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How to Land Your Next Job

Ways you can lay the groundwork for your next job

Whether you’re just starting out in the industry or whether you’re looking to progress on to your next challenge, following these steps will help you to find, and land the job you want and deserve.  

Before you even start applying for jobs, go back to the basics. 

Identify up to 5 industries that would suit you

There are many industries out there to choose from, and they are all entirely different in their own right. Establishing industries that you’d feel comfortable working in is a good starting point. For example, the defence sector doesn’t suit everyone.

Identify up to 5 things you want from your next job

Perhaps you want to work with more data, maybe do less coding, or do more coding. Maybe you’d like flexible hours, or to work remotely or more money. Identifying what it important to you early on in your job search will mean you’re only investing your time to create applications for jobs that are of genuine interest to you.

Identify the skills you have to offer

Take a piece of paper and write down any and all of your qualifications, professional achievements, awards, any certifications you have, and your hard skills. (Hard skills are skills that can be defined and measured.) You can then use this list to help you update your CV.

Identify what makes you valuable to a company

Think beyond your work experience and qualifications here. Take another piece of paper and write down the things that make you valuable. Perhaps it’s your leadership skills, teamwork, or communication skills.

Update your CV

You can learn about how to revamp and improve your CV here. Here are some extra things to consider

  • Always include your contact information, including name, phone number and email. You’d be surprised how many CV’s we see with none of these things.
  • Include only relevant information. 
  • Spellcheck and proofread your CV. Several times. A CV riddled with spelling and grammatical errors gives off a bad first impression. If that is how you’re presenting your CV how much pride and attention are you going to put into the role you are applying for? A great spellchecker app to use is Grammarly.
Update your LinkedIn profile

We have a blog with some tips on how to optimise your LinkedIn profile and attract potential employers and recruiters, check it out here.

Remember that LinkedIn is a professional networking site, so keep anything you post there professional. Potential employers will be looking at your page to find out more about you, don’t give them the wrong impression.

Identify job boards relevant to the industry you want to work in

Some job boards are more niche than others. Job boards like Reed, for example, are very broad in the sectors they cover meaning a very wide variety of jobs across many industries, whereas CW Jobs, for example, is specifically for IT and Tech jobs only. They will each attract different types of companies to advertise their vacancies there. An IT services company is more likely to advertise on CW Jobs, whereas a role within an IT team at an accounting company, for example, would be more likely to be advertised on Reed.  It’s worth finding 3-4 job boards that suit your industry preferences to begin your search, it will help you to review only job vacancies relevant to you.

Include a cover letter

In your cover letter, stray away from talking purely about ‘I did this, I did that’ – talk instead about your motivations for applying for this job, how you can help the organisation and what skills you bring.

Where possible address your cover letter to the hiring manager and close with something along the lines of “I look forward to hearing from you”.

Apply to jobs that are relevant to your experience, skills or genuine ambitions

It is not realistic to apply for jobs that you have no relevant skills or experience with and expect to receive an interview, let alone the job.

It can be deflating when you receive a barrage of rejection emails. By only applying to jobs that are relevant, you may find that your success rate in obtaining interviews is higher and you’ll feel less deflated by your job hunt.

We hope you found these tips useful. If you are looking for a job in the IT/digital industries, check out our latest roles here.


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