How to Apply for a Job

 

A good number of job applicants have lost the opportunity of employment at one time or the other because they lack information about Job applications.

 

A lot of jobs have attractive salaries and allowances that come with it.  This should not be basis for choosing your job.  The kind of job you should seek for should be solely dependent on the job you are qualified to do, ready to do and interested in doing.  The nature of job you seek will go a long way to spell out the kind of activities and people you will get involved with daily.

 

An elementary school teacher should be ready to spend a lot of time with children.  An accountant should be meticulous and like detail-oriented work.  A newspaper company employee or a journalist should be prepared to work under pressure and accommodate criticism.

 

Choosing a job means choosing a lifestyle.  A consultant in an international firm should be ready to add travelling to his hobbies.

 

The kind of activities that surround a career should be greatly considered before choosing one.  A person who cannot stand the sight of blood or corpses will definitely not fit into a hospital as a medical doctor or surgeon.

 

You could be earning a lot of money from a job and be frustrated and sad.  Job satisfaction comes when you fit rightly into the field you would function best.

 

Choosing a career is quite a problem for some people.  Educational consultants and career councillors can help to give direction of the best job for someone.  This is achieved by asking a series of questions and analyzing the person’s character.

 

WHAT IS AVAILABLE AND WHAT ARE THEY LOOKING FOR

The kind of job opportunities available in an organization will determine the kind of qualities they will look out for during application.

Some people loose job opportunities because of some vital information they ignored adding to their personal data.  A lot of money is spent on interviews.  Most times companies don’t bother to recommend certain people for interviews.  This is because they lack the major qualities needed to function effectively in the area with vacancy.

 

It is imperative to know what the job involves.  Notebooks at campus placement offices help to have fuller job descriptions.

 

The name and address of the person to receive the letter should be known.

The organization wants employees who will add value to the company.  Organization pays employees for the services rendered in a general sense.

 

When an organization identifies achievements and accelerated productivity that occurs when a person joins them, they observe the value of the person.  At this point they start paying for your value. Increment in salary and allowances as well as promotions will come up.  This is because they are not ready to lose you to another organization.

 

Major things they look for are oral and verbal communication effectiveness, computer literacy, flexibility, ability to work in any environment, ability to relate and interact with colleagues and intelligence.

 

THE APPLICATION ITSELF

The type of application letter written to an organization could be a solicited letter or a prospecting letter.

A solicited letter is written when the applicant is sure of being hired by the company.  This is based on the instruction of a top management executive in the organization, publication of the company’s move for expansion or an open advertisement over the media.

 

A prospecting letter is written to tap into the hidden job market.  A prospecting letter may arrive at a company that has decided to hire but has not yet announced the job.  Such an application will be put into consideration first when the opportunities has been made open.

 

An applicant should know certain things when writing the application letter.  These include:

  1. Points and qualities that separate him from other applicants.
  2. Major requirement of the job he is applying for
  3. Points that show his knowledge of the organization
  4. The ability to write and speak effectively
  5. The ability to get along with people
  6. Letter should be created with a computer using a standard font like Arial or Times New Roman.
  7. Letter should be addressed to a specific person
  8. Application should be written with a conservative style
  9. Personal information not relating to the job should be omitted
  10. Applicant should take note of the mode of submission of the application either by email or directly.

 

JOB HUNTING ON THE INTERNET

The internet is filled with lots of jobs that are not advertised openly.  It has made it easier to search for jobs and communicate directly with representatives of the company you are applying to.  Job vacancies that are put on newspapers are first posted on the internet.

This gives the internet users an advantage over those who use other job hunting sources.  Those who access the vacancies could have covered the amount of people needed by the company.  Their applications are accessed and screened by the companies.  A reply is then sent to signify a qualification for interview or lack of qualification for the job. Some job websites send the latest update on job vacancies to members of their network.  Such websites are joined by signing up and entering the necessary details.

        Some website sponsors also focus on creating a forum of professionals.  This forum will hold information such as educational and working experiences.  These forums are accessed by different companies who send e-mails to professionals they are interested in and look forward to their reply.  Example is www.linkedin.com.  It is the world’s largest professional network with about 150 million users. 

Staying connected to the internet with laptops, notebooks, computers and mobile phones help to stay informed about the possibilities available at your disposal.  The internet is the easiest way to access job vacancies.

 

Applying for job involves a great level of research.  This will help the applicant get updated practices about the job, information about the organization; qualities need to fit into the job description and how to scale through interviews successfully.

 

The internet is a facility that will help to easily achieve all these targets before and while applying for the job.