Steps to search for a job your comprehensive guide to obtaining a job Yemenat 2023
By Malak Ahmed
Getting a job in our time has become difficult, especially when you know that 75% of resumes are rejected before they reach the recruiter, and only five people out of hundreds are scheduled for a personal interview with them, according to Topresume statistics .
Therefore, it is important to learn the steps to search for a job, which we will summarize in our article today in three basic steps, each of which includes a set of very important points and sub-steps that will enable you to get the dream job.
We promise you that this article will be very useful to you in your career path in general, and in getting your next desired job in particular.
The first step: planning your job search
Is it really important to plan your job search? Let me tell you that I have a friend who works in one of the well-known recruitment platforms in the Arab world.
He told me that when a vacancy is presented, up to 1,000 people apply to the recruiter in just 30 seconds; Determine whether or not you will attend the personal interview.
Therefore, your CV should be able to give a distinct impression about you within a few seconds, and your CV will only be when it is in the hands of the right person, that is, you apply to the company that matches your skills and abilities.
Now how do you search for this company that you want to get a job with? How do you prepare for it in the first place? Answer in the following steps:
a) Self-analysis
The first question you have to ask on the way to finding a job is; who are you? Not your name! Rather, what are your strengths and weaknesses? What are your tendencies and abilities? What is your passion ? Answering these questions is very important to get to know yourself, to know what distinguishes you from others, and what will make the recruiter choose you among the rest!
To get to know yourself, you can use specially designed career path assessments such as:
- Myers Briggs Type Indicator
- The Big Five Personality Test The five factor model.
For me, I used the 16personalities personality test to get to know my personality, my strengths, and my weaknesses, including that I am a person who performs tasks well, and cares about performing them in the best possible way.
In addition, I cannot work in a group work environment, and this is not acceptable in many companies that are looking for a cooperative employee working within a team.
This enhanced my confidence in my abilities, and my conversation with the recruitment officer during the personal interview, I always bet on my ability to perform the work in the best possible way, and that is what any employer wants and pushes him to accept me in his company.
b) Labor market analysis
You should analyze the labor market to know your position among job applicants, as well as your position in relation to employers.
Labor market analysis will help you in:
- Determine the target job market (the companies you target to work with).
- Analyze basic business needs, and what makes you stand out among employees.
- Know the extent of competition for this type of job.
- Improve your abilities commensurate with the job.
These are some of the potential benefits, but the benefits are much broader than that, depending on why you want to analyze the job market?
Then select the career path on which you will analyze the labor market, the geographical scope (and it is often the same as your own geographical scope), then identify potential companies, and study each company separately.
On the sidelines: Knowing the characteristics of the company from the inside, as well as knowing more about the personality of the manager is important.
for example; Some time ago, I watched a clip on YouTube of a person explaining that his manager was interested in yoga, so he also started watching clips and reading articles about yoga, and even a discussion about yoga occurred between him and his manager during a personal interview, which gave a distinct impression on him to the manager that prompted him to accept the job.
c) Know where you will find your job?
There are many smart paths and ideas that enable you to know where you will find your job, the most important of which are:
1. Networking via the Internet
By building a strong presence on professional networking networks such as LinkedIn, by being active in the communities of professionals you are interested in, actively participating with them, and being visible on company pages related to your field.
Of course, you need to improve your use of LinkedIn to help you get a job. You can use the article on creating a LinkedIn account and setting it professionally (explanation with pictures) , to build a professional professional file.
Note: We will discuss the idea of networking again later in the article.
2. Use your network
Building professional relationships is important to you at the career level, and the level of learning from the experiences of others, and you can develop your network of relationships through volunteering and attending professional events in your workplace.
Because using the network of relationships is the most important guaranteed opportunity to get a job, because the recruiter prefers to interview a person who has been nominated for him than to interview someone he does not know.
And make sure that everyone you know can provide you with professional assistance, whether by recommending you to recruiters or company managers, in addition to providing some information about available opportunities if they have sufficient knowledge.
3. The use of employment agencies
Resorting to employment offices is not the best option for many people, due to the bad reputation of fake employment offices that exploit individuals’ data, especially with their spread in the Gulf countries, and countries like Saudi Arabia.
Also, employment offices often offer temporary or seasonal jobs, so you will not get a stable job or even good job security. However, there are some well-known recruitment agencies that are really reliable both online and offline.
4. Attending job fairs
Job fairs may be the perfect place for you, especially if you are experienced in your field, because it is well known to most people that job fairs are for fresh graduates.
Even if you do not find a job that suits you at the job fair, you can come up with greater benefits such as:
- Get to know the top hiring managers in companies.
- Get to know the companies and institutions in the same field of your work.
- Exchange email addresses of hiring managers you meet.
- Send a thank you letter to hiring managers for reminding them of you.
5. Presence on digital recruitment platforms
There are many Arab and international recruitment platforms, such as:
- Indeed.com
- A Google for Jobs product
- wuzzuf site
- Wazuf.net
- Bayt.com is one of the most specialized websites in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- GulfTalent website
- Jobs.com website
- My profession is the most popular website in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
There are other sources for getting a job, including daily newspapers, publications, and employment pages for companies and institutions.
d) Steps to get the staff’s attention
There are three steps to getting the attention of recruiters:
- networking
- random call
- Visit without appointment and email
We will address the networking step in this part, as for random calling, unscheduled visits, and e-mail, they will be addressed in the second step of the job search steps, which is related to marketing yourself to others in the labor market.
As for networking, it is building relationships with people in the same specialty as you, and you exchange the same interests and scientific disciplines, and also that they are influential, successful in their work, which helps you in your field of work, and takes your hand to develop yourself, as it came in the famous proverb “Tell me who is your friend I tell you who you are.”
Because of course your friends or your group of acquaintances will take your hand towards a fruitful future, in addition to that networking is important because people prefer to work with those they know and trust, and have a valuable impression on them.
Networking is based on four principles:
The Principle of Abundance: Whoever follows the theory of networking is fully aware that there are many opportunities that will be available to him.
Reciprocity: That is, if you give someone information, provide him with assistance, it will return to you, not necessarily from the same person, but it will be returned in double.
Giving Without Expectations: Unsuccessful people always tend to ask, “What do I get in return for this giving?” But successful people always seek to help others for no reason, just to make their lives better, and this leads us to the fourth principle.
The Law of Indirect Effect: This is what you get when you give without expectations. For example, my boss at work used to help me and my colleagues a lot, and he always told us that our success was his success.
This helped us get prestigious jobs, and our manager indirectly helped companies turn to him, because they need a manager with his competence and cooperation with employees.
On the sidelines: Most – if not all – of the job opportunities that came to me personally were through networking, as well as professional relationships, because I am dedicated to helping my colleagues, and they also know that I am a valuable addition to any company or job through my abilities and flexibility at work.
Step Two: How do you market yourself to others?
The second step in the process of searching for a job is to market yourself to others, or more specifically to companies and institutions, as well as recruiters.
Marketing yourself in the labor market is done through six basic points:
- random call
- Visits without appointment and email
- Information sessions
- Presentation speech
- Using a Personal Marketing Tool: The Resume
- Presence on the Internet
Here is an explanation for each of these points that fall under the second step in the job search process:
1. Random calling
The sales representative makes random calls over the phone to offer a product or service of value to the customer. You also do this when randomly calling company managers, but you are presenting yourself, your expertise, and your added value to the organization.
In this context, let me tell you that my first job interview was via mobile phone, and the manager’s question was: What will you add to us? My answer was that I will not add anything, but rather I need you to add to me! To date, I have not received a response from this manager.
Why does random calling get a job?
- Because you are building a relationship with a powerful person who has the power to make you a job offer.
- Impressing with a phone conversation is much stronger than just seeing a sheet of resume, so you have a higher chance that the manager will remember you.
- Expand your network.
How does random calling actually work in the job search?
- Prepare a list of companies you are interested in working with within your scope of work and experience.
- Obtaining the names of the influential people in those companies, and who has the authority to hire you, such as the human resources manager or the official of the department you want to join.
- Talk to the decision maker or the influential person in the company, and try to schedule an interview with him, or request an information session.
Random communication may be difficult for some individuals due to the possibility of embarrassing rejection, but I recommend that you try to take the opportunity, perhaps you will succeed and get your dream job!
2. Visits without appointment and email
Visits without an appointment with the aim of speaking to the person concerned. A person you searched for As you would in a random call, you visit that person to reinforce your request or to ask for more information.
Even if job opportunities can’t be found for you at that point, you can still get valuable information and a key point of contact for referrals and follow-up later on.
Bearing in mind that visits without an appointment are not common, and even less common than random contact, because they may be unacceptable to some institutions and cultures.
In many cases, the receptionist will ask you to leave your resume, and prevent you from meeting and speaking with anyone in person.
walk-in visits as a strategy; It can succeed most with smaller organizations with a simpler hierarchical structure and a more open culture, and you’ll find that new organizations and smaller offices are more welcoming this way.
Finally, you should use e-mail and online messages. It is a gentler method than random calling or visiting without an appointment, because refusing or not responding to an email will be less severe than a face-to-face rejection.
3. Information sessions
What exactly is an information session? It is an opportunity to meet and speak to the recruiter directly with the aim of gathering information. The session can be about anything you want.
Some examples of what can be discussed:
- The company’s directions, plans, and projects.
- Its goal is to impress the recruiter with you and your expertise.
- Show that you are suitable for their job opening.
- Presenting a business idea, and finding opportunities through it.
- Add an influential person to your contact list.
The main objective of the information sessions is not necessarily to search for a job opportunity, but rather to obtain information that will help you in your field and distinguish you from others, as well as build a good relationship with the manager or the owner of the information session.
4. Your cover letter
A very short speech from thirty seconds to one minute is enough time to spark interest in you, to tell the person in front of you. who are you? What are your most important achievements? what do you want from him?
For example: (I am Malak Ahmed, a student. I am good at translating from German into Arabic. I translated about 250 texts. I worked for a company …, …,.
I am good at writing articles compatible with search engines, as well as digital marketing, I would like to talk to you about this job and its requirements).
This is a fictitious letter, but it is attractive and is enough to draw the attention of the addressee to you.
5. Using a Personal Marketing Tool: The Resume
Some people tell you that writing a resume is not important, and that now it is no longer degrees that control getting a job, but experiences. This is true, but in freelancing online , not when applying to a company or organization to work with.
The resume is the most important way to market yourself to the recruiter or human resources manager, and it will take him only five seconds to determine whether or not you will move to the personal interview, so there are some basic information about the resume.
Resume types:
1. A paper CV: which is delivered via traditional mail, or delivered face to face.
2. The electronic CV: It is the most common with the availability of programs and websites for creating and converting CVs. It is worth noting here that there are many great sites that provide tools to build a resume in a very easy way.
One of the great CV sites is Get Your CV, which is available in Arabic, and you can create a CV through GetYourCV in a few minutes.
It provides a lot of ready-made templates that you can use while modifying your personal data. The site also provides the ability to build a PDF resume through pre-made templates.
3. Video CV: It is a new type that has appeared recently, where you design a video in which you introduce yourself, showcasing your achievements, abilities and experiences.
The resume is often short, in order to be clear and easy, and to clarify your eligibility for the job, but some employers prefer a long resume, which contains some detail, elaboration, and mention of experiences.
Such as specializations and long skills, and you can create a short resume to present it to the recruiter initially, and upon first acceptance, you send them a detailed resume, which strengthens your position among the applicants for the vacant position.
Additional Resources for a Strong Resume:
- How to create a successful CV that attracts employers and wins the job
- In the eyes of hiring managers, these parts of your resume give priority to hiring
- How to write a resume (professional approach to your dream job)
6. Your online presence
Social Employment Study conducted by JobVite outside the Middle East; I found that 91% of managers and recruiters always look at a candidate’s profile online.
as well as a poll conducted by Bayt.com; It was found that 84% of hiring managers find the Internet to be a very important tool as a source of information about candidates.
Talking about how to market yourself on digital communication platforms goes on and on, and the article does not contain that, so I will shortly put you resources that will help you.
But on the sidelines of talking about personal marketing, there is something important that I should draw your attention to, which is creating videos for the purpose of promoting yourself.
For example, I follow on Snapchat a graphic designer who shares details of his day (his daily routine), as well as how he does design and some of his work with his followers – via vlogs – who necessarily include business owners, company managers, and recruitment officials.
Therefore, there is no problem if you share some short videos on Snapchat and YouTube, explaining how your work is going, and sharing some tips and experiences with your followers.
Additional resources to learn how to market yourself:
- 10 recommendations that will enable you to use LinkedIn like a pro
- 11 effective tips for getting a job through LinkedIn
Third Step: Prepare for the personal interview
The third and final step in our article today about job search steps is preparing for the personal interview.
Preparing for job interviews is surrounded by a lot of details, and we have included several detailed articles for them in The Winners, and I will put some links to these articles for you shortly.
But let me give you three quick tips that will help you a lot in job interviews:
1. Get to know the company you will be interviewing for: It is much easier to convince the employer if you know exactly the nature of the company you will be working for, and what its system, priorities and objectives are.
Search for the company through their accounts on digital communication platforms, as well as their official website, and try to collect as much information as possible.
2. Get to know the interviewer: The biggest unknown in the interview project is who will be interviewing you.
If you understand the company well and its functional hierarchy, you may know who will conduct the interview with you personally, but in any case you can reach someone from within the company to give you more certain information.
3. Body Language: When it comes to body language, you should be aware of its most important signals, as some of them unconsciously emit negative signals, such as boredom or lack of interest.
You shouldn’t underestimate the impact on your conversation partner, so it makes sense to check your body language in preparation for the interview – whether in the mirror or on video.
Here are the articles that I promised to provide you with regarding job interviews and success in them:
- How to prepare for a job interview professionally and thoughtfully
- How to pass a job interview successfully (your comprehensive guide to job hunting)
- How do you present yourself at the interview (practical tips and points)
- How to answer the most popular SMART job interview questions
- How to make a successful interview (your guide to winning your dream job)
- How to Make a Professional Presentation (Wow Employers!)
