The Job Market is made up of two basic parts – those vacancies which employers actively recruit to fill; and those vacancies which job seekers can find if they know how to access that ‘hidden job market’. There are two major advantages for jobseekers who know how to access this market:
  1. As these jobs have not been advertised, you may often be the only applicant!
  2. Up to 80% of all vacancies may not be advertised, so they never appear on seek, indeed etc.

Be careful what interview questions you ask – you may think you are simply being friendly but then find you’ve breached anti-discrimination or EEO legislation. Any interview questions that will reveal the applicant’s marital status, age, religion, gender, race or sexual orientation are illegal. Here are some suggestions as to questions not to ask, but check your local statutory authority to be sure you are within the legal guidelines. 1. How old are you? That’s an obvious one, but what about anything else that dates them i.e. when did you graduate, how old are your children, what year did you finish school etc. – best to stay away from all dated related questions.

Many organisations these days require you to address specific selection criteria when you apply for a job. It is a way for the employer to focus on the specific skills and abilities they need the person to have, to do the job.

Writing to selection criteria may seem difficult at first. However, like everything else, if you approach it systematically and practise it, you will continue to get better.

Very often the job searching process is considered to be forthright task that requires only mechanical activities like checking the job offer websites and sending your resume. To expand your options and increase your chances, it is important to explore all possible alternatives. On your way to success, you may want to consider using not only the ordinary job searching methods, but also some not very common, but yet very effective and top-proven techniques.

Searching for a job can be very stressful and frustrating process, especially when it takes more time than expected and your budget gets tighter. In this highly competitive world and increasing number of job seekers, it is almost impossible to keep your spirits up and not to get desperate when it comes to finding a job. Facing disappointment and rejection, combined with all the stressful hours of waiting for reply, definitely affect one’s motivation, but not in a god way. Being stressed, worried and unhappy is not in your advantage, that’s why it is very important to control your reaction to this unpleasant situation. You may wonder how to do that when it comes to job seeking. There are ways and tricks to help you feel more motivated and in high spirit whilst looking for a job.

Have you dreamed about a flexible schedule which allows you to miss that rough commute to work? Have you wished for a compressed work week that allows you to work four days instead of five? Or, luxury of luxuries, have you thought about telecommuting from home – even if only part time? If you share these dreams, don’t wait, get ready to negotiate. You can negotiate a flexible work schedule. The advantages of a flexible work schedule for employees are clear and well-documented. So, plan to negotiate a flexible work schedule with your employer in mind. The negotiation is not about you. It’s not about what works best for you and your family. The negotiation is about the advantages to the employer for allowing you to work a flex schedule. With thoughtfulness and a little creativity, you can turn every advantage to you and your family into an advantage for your employer.

Balancing work and family can be very arduous, especially when it comes to the good sake of our most loved people. Finding balance means to equally divide our efforts and time between two or more things that are very important to us. Nowadays, the generation of working mothers builds strong fundamentals of the idea of finding the balance between work and family. They all prove that it is worth it to try and eventually succeed in being a working mother. It might seem impossible and sometimes very frustrating to find the balance. There is no recipe or magic formula to follow, but there are some things that you can do to help yourself feel successful as a mother and as an employee. Here you can find helpful tips and ideas for the times that you need to juggle between your professional and personal lives.

There are so many places that you can look for a job: 1.Networking: speak to everyone you know & make sure they know you are looking for work. No room for pride here – let others help you in the same way that you would help them out if they needed it! Have business cards (as a jobseeker) and hand them out to EVERYONE you meet! Make coffee dates with ex colleagues, relatives, friends, anyone who might be able to keep their eyes & ears open.

To get to the interview stage, they already believe you could do the job!

The interview is your opportunity to sell yourself and your skills. Employers decide on an appropriate employee on a range of areas. These areas include:

Skills, knowledge and abilities; Personality and whether you will “fit” into the team and with the culture of the organisation; Presentation; Attitude; Availability; References

You need to sell the whole package rather than just having the skills to do the job.

Write a professional cover letter that gets the reader so interested, they immediately turn the page and read your resume! The jury is out on whether cover letters actually get read, but one thing you can count on is that if you don’t write one to submit with your application, you increase the odds of getting sent straight to the “no” pile for lack of preparation & appearing at best disinterested, and at worse rude! 1.Be genuinely excited and enthusiastic about the job and show this in your opening sentence! 2.Clearly outline your key relevant skills that match the requirements of the advertisement. Highlight every skill they have asked for