We recently held an event called Jump Start Your Career: Your Roadmap to Your Job Search Success, at the American Resource Center. We had a full house and the audience included participants from second year students to a seasoned jobseekers who have over 20 years of experience in the government and now trying to explore the employment market. Without a doubt, the majority of the participants were recent graduates from various universities across the country (from Addis Ababa, Mekelle, Jimma, Axum, St Mary, Ambo  etc universities). Over 200 participants registered and we have asked in the registration form, what are some of the challenges you are facing in your job searching?

Some of the challenges that the participants are facing  are :- “anxiety of applying for job, not able to find a/the right job, gender bias towards female software developers, not knowing , how to send a proper applications that bring results, lack of confidence, not getting any response from employers, lack of interviewing skills, lack of information, standing out in a highly competitive job market, finding the first position(no entry level jobs or internships to gain some experience), lack of the basic application skills, lack of CV/resume writing skills etc”  were some selected responses we got. iCANJOBS’ main objectives of the workshop were to address the majority of the challenges mentioned above and specifically How to START, PREPARE,STAND OUT & LAND a job? And what are EMPLOYERS LOOKING for in a job seekers? And we believe that we have successfully covered and addressed it well. We will be summarizing the workshop in the next couple of blogs.

JOB SEARCHING

Job searching is a full time job. It requires dedication, commitment and preparation. Before we start job searching or even sending applications, it is critically important to start planning and understanding how the job searching process works. Generally speaking, job searching process boils down to the following four steps.-PLANNING, BRANDING, INTERVIEWING and LANDING YOUR DREAM JOB. Every step of the process requires preparation, preparation and preparation!!

PLANNING

Responding to the following necessary questions will help you prepare in the planning stage of your job searching process:-

1. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT  

• What are your interests and passion?
• What do you visualize when you think of a dream job?
• What career path do you want to take?
• Have you identified industries, companies, and organizations that interest you or fit your degree/major?   Which organizations/companies fit your interest and qualification?
• What kind of positions are you interested in?
• Have you identified networking opportunities? 

2. ASSESS YOUR CURRENT STATUS:

• What are your skills, abilities, and interests? 
• Which core competencies do you have?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• what unique or market relevant skills do  you?  

3. LAUNCH AN EFFECTIVE JOB SEARCH

• Design a road map to acquire the job of your dream

Key mistakes the majority of job seekers make when job searching or applying for a job are

• Not spending enough time planning and preparing for it
• Not reading and analyzing thoroughly the job description/ requirements
• Not customizing their CV/resume for each individual job posting

Before applying for any position, you have to make sure that you have a clear understanding of the position and its requirement. First identify the key requirements, the “implied” requirements and write down your own experience (evidence), knowledge and skills parallel to each identified requirement.  Then, to apply, you will need prepare and/or customize your CV/resume that fits the job you analyzed, BRANDING. We will be sharing in our next blog about effective CV/Resume writing  that is appealing to the  reader/recruiters/hiring manager  and helps you  get your next job interview.

Share with us, what type of planning are you currently doing that is helping you in your job search? If you are working now, what have you done that actually helped you land your dream job? Please share your thoughts icanjobs3@gmail.com or on our telegram channel https://t.me/iCANJOB