Job Hunting Tips for the New Year
With a brand new decade upon us, lots of exciting new job opportunities are on the horizon. Look at all the new postings on this site, for example – There are job openings in Ontario, Quebec, and all across Canada.
Here are a few handy tips to assist you with your 2020 job hunt!
1. Research and prepare to the best of your abilities
Read up on the company that is doing the hiring, both on their official website and what people on social media have to say about the company. Knowing the mission statement, stated goals, and some of the history behind the company will impress your interviewer and give you an advantage over other applicants.
As I mentioned in my Gearing Up for a Job Interview article, it’s important to conduct research on the company’s website and look the company up on websites like Glassdoor to see what kind of experiences previous employees have had there, and what the upper management is like.
2. Work on your timing
When applying for jobs, avoid submitting applications right before the closing date. The company may have already received enough applications by that point, which means they may have already started the process of setting up interviews with candidates. If you’re late getting your foot in the door, your application will likely end up on the bottom of the pile which is never a good thing.
Be sure to follow up with every application two weeks after you’ve submitted it, and do this like clockwork. Keep reminders in a calendar, or saved in your phone. Also, don’t stop looking just because you land a job interview or two – Keep applying to open positions in case your initial attempts don’t work out.
3. Practice your interview skills and gain feedback
Let a friend or family member (preferably one with interviewing experience) ask you some questions in a mock interview at home or in a relatively quiet public space, like a coffee shop. Along with standard interview questions, get the person to ask you unexpected questions that they improvise on the spot. This will allow you to practice answering questions that you may not think of otherwise, and it should help you to better adapt to unforeseen interview situations.
Afterwards, get your practice interviewer to describe what they thought of your answers. Ask for a summary of what they thought you did well, and what you could have done better.
I hope you’ve found this advice to be useful, and remember, keep on applying until you’ve landed a fantastic new job!
By Dan McDonald
Dan is a Sales and Marketing Development Associate at Baxter Media. He previously majored in Communications (CCIT) at the University of Toronto.