2020 was a challenging year for everyone and I believe everyone's wishes are stepping into 2021 and all difficulties we had in the previous year will magically vanish. But the ending of our war with COVID-19 was not finished. Besides, the economy will require a fair amount of time to regain from the pandemic. Life still goes on. Perhaps, a new year will give us a new standpoint.
Job-hunting will continue challenging. After almost a year of adjusting to huge changes in the market, we will see a growth in new job opportunities and new key industries. With most organizations have their new budgets confirmed, hiring activities will reopen progressively. While waiting for the market to limber up, this is the best time to get yourself ready for the job-hunting season.
1. Have the necessities ready at all times
A big "clap" to you, if you carry on your job hunt actively during the holiday season. If not, now would be the perfect time to improve your online and offline professional profiles and begin your job hunt.
Update both your online and offline professional profiles.
As the pandemic still affects many industries and left many unemployed, the contest to get a job continues quite high. spend time updating your resume and career profile on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Jobstreet, Recruit Hero, and other job boards or portals you are planning to utilize for your applications. The information that you should not miss out on are:
A short but accurate career overview/ summary.
Legit skills that are matched the next job you have aimed to apply for.
Include keywords highlighting your strengths and job interests, enabling hiring managers, recruiters, and ATS algorithms to find you.
Achievements throughout your career as well as new skills and certifications you have acquired.
Update your complete professional history, including the most crucial and relevant information.
Keep your references in the know.
Once you have discovered your dependable references, reach out and ask for their permission. You need to give these individuals a full explanation of what will happen and what is expected next. This will then allow them to process and let you know if they can give you the best reference or otherwise.
Be sure to choose the right individuals who can give you a great reference. Not necessarily, you have to choose people from your current or recent employment. It can be anyone from peers, business acquaintances, university lecturers, clients, or partners you have worked with before who can share great words and the right facts about your skills and qualifications. With that, you will grow the upper hand in winning the job opportunity.
Continue to engage with your networks.
Keep your conversation with your networks. Don't stop after small wishes or conversations but continue the energy by checking in with them on how they are doing. If they are keen to go with the conversation, ask for a career or any related advice from them, and share the challenges you are currently facing. You will be amazed that sometimes these small conversations will bring you to a great solution or even finding your next job.
To have more specific visions about the next role or industry you are interested in, consider growing your network by connecting with recruiters, hiring managers, or even people that would like to work with one day via LinkedIn.
2. Be open and adapt to change
As our economy is in a regaining phase, we can presume a slower hiring market. So, instead of stick around for a difference to happen, take this opportunity to vest in heavily in reading and researching. There is a broad diversity of alternatives to source for reading materials, be it the internet, subscribed email newsletters, or newspapers. All these materials will bring you to grow more in-depth knowledge and insights on guiding your next career search mission.
Learn about the rising industries.
As reported In Malaysia's Economic Outlook 2021, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) predicts growths in the construction sector, manufacturing, agriculture, mining, services, and the E&E (electrical and electronics) sector. Jump deep into these industries and learn about the types of possible positions that you can take on.
Find out who are the present leaders and emerging companies in these sectors. For more prominent players who are currently developing in the market, it is natural that they may consider an enlargement resulting in a sudden growth in workforce hiring. Hence, creating numerous job opportunities for job hunters.
As for emerging companies, career openings usually go to those who have great experiences in the market that can provide sound advice and leadership or young and vibrant individuals who are eager to learn and contribute a fresh outlook.
Research about the industry you plan to enter or remain in.
Should you alter? Many have been striving to find an answer, especially for those from industries greatly affected by COVID-19. Moving to a different industry is never easy for job seekers at any point in their career path. It is often dangerous and takes a lot of attempts to study and learn about a new industry. If it is needed for the change, maybe these questions can assist ease your decision-making process.
Can you picture yourself being happy working in this new industry or such a working environment?
Do you have the financial resources to undergo a lengthen job search?
Are your skills moveable? If not, are you open to reskill yourself and begin from the bottom?
Do you know anyone who can advise you or give you an insider's viewpoint about this new industry?
Can you visualize success in such a situation in the long term?
If it doesn't work, what is your plan B?
Find out what are your options.
Gig jobs which are contract, temporary, freelancing are on the trend. Just like remote work, they are both here to stay. Because of the current economy's unpredictable, many companies will be careful with their hiring. They are likely to depend more on gig workers, ensuring the company is insufficiently staffed and still running evenly. Aside, recruiting full-time employees is often expected to be more expensive and time-consuming in the selection process.
Keep your mind open to the types of employment accessible in the market. There is no hesitation there is fraud to gig jobs, but more thoughts needed to be considered when selecting your next career. Note that research is crucial in any decision-making. Ensure you get the latest information on Malaysia's job market statistics through the Institute of Labour Market Information and Analysis website.
3. Stop procrastinating and start today
Cast your net wide.
After you have your professional profiles and resume ready, let the job application begin. If you are well known for job boards' notification function where you can find it on LinkedIn, Jobstreet, Glassdoor, etc., make sure you turn it on and set the job proposal characteristic to match your desired positions. This way, you will get the latest notification the moment hiring companies to post up a new job.
The next alternative is to register yourself with a professional account through your desired or preferred companies. Hiring companies often post up job broadcasts directly via their website as not all companies want to work with third-party resources. Also, not forgetting to register an account with recruitment companies like Recruit Hero, our intelligent recruitment matches top talents, ranging from developers, designers, product managers, marketing, and more, with leading companies in Malaysia.
While applying for jobs, it is also perfect to look into either a level higher or lower than your current or recent position. Don't rule out the possibility that some companies may want to hire you for your experience and skill but have other openings or jobs with more revolutionary titles that you may miss out on.
Set goals for your job hunting and achieve them.
Take some time to plan about your next career jump. Ask yourself crucial questions before quitting your present job position or hurriedly accept any offer that comes to you. Create a job seeker's schedule and adhere to it until you see the output if needed.
Practice your interview skill and prepare your questions well.
Every interview is a time for a job seeker to glow. A phase where you tell about your skill and experience. Let the potential employer know how you can benefit them if they have you on their team.
Aim not only on building an excellent resume and answering questions asked by the interviewers. Produce a list of questions that can assist you to grow more information about the company, be it its work culture, opportunities for growth, employee benefits, or whether the interviewer is happy working there. Asking the right questions shows that you are well prepared and serious about the position you are interviewing for.
Last but not least, get your video interview game on.
The remote work method will stay for the long term. For safety safeguards, most companies will arrange job interviews virtually. Hence, it is wise to get used to many conferencing tools.
Set time aside to learn tips and tricks to look good on camera. Remember that acing your virtual interview will be your first step to have yourself being invited for a follow-up. While you learning, register at Recruit Hero today to get matched with many jobs! Stay tuned and do follow our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube Channel for more.