Are you still wondering why you haven’t been called for those interviews you applied for? But you sent all the required documents!
Well, it can be luck. But it’s often beyond luck – yes, yours may not be luck dependent.
Then, what may be wrong? Many things may be wrong.
Let’s face the fact, I do not rule out the role of luck but pinning success or failure to mother luck is like telling everyone that your pregnant wife will have a set of triplets when no scan has indicated so.
Straight to business…
Broadcast Yourself
I visit Youtube a lot because I love videos. Once I log onto the site on my beloved laptop, ‘Broadcast Yourself’ is the slogan that welcomes me on board. Appropriately enough, for you to make a mark in the labour market you need to broadcast yourself – through your resume. That’s where it starts.
I’ve been privileged to shortlist CVs from hundreds of CVs for different positions and I can tell which one would never be considered no matter the donkey years of experience, the intelligence or the capabilities of the owners.
Why? Because the CVs don’t really say anything that is worth considering. They are completely bland. CVs communicate a lot. Or why do you think you need one? It does the job of telling whoever cares to know who you are and what you can do.
An ideal CV should tell the employer your age, your academic and professional (if any) qualifications and your functional contact details but the most important part is the ‘work experience’ section.
Unfortunately, this is the section many do not invest the required effort on.
Don’t just produce a list of where you’ve worked. Tell employers briefly about the organizations and more importantly tell them your roles and duties in those places. This is what assists employers in deciding your suitability. And lest I forget, if you are submitting a hardcopy make sure it is neat, clean, not rumpled and not blurred photocopies. Those crippled copies are annoying.
Then watch out for typos on your CV and application letter. They are very annoying.
Don’t Be Nagging
Even now I still wonder why many do this. The instruction is: send your CV and application as an attachment. But what do you see? A heavy load of scanned ‘ammunitions’ – birth certificate, church awards, primary school testimonials, blurred and tattered CV, king-sized passport photos, etc. They make employers convulse with rage.
If you are not instructed to scan any document, please don’t do it. Your failure to follow a simple instruction will send a wrong signal to employers. And I’m sure you are not daft. Then, don’t give them the impression that you are.
Go in Your Smartest Best
Congratulations!
You’ve been able to scale through the hurdle of selection and staring at you is the letter inviting you for an interview, any avoidable offence? I think so! Never go there like a tired Moses at the foot of Mount Nebo.
Be in your smartest and neatest form.
A gentleman recently almost lost an employment opportunity were it not for the sheer fact that there was no better alternative for the employers. Why? He looked dirty.
Please, do not in a bid to appear corporate enshrine yourself in a dowdy coat – (or is it suit?). If you do not have one that fits, put on a clean, neat and well ironed shirt that fits your frame and ensure that your shoes are well polished. You can beat the trap of sweating and appearing like an aged granny by making sure that you are there latest an hour before the interview will commence.
And lest I forget, put your necessities in a portable small bag. Do not go there clutching a bag that can pass for a travel bag – you aren’t going camping.
What Do You Know?
“What do we do here?”
“You kill animals like turkey and chicken, freeze them and keep them for selling”.
“Thank you very much”.
The above conversation was an interview scene – a real life experience. The young man was invited for an interview at the Nigerian Wildlife Conservation Society. Sadly, and certainly, he lost the job. Although not after he had made the panel members laugh the deepest laugh of their careers. How on earth could you say that a wildlife conservation organization kill animals?
But he did not know.
Before you rush gaily to the venue of an interview, take the pains to do some findings on what the organization does. The Internet is there. You can even ask. I get amazed each time a candidate tells me he does not know ‘anything much’ about my organization. Then, why have you come? What if we deal in human trafficking?
Get yourself primed for the dream job!
Taiwo Adeyemi
taiwo@healedbyinspiration.com
08070584644
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Marketing Yourself for the Job: 5 Tips to Position Yourself and Get the Job You Want
by Taiwo Adeyemi
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