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| Human Resource Talk with Miyanda Maimbo Kahari |
| A job seekers GAME PLA |
 If you are sportsperson, business person or hold a position of authority anywhere in society, I am sure at one point in you work you have had to either come up with a ‘game plan’ or discussed your ‘game plan’ with your employees or staff or team mates. I want to show anyone looking for a job or wanting to change jobs that before you start the job search process, you need to develop a game plan for this serious process. According to one interesting definition I came across, a ‘GAME PLAN’ is a carefully thought out strategy for achieving an objective in either war, politics, business or personal affairs’. Note the emphasis on the term ‘carefully thought out’. You do not just wake up one day and decide you will start to look for a job without drafting or creating a game plan or strategy for this process. I have written about the job search process many times, however it has become even more critical now that job seekers know what they need to do to become more competitive. Today there are undoubtedly much more people looking for jobs due to the excessive job cuts.
There are specific job search tools that you must possess and these tools must be prepared and be in an impeccable condition that any possible employer who comes across the tools will want to put a face to the tools and want to meet you. Last week I wrote an article on unlocking the secrets of successful job seekers in which my emphasis was on the crucial first 30 seconds you get to make a first impression when meeting anyone for the first time. This week I will tackle what I call the ‘tools of the trade’ that job seekers need to create a game plan or job search strategy that will secure the job desired.
The first is to identify the job, positions or position you are targeting, when job seekers call me and ask for assistance in finding a job the first question I always ask is ‘what type of job or position are you looking for’ 90% of the time job seekers are unable to narrow down to the actual position. What I hear all the time is ‘anything in Finance’ or anything in marketing or anything in banking, because they know I often have vacancies in the banks. If I make a list of positions that are available in the bank they would definitely be more than 20, you have to be smart at this process, if anyone is going to help you find a job, know exactly what you want. This includes when making applications, I do not take seriously applications that are sent to me with a heading ‘application for employment’, you are not being specific so it does not help the potential employer take your application into consideration. If your application letter says, ‘application for the position of Finance Director, that is specific any employer or recruitment specialist will have somewhere to start from.
The position identification process is very simple, make a list of 5 different positions or job titles you want to apply for. When you have made the list take a clean sheet of paper and carry out a SWOT analysis (write your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) against each position you have selected. Pick the position were your strength and opportunities are more than your weaknesses and threats. This process gives you a clear understanding of where your compass is pointing to in terms of the roles or vacancies you should pursue or apply for. This process gives you a indication or what your chances are finding a job for the different positions you have listed.
Once you have decided on the direction you are going to take, you must take a critical look at one of your most important job seekers tool of the trade, your CV. I am privileged to provide a service that helps job seekers find jobs and I am amazed and shocked at the quality of CV’s that job seekers send for possible placement. One will send a CV with 17 pages of personal information, the Cv’ ceases to be a CV but takes the form of a report or thesis. On the other hand one will send a Cv with one page and summarise 20 years of experience in one page. I know that many job seekers are not sure how many pages a good CV should be, there is no specific number however from a recruiters perspective not less than three and not more than five pages is adequate. Do not, I repeat do not start the job search process until you are confident that your most important tool is in good shape.
No school teacher will teach unless they have a proper plan for their students for the term, no motor mechanic will service your car unless they are sure that their tool box has all the tools they require, no Doctor will attempt to treat a patient unless they are sure that their medical tools are ready for use. If this is true then I cannot begin to understand why any job seeker will make an attempt to start looking for a job when their tools of the trade are not in good shape, it is no different from going to war without weapons, you will lose the battle. If you are not sure of how to develop a winning Cv, ask others or seek the services of someone who knows how to create a winning CV. In business they say, you must spend time and money to make money, in the job search process this still holds, you have already spent large sums of money and time getting your qualification, it will not hurt you to finish the race but ensuring that your CV is presented in the most professional manner.
Next week I will continue this series and write more about the job seekers game plan and the job seekers tool of the trade.
Just a reminder to universities, colleges and schools if you would like me to speak to your students about the realities of the job search process, please send your request by email. This is our way of giving back to society what they have given us. I will speak to your students for free. I also encourage you to share these articles with anyone you know who is looking for employment, if they miss the article, they may download it off our website.
The Author is a consultant for Prosoft Human Resources Solutions. For any suggestions and comments please email miyandak@prosofthumanresource.com 0979472850 visit www.prosofthumanresource.com
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| The Author is a consultant for Prosoft Human Resources Solutions. For any suggestions and comments please email miyandak@prosofthumanresource.com 0979472850 / 0955408731 / 01 293406 |
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