Mastering the Art of Power Dressing for a Job Interview

No matter which social setting it is that you are in, the way that you look, smell, dress and the way that you are groomed actually says a lot about who you are as a person. For example, if you’re a man who is wearing a khaki pants and a long-sleeved shirt to a supposedly casual barbecue party, you might come off as being the proverbial stuffed shirt.

The same thing holds true when it comes to showing up for job interviews. Here, we will take a look at the many different ways that you can master the art of power dressing for a job interview.

Easy-to-Follow Tips on the Art of Power Dressing

So you’ve already passed the first hurdle of landing that job interview. What’s the next step? Part of your preparations to make a killer impression the minute that you show up for the job interview is to dress properly.

It’s not just your outfit that will be judged, but also your posture, the way that you carry yourself – even your body language will give you plus or minus points as far as the interviewer is concerned.

Here are the additional tips that you need to keep in mind if you would like to ace that job interview – at least as far as power dressing is concerned:

Take note of these top tips on power dressing and you are bound to impress the heck out of your prospective employer – at least as far as the way that you are dressed is concerned! Once you’re dressed and groom to kill, it should also give you the confidence to say the right things and ace the interview!

Even if you have been loyal to your employer for the last ten years, you may suddenly find yourself out of a job as a result of economic problems or internal problems within the company. If you’ve been ensconced in an office for that long a time, how would you get your career back on track? Even those who are fresh out of college may find the stiff competition in the job market a bit intimidating. This is precisely the reason why you need to learn how the job search process exactly goes.

Quick Facts about the Job Search Process

To give you an idea about just how important it is to learn about the job search or job hunting process, take a look at the following quick facts:

Working Your Way through the Job Search Process

As you can see, going through the job search process is something which seems to be unavoidable – so you might as well prepare yourself for it. What are the most important things that you need to learn about the job hunting process? Basically, you need to familiarize yourself with the job process itself. Here’s a quick look at how the process goes.

First of all, every potential employee needs to make a self-assessment. What are the professional qualifications and work-related skills that you have? Are you willing to relocate if there’s a great job opportunity in a different state? This is also a good time to specify your employment objectives and create a draft of your career plan.

Second, you should prepare all the necessary documentations that you need. All your resumes, cover letters, recommendation letters, character references and contact information should be created, updated and well-crafted.

Third, you need to have a strategy on how you can go about applying for the positions that you are qualified for. Create a plan of how you can come up with a list of potential employers. How to contact them and how to bag an interview should be part of your job hunting strategy. After these, you should be off to the job interview and the job offer!

To make the job search process work for you, make sure that you also have a backup plan of what other job hunting methods you can resort to if the traditional job search process fails to work. All in all, preparedness and getting to know the job search process from the inside out are the keys towards grabbing the best job opportunity that you can get.

Here are some of the most important habits that can make you more productive and effective in looking for a new job.

Use Social Networking to Your Advantage

If you are used to playing games and exchanging useless tweets and updates on social networking sites, then today is the right time to change that habit. Use social networks wisely so you can take advantage of online networking.

You must develop a professional profile on some of the most popular sites like Facebook, Twitter, or Linked-In. You should make it a habit to follow useful leads like corporate profiles and the pages of known recruitment or HR agencies.

Exorcise from your system the habit of posting nonsense and embarrassing photos. Brush up your personal profile and make it as professional as possible.

Learn New Skills and Study Some More

If you are used to tweaking your blog everyday or wasting your time playing online poker, then you will end up jobless for the rest of your life. What you need today are new skills and talents. You need to use Internet technology to develop these skills.

Download free ebooks and manuals that are related to your industry. Learn new things by attending free online conference calls. If you want to upgrade your skills, then it would be best if you can take a formal course online.

Become an Expert in Your Industry

You will get more lucrative jobs if your name is well known throughout the web. In your spare time, you have to express your ideas though articles, blog posts, and forum posts. Teach others and you will be considered an expert in your industry.

You can transform your personal blog or website into a professional site. Just make sure that your complete profile is visible on the site. You need to provide valuable resources for other people. If you can position your name as an expert, then it is possible that companies will hire you as their consultant.

The job market is very competitive nowadays. You need to reinvent yourself and develop new habits so you can effectively attract employers.

Job searching is a job in itself. It is a task that you need to plan carefully so you can get the job that you are always dreaming of.

It is not enough to send applications to numerous employers in your industry. What you need is a systematic approach to job search in order to increase your chances of getting an interview and finally land a job.

So here are some simple and practical job search techniques which could help you to find the job you want.

Find a Niche for Your Skills Set

It is common knowledge that the job market is so competitive nowadays. You are going to compete with hundreds of thousands of other jobseekers who have the same skill set as you.

If you want employers to notice you, then you have to think how you can package your skill set to make it unique. As you can see, job searching is no different from marketing. This time however, you are the product and you need to market yourself to different employers and tell them why it is more beneficial for them to hire you.

So if you have a very special skill or experience, you need to highlight it in your resume or CV. You have to show to the employers that you can add value to their companies.

Focus on Regional or Sectoral Job Market

You can find jobs faster if you focus your search on regional or industry-specific job market. If you want to get a job in a specific locality, then focus your search on companies based on that area.

It is best also to spend your time searching for jobs on websites or online forums that are related to your industry. For example, if you want to get a job in the food industry, then you have to join online groups or sites that are related in this field. These sites regularly announce job opening and vacancies. Besides, the level of competition in specialized job market is not too tight.

Prepare and Prepare Some More

Always get your resume or CV ready. You need to have electronic and hard copies of your resume. This way, you can maximize both traditional sand online job markets. You must also prepare customizable cover letters so you can avoid sending generic cover letters to employers.

Most importantly, you have to enrich your knowledge and learn new skills even if you are still looking for a job. The new skills and talents that you can learn will greatly help you in finding a new and more lucrative job.

Those who have stepped out of college, those who are considering a career change and those who have been forced to leave their current job for one reason or another are the people who need to prepare for the job search process.

Let’s say that you are fresh out of college. One of the first processes that you need to familiarize yourself with before joining the ‘real world’ is how to search for jobs and prep yourself up for whatever lies ahead when it comes to your professional career. Here, we will take a look at how you can prepare for the job search process whether you are a new graduate or looking at other career paths that you can take.

General Job Search Preparedness Tips

It doesn’t matter if you’re preparing to apply for your first or tenth job. These are the things that you need to prepare beforehand:

Additional Tips when Preparing for the Job Search

If you are planning on resigning your current post with your employer, prepare an answer for interviewers who would want to know why you made such a career move. On your work computer, delete all your personal files and e-mail messages. Bring home a box of your personal belongings if you are clearing your work desk.

Those who are newly joining the workforce industry would do good to create a career plan – and don’t be afraid to start from the bottom of the ladder if you have to. Put together a list of the contact information of companies and individuals who you think might help you out along the way – which is also a great way to build a professional networking. Keep in mind these preparedness tips and you should be on your way towards getting that dream job that you’ve always wanted to have.

It is a known fact that if you want to quickly land a job, then the best thing that you can do is to network. Companies usually hire new employees that were referred by present or past employees.

Through networking, your chances of getting a new job would be higher. In fact, career experts suggest that professionals should spend more time on networking when they want to look for new job opportunities.

Wider Reach of the Job Market

Networking provides job seekers wider coverage of the job market. Sometimes, companies do not advertise job vacancies in online job boards or newspaper classified ads. They usually ask their employees to refer someone would be interested in the position.

So if you have a wide network among friends, former colleagues, family, and in online communities, then you will know immediately that there are job vacancies in your field of expertise. As long as you have good relationship with your network, you will certainly be the first to know about the vacancy.

Less Competition for the Job

Because the job announcements you got from your network were not publicly available on the Internet, you can expect few competition for the position. It is possible therefore to get more interview requests from employers if you focus your efforts on networking.

Being interviewed by an employer is the first step in getting the job. If you successfully pass the pre-employment process, then there is a good chance that you will be selected by the employer.

Long Term Career Asset

Networking should be part of your overall personal career building program. Your network can be considered as an asset. Through your network, you will know the latest news on other companies and you will always be in the loop about new job opportunities.

You have to remember that at some point in your career, there will come a time that you may have to look for better opportunities. If you have a wide network, then your search for new jobs would be easier. You can also use your personal network if you want a career change. Some of your friends can point you to the right directions in case you want to seek new employment outside of your industry.

Networking plays a significant role in widening your reach across different industries. It is always best to nurture your current network and expand it some more in order to effectively get a new job.

Online job sites completely revolutionized the way people find suitable employment opportunities. Instead of visiting offices, reading classified ads, and mailing hundreds of applications, all you have to do now is to browse for jobs on the Internet and send applications via email.

The Internet made it possible for job seekers to find jobs easily. This is probably the biggest impact of Internet technology in the job market. However, the Internet has unique and special roles that can make your job search more effective and efficient.

You need to maximize this technology so you can quickly get a new job. So here are some of the unique roles of the Internet in effectively conducting a job search.

Pro Active Job Search

The Internet makes you a pro active job seeker. You now have full control of what job you want to take and how you package yourself to employers. In the past, you will simply wait for the call of an employer or your recruiting agency after you submitted the application. Today, there are still lots of things that you can do to make yourself more attractive to employers.

For example, you can make your own personal website especially created to attract employers. Your website can highlight your personal profile, professional experience, special skills and advanced trainings that you took. You can also show your expertise by writing articles related to your industry.

Because of the Internet, employers can easily know more about you and your professional expertise. This is good for you because you can get lots of job offers.

Exact Match Job Hunting

Job mismatch is one of the main reasons why employers reject the applications of job seekers. On your end, it would be very difficult to get a job if you are applying for positions that do not match your qualifications.

With Internet job search, you can easily filter your search results and apply only to jobs that need your qualifications. This is exact job matching and you can only do this efficiently through the Internet.

By applying for a job that matches your special skills, there is no reason why you can not get an interview and clinch the job.

Internet technology made it easier for job seekers to seekers to get new employment. Aside from this, you now have the power to completely control your job search in order to make it more effective, efficient, and successful.

The Effective Job Search: How Does the Job Search become Effective?

The typical way that unemployed individuals search for jobs is by going through the Classified Ads list in the local paper. Thanks to the proliferation of the Internet, the process has also becomes quite easy because there are websites where you can post your resumes for potential employers to look over.

Why Familiarizing Yourself with the Job Hunting Process is a Must

Although you do have these modern tools at your disposal, you still need to have a job hunting technique so that you can come up with immediate, desirable results. There’s no sense posting your resume on a general website for job hunters – it should be a bit more specific.

This is also the reason why you need to familiarize yourself with the job hunting process. Over the course of showing up for initial interviews, there will come a point when you will feel quite rejected but this should not stop you. It just means that you haven’t found the right job position to fill out yet.

Enumerating the Top Techniques on Effective Job Hunting

To help you out, let us enumerate the top techniques that every job hunter should be familiar with. Take a look at the following list:

Take your pick from any of these techniques to make your job hunting more effective – and don’t forget to also rely on good old Lady Luck to help give you your dream job!

Tracking your job search progress is very important. This is just like auditing your work so you can effectively assess its progress. If you get a clearer view of your job search progress, then you can effectively make adjustments to your career objectives.

Tracking the progress of your job search also helps you to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your job hunt campaign. If you are getting too many rejections, then it id probably time to assess your job search methods could help you to refine your techniques.

Here are a few methods on how to effectively track your job search progress. Learning how to do this correctly can greatly help you to make your job search more effective.

Keep Everything Organized

Organization is the key to effectively track your job search progress. You need to create your own personal database of companies or employers where you intend to apply. You can easily create a spreadsheet for this purpose. You can use this employer database for keeping track of applications, interview requests, and rejections.

Another important database that you have to create is a list of your personal and professional network. List everyone you know including contact information, email addresses, and other pertinent information. You can use your network for your job search. It is important for you to know which of them respond positively to your queries.

Create Separate Folders for Different Job Sites

If you are a registered member of five different job sites, then it would be very difficult for you to track job alerts and emails. So you have to keep them organized also. Each job site should have its own folder within your computer. For each job site, you have to list all probable job leads and take note of companies that respond to your application. You can make follow up inquiries later so it is important to keep their contact information.

There are job sites that have user-friendly member’s area. These sites will organize your job leads and applications. So it would be best if you can join job sites with these types of services.

Lastly, you should also create multiple versions of your resume and cover letters. You need to track which version of your resume attracts more interview calls. You need to study the factors why a particular resume is more effective than the others.

By tracking the performance of your job applications, you will be able to refine your search methods and improve your techniques in order to quickly get a job.

Job seekers have mixed feelings about recruitment agencies. Some prefer to go it alone and do their job search using the resources on the Internet. On the other hand, some prefer to work with recruiters in finding a suitable employment.

Recruitment agencies provide unique benefits for job seekers. Whether you like them or not, they are still being utilized by employers to find new employees for them. By working with a recruiter, you will have another channel of finding new employment opportunities.

Here are some of the most important benefits that you can enjoy if you’ll work with recruitment agencies to find jobs.

Recruiters Have Wider Network than You

It is the job of recruitment agencies to build a wide and solid network among employers across different industries. They can not succeed if they do not have a wide network. Obviously, a recruiter’s network would be wider and deeper than your own personal network.

If you work with a recruiter, you can expand your exposure in the job market. Other companies that do not post jobs on the Internet or newspapers can find your resume through recruitment agencies.

Recruiters Provide Exact Job Matching

Recruitment agencies strive to provide companies with prospects that match the position. Exact job matching is important for them so that companies will trust them to find the right employees.

Once you receive an interview request from a possible employer, you will be more confident that you can qualify for the job. That is because the recruiter has already filtered the job search for you.

Recruiters Can Provide Other Services for You

Some recruitment agencies prepare their candidates for interviews. They also provide tips, job market newsletters, and other resources that you can use to find jobs. It is in the best interests of recruitment agencies to get you hired. They usually get commissions for every successful referral.

Some recruitment agencies also maintain websites to give more exposure for their talent pool. You can take advantage of these online tools in order to get more interviews and job offers.

When working with recruiters, it is best to provide accurate information about you and your professional experience. Recruiters will rely on the data you provide to find an exact job match. It is also best to regularly follow up your recruiter for feedbacks about your applications.

There are lots of benefits that you can get from recruitment agencies. You should use their services as additional tools for your job hunt.