need to have a degree, should be having a CPA or SCCA certification, should have worked maybe in a specific background, like let's say manufacturing or service industry. You know, those are the basic requirements. Even if you go if even before you go into the technical competency or the technical fit for the job. So if you're the one who's shortlisting, I am sure the first things you'll be looking for are those basic criteria that you've set down. You'll be looking for a degree in accounting. You'll be looking for the two or three years of experience that you'd mentioned in the JD. You'll be looking for the manufacturing background, for example. You'll be looking for the CPA or the SCCA certification. So you'll be looking for these key things as the knockout questions automatically. So now come back to you as the job seeker or the person who's applied for the job. If you are the one who is shortlisting, all right, or if you're, if you're the one who's shortlisting, it will be very easy to knock out people who have not met it. So that's how shortlisting works. So that's why it's quite important that if you've not met this basic criteria, I honestly discourage you from applying for those jobs, because if the job is looking for a degree and you don't have it, it's an automatic knockout. If the job is looking for somebody who has a background in accounting and you don't have it, for instance, you're on HR like myself and you apply for an accounting job, automatic knockout. If the job is specific, say manufacturing experience, automatic knockout. They'll not even look at what experience that you have. If the job is looking for someone with a CPA, SCCA certification, you don't have it, automatic knockout. So you will be putting so much effort, doing so many applications, but you're applying for the wrong jobs. I encourage you to apply for the right jobs. It is a strategy that you can use to land a job at any time, in any industry, at any level. It is an automatic win. Targeting the right jobs and of course, crafting your applications to align with that, crafting your job application tools like the CV cover letters, having your LinkedIn profile right, and you'll make your job search journey shorter than you can imagine. So that's what I have for you for this video. I felt it's quite important to discuss this and as you enjoy and celebrate the festive season, you can take advantage of these five strategies to take your job search game to the next level and land a job even before the year 2025. So thank you so much. If this is something that you'll want to keep getting this type of content from time to time, then please make sure to subscribe to this channel. If you found this video helpful, consider giving it a thumbs up, commenting, sharing it within your network to also help someone get the same knowledge that you've gotten. I'll be happy to know some of the topics that you'd want me to speak about in my next episodes. Thank you for always watching. If you've subscribed to this channel, I appreciate you. Thank you so much for your support. And I hope that this channel has genuinely added value to you. Till next time. Bye bye.