HOW TO BE LOOKING FOR A JOB

Hi everyone! I would like to share with you and overall with who’s looking for a job, some of my little but diverse experience.

The objective of this message is not to give you any kind of rules about humor, state of spirit, or magic key when you are looking for a job principally when you are unemployed, in fact what is desired is to give you some tools, some coordinates, some friendly recommendations about “how to be looking for a job”!

The recommendations that I propose are based in my own experience as I said and in the hope that you anonymous, you my colleague and you my friend find the job that you’re dreaming about or you’ve been looking for until today...

This will not bring you the perfect job at the first shot but it will give you confidence and will drive you from anything to something;

1. First of all the key word is FOCUS. You will need to be FOCUSED. Well, I repeat. You need to be focused. You need to be focused in what you WANT and not in what you looking for.

2. I said in the beginning that there were no rules here but there is always an exception, the exception is that you need to follow this rule which is to remember every time recommendation number 1, 25 hours a day, 32 days a month, 13 months a year (yes, it’s not a mistake)!

3. Now, what do you want and what are you looking for? “It’s easy if you try…” What you WANT is the x job, having the y responsibility and receiving the z wage. What you don’t want is a job, doing anything else and receiving something.

4. When the recommendation number 3 is completely clear and anchored in your mind and you already have some x jobs calling for your attention you will need to do three things: first, read everything about the employers to where you sent your CV; second, search and read information about the x jobs that you had applied for and in third, look for every information about the place where you probably will go to work in your new job (food, attractions, entertainment, cinemas, restaurants, etc…).

5. Imagine what you will do in that place when you start working there. Imagine how much you will enjoy working in that company in that place. Imagine it, see it, feel it. Remember recommendation number 1!

6. Your CV is your mirror, before the moment to send it, be sure that it is clean and clear and when you or someone else look at, what’s visible is… YOU. Try to summarize and clarify the information in your CV and join a letter or email introducing yourself. Use standard/required CV models, unless you have a very attractive and innovative idea to promote your profile. Show it to different people and gather different opinions.

7. Now that you are being more and more FOCUSED (and continuing focused), you need to start training and improving your speech, your posture, confidence, seriousness and humility. Organize your ideas and test the fluidity of your words, talking loudly as if you were trying to convince a crowd. Explore your skills, discover your strengths and your weaknesses. Meet yourself better.

This are the recommendations that I have to share with all of you, they are simply ideas taken from my experience very easy to understand but very hard to follow. Reality is not a game, so try to be focused and serious in this process of seeking for “the” job. There are many ways, many opinions about that, some of them are very good in some occasions and in other circumstances not.

To conclude, the most important and last recommendation, LEARN FROM YOUR FAILURES, smile after them, use this and other recommendations to FIND YOUR OWN WAY. Luck is not for the lucky ones but for those who strive to win her.

Hope that this information can help you finding the “x” job!

P.S.: I almost forget it, very important, if you understood this message it’s because I’m not so bad writing in English as I thought and you are not so bad understanding English as you thought. A fundamental tool nowadays! 

By Filipe Cortesão