How does one apply for a job? Applying for a job requires more effort than applicants typically assume. Some individuals consider it as easy as walking into a place of business, picking up an application, and waiting for a phone call. There are several more elements to the job application process than many realize that will help ensure success. For the most part, the job application process is all in the hands of a potential employee and in these circumstances you make your own luck. In order to apply for a job, the applicant must prepare a resume, practice their interview, and take the whole process seriously.
Preparing a resume is one of the most important aspects of job applications. Many employers use resumes as a quick tool to easily remove applicants that are not worthy of an interview. It is important for a resume to be free of spelling and grammar errors; the smallest mistake can be a cause for failure. Bearing that, in mind, it is crucial to take one’s time when filling out a resume. Padding is acceptable in order to make yourself look more desirable, but outright lying is not to be tolerated. For example, if you boast that you are bilingual these are skills that will likely be put to use, so you had better actually be bilingual. Lying about being bilingual will only lead to a job dismissal. On the other hand, if you have fair experience with Excel Works and want to remark that you have generous experience with Excel Works, modifications like these will probably go unnoticed in the workplace but make you look a little more desirable on paper. It is important that your resume has a cover letter, as well. It is a small, but tedious detail that adds a professional touch to your work. It lets the employer know that you are serious. Some jobs will not require you to include a cover letter, but it has become standard to include one as it is your best chance to appeal to your potential employers about why you are seeking this particular job.
The second part of applying for a job is to practice for an interview. Practicing will help several different things all at once. Interviews are nerve-racking for the average person and can throw us off our guard. Practicing potential interview questions with a friend or colleague can help remind us that we are capable of answering professional questions in a professional manner. Practice interviews can also help us formulate what we may want to say before our big moment with a potential employer. Alison Green at U.S. News studied employers interview questions and even managed to put together a list of the top ten questions employers ask. They include simple questions such as, “at interested you in this opening?” and, “What are your strengths?” as well as more difficult questions, like, “What do you know about our company so far (2011)?” The list of questions can be very beneficial for potential employees to practice. Questions like, “What do you know about our company so far?” are likely to come up in many interview setting. Without the proper research and rehearsal, they would catch the interviewee completely off guard. This is why preparation is so important. If you do not prepare you may give an incomplete or incorrect answer. Another question on the list was “What range of salary is acceptable to you?” This is another question that will probably be asked and probably make the interviewee sweat. It is important not to oversell or undersell yourself. Research the standard salary paid to employees at the level you are applying for and answer with something in that range. You do not want to seem arrogant, but you also do not want to seem like you undervalue yourself, otherwise your new employer may end up undervaluing you, as well. Keep in mind you are competing against the other applicants that are being interviewed. Your answers must be better suited for the job than their answers. Try to allow your answers to show personality but also allow them to show that you are the right person for the job.
Perhaps the most important part of the job application process is to take it seriously. An applicant cannot write a resume in pen or pencil in an afternoon, skip the interview, and hope to be hired. One can also not show up to a professional establishment in jeans and a t-shirt and expect to be taken seriously. Answering questions like, “What are your interests?” with “Taking naps and playing video games,” may be the most genuine answers, but they will not get you a job. Applying for a job must, above all, be taken seriously. The applicant must carefully construct a resume that makes them look desirable and professional, but does not lie or get them into trouble. They must also practice their interview and make sure they are prepared with professional responses for most of the questions employers tend to ask. It would not hurt to think about alternate questions employers may ask as well, and be prepared for those. Dressing the part of a professional is also very important. Looking clean, adult, and ready to work is perhaps the simplest, but most crucial piece of advice when it comes to applying for a job. As a wise man once said, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” By that logic, if you do not have a job and wish to be employed at all, you had better dress for success.
As you can see, the job application process can be taxing and difficult. One must construct a perfect resume that makes them look good, complete with a professional cover letter. After that and the application is handed in, assuming you get an interview, one must practice until they are on the brink of insanity. Practice makes perfect, and the interviewee must be prepared for all of the employer’s questions. Finally, the applicant must take the application process seriously. Applying for a job is a serious thing, especially in today’s economy. Take the necessary time on your resume and cover letter, practice interview questions thoroughly, and dress the part of a professional individual who is ready to do the company name proud.
References
Green, A. (2011). The 10 Most Common Job Interview Questions. U.S. News, 11-13.
