Talent is overrated

“Most people learn how to do their jobs in the first year, and then they never get any better. They just coast in their jobs. But the only direction you can coast is downhill.
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The average person does only an average job, and as a result, he earns an average income and worries about money all his life. He does not realize that there is often only a thin veil that separates the average person from the excellent person. The fact is that if you are not getting better, you are getting worse. No one stays in the same place for long.”
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The only thing that separates the average person from the exceptional person, is continuous learning. Listening to podcasts, reading, doing courses.
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Part Four: Your future employer is going to cyber-stalk you.

Before you are employed- possibly before you are even interviewed- your future employer is going to stalk you on the internet.  I know this, because it’s the first thing that I would do, and most of my clients do as well 😊!  And its perfectly fair and ethical to “invade your privacy” and make judgements on what is on your social media accounts… because you made it public!

You have the power to decide what people see and do not see on your social media profiles, by changing your privacy settings and thinking before you post.  By looking at little details such as your display name, account name, email address, statuses, and profile pictures.  Your WhatsApp Profile picture may be my first visual impression of you.

Take a moment to scroll through your account and look at your posts through the eyes of a future employer.

And while we are on the topic of digital accounts- do you have a LinkedIn Profile?  If not, it is time to get one.  Think of LinkedIn as the professional Facebook for the business world.  Next week I will post a few hints and tips of putting together a professional LinkedIn profile.

Part Three: Tertiary Education sells you on Dreams

It’s sad, but true.  Tertiary education is a business like any other.  They must sell you on studying qualifications through them, with the promise of amazing careers, dream jobs and huge salaries.  The truth is, that a lot of the Student Advisors are students themselves and have no idea what the business world has to offer.

You study for years, excel in your exams, enter the employment market, only to find that the jobs and salaries are not what you expected.  Business on the other hand is less interested in your qualifications, and more interested in who you are and the value you can add to their business.  And without practical experience behind the theory that you learnt, they will have to invest more in you initially, than the value you will add.

The reality is, that when entering the job market, you need to see what the market is paying, and the value of the experience that you will gain.

The good news is, that while you may not necessarily be the next Marketing Intern for Unilever, or Account Manager for an Advertising Agency, with hard work and a little time, you will achieve those great things.  And there will come a day when you and another applicant apply for a job or promotion, and you will get it, because of the qualifications you studied.

(A final note- I am not for a second saying that studying is unnecessary or irrelevant.  As a recruiter, if a CV passes my desk of a graduate, I immediately assume that they are intelligent and have work ethic, simply because they completed a qualification.  That alone will open doors for you!)

Part Two: Who wants this job- you or your mom?

Every recruiter’s pet peeve- when a girlfriend, boyfriend, best friend, wife; or in this case- parent, phones on behalf of their child to find out about jobs.

When you are starting your career, there is not a lot on your CV to “sell” you.  Most of the time when we book in a school leaver or graduate with no experience for an interview, it is because they impressed us with their communication.

If you are not the one communicating with us, how will we get to know you? How will you form connections/ network? How are we supposed to know that you are confident enough to speak to people on the phone or construct a professional email?

(A side note to the parent: I know you care.  I know that it’s easier for you to just get it done.  I know you are at work to access to your employers’ phones and internet.  I am a parent too. But you undermine your children when you phone for them.  Respect them enough to let them do this themselves.)

What they didn’t tell you about looking for a job in school- Part one: Looking for a Job starts with Job Portals

Gone are the days of looking for a job in the local newspapers.  Today you look for employment opportunities digitally.  And the number one place is on Job Portals. A job portal, also known as a career portal or employment website, is a modern name for an online job board that helps applicants find jobs and aids employers in their quest to locate ideal candidates.

Internationally Indeed and Monster are popular, but in South Africa, you want to get your CV on Careers24, Career Junction and PNet, among others.  You can also search for jobs on Gumtree, Job Mail and various social media groups, especially on Facebook.

Its important that you include as much detail as possible when uploading your CV onto these websites.  Prospective employers will search this data base of CV’s using “key words” and if those words are not on your CV, you CV will not show up on the search.  ALL experience is important, when you have limited experience.  Include the subjects that you studied, and all the computer packages that you have worked on.

It can be tedious uploading all the information on the forms as well as your CV, but be as detailed as possible.  I promise- you will be grateful for the initial effort later!

Put it in writing

“Researchers selected a large number of people who had made New Year’s resolutions.  They then divided these people into two categories: those who had set New Year’s resolutions and written them down and those who had set New Year’s resolutions but had not written them down.

 

12 months later they followed up with the respondents in the study, and what they found was astonishing.

 

If the people who had set New Year’s resolutions but had not written them down, only 4% had actually followed through on their resolutions.

 

But among the group that had written down their resolutions (an exercise only requiring a couple of minutes), 44% had followed through on them.

 

This is a difference of more than 1000% in success, and it was a result of simply putting the resolutions down on paper.”- Brian Tracy: No Excuses!

 

“Writing is called a “psycho- neuro-motor activity”.  The process of writing forces you to think and concentrate.  It forces you to choose what is more important to you and your future.  As a result, when you write down a goal, you impress it into your subconscious mind, which then goes to work 24 hours a day to bring your goal into a reality.”

 

If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you have arrived?

“Your ability to discipline yourself and set clear goal for yourself and then work towards them every day will do more to guarantee your success than any other single factor.

 

You need to have goals to accomplish worthwhile things in life.

 

You have probably heard it said- “You cannot hot a target that you cannot see”, or “You miss every shot you don’t take”.

 

3% of adults have written goals and plans, and this 3% earn more than all of the other 97% put together.

 

The tragedy is that most people think they already have goals.  But what they have are hopes and wishes.  However, hope is not a strategy for success, and a wish has been defined as a goal with no energy behind it.”

 

Don’t get caught in the New Years Resolution setting hype of the 31st of December.  Start now to think about what you want for 2023 and your future.  Then ask yourself what little actions you can take to get closer to those things.

 

I am obsessed with setting goals.  It’s my first priority each month.  At the beginning of the year, I set myself a list of goals for the year, and beyond.  Some of my goals have timelines, and others are bigger and I feel more comfortable with them being a little more open ended.  Then each month I set myself targets, or a “to-do” list for the month ahead.  I print it out and stick it next to my desk, my bed- places I will see it each day.  Every day, I read through the list and track habits and tick off what I have achieved on my to-do list.  The act of reading through the list daily, keeps me on track.

 

If you are the kind of person that has a to-do list in other areas of your life- why do you not have one for your life?

 

You can make excuses, or you can make progress.  You choose.

“Your intelligence is like a double-edge sord: It can cut in either direction.  You can use your intelligence to rationalize, justify, and blame other people for things you are not happy about, or you can use your intelligence to find reasons why you are responsible for what happened and then take action to solve the problem or resolve the situation.

 

You can make excuses, or you can make progress.  You choose.

 

This sense of “response-ability” is the mark of a highly developed personality: You take responsibility for your life by resolving, in advance, that you will not become upset or angry over something that you cannot affect or change.

 

What cannot be cured, must be endured.” – Brian Tracy- No Excuses!

 

When you turn towards the sunshine, the shadows fall behind you.- Helen Keller

It’s not Christmas yet!

20 Years ago when I started my business, I shut each year from the 15th of December to the 15th of January.  A lot of companies shut for “builders shut down”.  But the world has changed, and a lot of businesses will work right through.

Last week, the first week of December, we took in 11 new vacancies from clients and had four people start new jobs.  We have several more clients that are working hard to finalize placements to start in January 2023.  And last week, we also had the most number of job seekers cancel their interviews with both us, and with our clients for the second round of the recruitment process.

I know that you are tired.  It’s been a busy year.  Christmas long weekend are in sight, and the last thing you have the energy for is job seeking and interviews.

Every year, job seekers tell themselves that, “There are no jobs in December because people are hanging on for their Christmas Bonus.”  Or “Companies don’t employ in December.”  This is simply not true.

If you are serious about finding a new job and ending 2022 the way you want to start 2023, then now is the best time to be looking for a job!  While your competition is on holiday until February (when schools/ varsity goes back), and making excuses why there are theoretically no jobs, take advantage of the lack of competition and start applying.

The myth of the 2 Page CV

I personally am not a fan of a one or two page CV… but neither am I of the 10 page CV!

 

When you are asked to submit a short CV, you should not be asking yourself “What can I take out?”.  You should be asking yourself, “How can I fit more information onto this page?”, without making it look unprofessional.

 

I often look at abbreviated CV’s, and the first thing the candidate has done it take out their skills and experience (the very reason you would be short listed for an interview and get the job); and leave in their hobbies and interests, which are often irrelevant.

 

When putting together an abbreviated CV, you want to abbreviate your CV and highlight the most important experience that you have.  Take out the long paragraphs and expansive duties, and bring it down to the important duties you had at your most recent, relevant employment.  List your qualifications (without subjects); and don’t forget to include your contact details!

 

Finally, make sure that your abbreviated CV is neat, eye catching and well laid out.  There are some fantastic templates to inspire you at www.canva.com