Chapter 3: Job Search

Learning Objectives

Target icon

  • Represent skills, knowledge, and experience realistically for employment purposes.
  • Research the job market to identify career opportunities and requirements
  • Prepare a targeted and persuasive cover letter and resume
  • Prepare an online presence using LinkedIn for job searching and networking

Introduction

A hiring competition involves a written and oral exam. You must pass the written component (the cover letter and résumé) before you move on to the oral (the interview), and you must out-perform the competition in the oral to get the job. The oral component proves that you can carry a conversation, represent the company in face-to-face interactions with customers, and see eye-to-eye with managers and co-workers while conducting day-to-day operations in a personable manner. Representing you in your physical absence, your cover letter and résumé mainly assure employers that you have the experience and skills required to be successful in the job. They also prove whether you are literate and conscientious enough to represent the company’s respectability when writing on their behalf to customers and other stakeholders.

This chapter focuses on the written component of the hiring process, the job search documents, saving the interview process for the next chapter. At this point, it’s worth saying that the advice given here represents a fairly broad consensus of employer expectations, but it can’t apply to all employers or recruiters because each one is unique in what they’re seeking from applicants.

The search process can be somewhat like dating in that everyone has a unique laundry list of preferences narrowing down who they’re attracted to. If someone falls within the range of what you’re looking for and you fall within their range, then it might work out. The only way to know for sure that you’re both what the other is looking for is by flirting, which means, in the world of job hunting, networking. After examining strategies for job hunting, we’ll cover the résumé and cover letter-writing process with the goal of producing job application materials that will considerably increase your chances of getting an interview and getting your dream job.

References

1Hadicke, G. (2016). What employers want in your application. Graduateland. Retrieved from https://graduateland.com/article/what-employers-want-application

Source:  Chapter 13 Employment Skills Introduction in Communication @ Work Seneca Edition.

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NSCC Communication @ Work 2nd Edition Copyright © 2024 by Nova Scotia Community College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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