8 tips to improve your job prospects

Finding a job can often be an arduous experience. It can be even more frustrating when you know you have the skills but nobody is ready to give you a chance to prove yourself.

Everybody goes through a phase where they have hardly anything to do and they are waiting for the big break in their life. While patience is important during such a phase, it is also important to do all the other things right.

If you are waiting for your big break, here are 8 tips that will help you improve your job prospects;

1. Work on your CV- Your CV is the first point of contact you have with a potential employer. Ideally, you have to impress potential employers from the word go. In order to do that, work on your CV and make it as impressive as possible. Keep it short, highlight your achievements, and basically sell yourself.
2. Make a portfolio- There is no better way to showcase your skills that you make a portfolio of what you have learned. For those in the creative field, that could mean designing your personal website etc. For those in the technical field, that could mean making a program to make a mundane task even easier. For most fields, you can make a portfolio to impress potential recruiters.
3. Network- Don’t keep waiting for the right opportunity to fall in your lap. Be proactive and network with potential organizations over the internet. Find organizations on Linkedin and connect with them. Even if they don’t have a vacancy, connect with important people in the organization. You never know when a vacancy might open up.
4. Add tertiary skills- You are looking for a jobs in the design field and you have great designing skills. That is awesome. But organizations are always looking for people who bring a little bit extra. Add tertiary skills to your portfolio. For example, if you have a little bit of programming apart from designing, that could get you brownie points.
5. Work on your communication skills- The importance of communication skills cannot be stressed enough. There is no job profile left where you do not have to interact with clients directly. Make sure you polish your written as well as verbal communication skills.
6. Research companies well- Before you go for an interview, make sure you research the organization well. Gather as much information as you can about its work culture, its current turnover, its challenges etc. Use all that information to get an advantage during the interview.
7. Pay attention to your online social life- Very often, we post all sorts of pictures and comments on social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook. If you thought all that is personal and nobody has any right to question you on that, you are wrong. A risque photo posted on FB could cost you a potential job. Beware!
8. Portray confidence during the interview- It is important to be at your confident best during an interview. Limp handshakes, wandering eye, or stuttering during an interview never help your cause.