By thinking over some key areas in your job search, you can increase your focus and effort toward that ideal job you have been hoping for.

Have you questioned whether you made the right career choice or do you feel lost in your career path? The lack of focus is the greatest reason why many jobseekers take awhile to get hired.  It may also be the reason why individuals end up in positions they do not like. By following and thinking through the below tips, you will have a clear focus on what you want out of your career. By using these Job Search Tips you will find it easier to filter out good job opportunities from the bad ones during your dream job search!

Job Search Tips – Ideal Job Description

1. Consider your ideal work location: Location is at the top of the list as it can be a critical deciding factor to that dream job. Ask yourself if you want to work in a big city, a suburb or a rural area. You may also want to consider how close you want to be to home and whether you are willing to relocate for your dream job. It may end up being that your dream job has a strong presence in a city that is 100 kilometers away from you. 
2. Consider your ideal work schedule. A 9 to 5 job is standard – is this ideal for your dream job or do you want to work in a position that does not have a set schedule? How many hours do you want to work per week and are you ok with overtime? You may want to factor in your commute times into your work schedule as well.
3. Consider your ideal job role and function. Do you have a specialized skillset that you want to use on a daily basis? Consider your aptitude with skillsets such as creativity, problem-solving, financial, interpersonal and physical skills. Besides this, do you have an expertise that you would like to use and enhance further? What are some results that you want to achieve through your ideal job role?
4. Consider your ideal salary. A prevalent and undisputed reason why many of us work is the potential to make big bucks. For this reason, your salary should be considered thoroughly in accordance to your skillset. Consider how important salary is to you and what your requirements are. If you are unsure where you stand with this, do a search online on your ideal role and see what the salary range is. This will give you a good indicator on what to expect when you are considering your salary.
5. Consider your ideal employer size. Size should matter during your job search especially if you are concerned with your future prospects such as growth in a company. This may often get overlooked as a critical factor because working for a small employer is very different than working for a larger employer. If you are leaning toward a smaller employer, it does have its perks. Smaller employers may give new employees a greater amount of responsibility. This is rewarding because being able to do a variety of things along with your dream job function will not only allow you to gain exposure to other aspects of the business, but also it is rewarding because it will be easy for others to notice your work. In contrast, working for a bigger company can mean going unnoticed from the other “fish in the sea” and climbing up the ranks can be difficult. Bigger companies often offer more opportunities for development, higher salaries and benefits and sometimes greater security. Your choice of ideal company size will depend on many factors.

Follow these great tips when you are doing your next job search! While it can be challenging to factor in each of these considerations, compromise is a part of any job change especially if you are in search of a new opportunity.

Job Search – Take Control of Your First Impression – Social Media Image

Take Control of Your First Impression – Part Two: Your Social Media Image
Last week we discussed how your resume can impact your first impression. Today we will discuss social media and how it affects your presence, and how it can impact your first impression.

Social Media has taken the world by storm. Not only is it interesting and fun to use, but it keeps people connected. While there are positives to the use of social media, it has its downfalls as well. How you portray yourself on a social media platform can impact your first impression and success in landing a new opportunity. See below the following social media platforms and how you should approach utilizing/managing your image:

• LinkedIn: This social media platform is the most advantageous for any job search. Make sure all information on this page is detailed and accurate – do not leave any sections blank. Similar to your resume, have your experience and education listed with position titles, dates, and a brief description. Add a section to write about your interests to give it a personal feel – make sure your interests are appropriate and reflect well on your first impression. Lastly, your LinkedIn profile picture will say more about you than the entire page will. The picture should not be one of you at a nightclub, it should not be one of you dressed casually and it definitely should not be one of your pets. Just as important, leaving it blank can be detrimental. Your picture should be polished and professional. By having a picture that reflects poorly on you will indeed deter staffing specialists and potential employers away from connecting with you. Impress a staffing specialist or a potential employer by giving some thought and effort into your profile.   
• Facebook/Twitter: At the moment, this platform is not primarily used for job searching or finding candidates. However, staffing specialists and potential employers may decide to type your name into a search engine and find your name come up with either one of these social media platforms. When you create a Facebook page or a Twitter page, you are fundamentally allowing the world to view your personal space. Often, individuals write about their feelings, their opinions, and political stance. Everyone is entitled to what they want to say and how they want to say it as they are personal pages. On the flip side, when a staffing specialist or a potential employer views your pages, this can negatively skew their opinion of you and thereby leaving a lasting negative first impression. By limiting your subjectivity, managing your privacy settings on these pages is very important. Limiting your exposure and who can see your posts will greatly help you. Make sure your page is only meant for your friends and family to view. Never post about companies and your negative thoughts on them. If you enjoy posting and sharing your political views and know that they can be taken in a negative way, create an alias for yourself that cannot be linked back to you. In the end, both of these platforms are primarily used for leisure and therefore should be maintained only for certain audiences to view.

Your first impression will last a lifetime if it is negative. Maintaining and managing your social media pages will maximize the type of success you will have in your job search. Do not deter any potential staffing specialists or employers away from considering you because of things that can easily be resolved. Take some time to review your social media pages today and give yourself that positive lasting first impression!

Manraj is a Recruitment Consultant at Fusion Career Services, connect with Manraj at contact@fusioncareer.com or leave a comment below.

In a job search, your first impression can happen before you even meet with potential employers. Take Control of your First Impression – The Resume.

We are all familiar with the saying “First Impressions can last a lifetime”. In a job search, your first impression can happen before you even meet with potential employers. How you present yourself on your resume and how you portray yourself on social media can heavily impact your success if you are in search of a new career.

Take Control of Your First Impression – Part One: Your resume is your ticket in. You want your resume to portray your skills and experience as well as a more professional you. See the tips below to see if your resume follows suit:

• The email address you provide should be a professional one. Create a professional email address that contains your first and last name (I.E yournamelastname@noemail.com). An unprofessional email address, even ones that contain letters and numbers can hinder your first impression. An email address you created years ago with a funny nickname or your pets name will not have a positive impact for you – Instead, it shows carelessness and lack of awareness.
• The format of your resume should be visually appealing and consistent. Do your research on what is the best way to format your resume – the appropriate amount of pages, which side the resume should be justified on, and where the headings should be positioned. In addition, the type and the size of the font should be consistent. Again, inconsistency will show carelessness and lack of attention to detail.
• The descriptions on your resume should be summarized and to the point. When you are adding a description to your past or current experience, be succinct. The potential employer will want to know key details however this should be done when tailoring the resume to the role. General duties and responsibilities should be kept to a few lines or bullet points. Finally, keep the most important information at the top.

Your resume is a reflection of you on paper. By giving your resume a polished look, you will leave a good impression in the eyes of staffing specialists and potential employers.

Read more resume tips on the Fusion Career Services website.

Manraj is a Recruitment Consultant at Fusion Career Services, connect with Manraj at contact@fusioncareer.com or leave a comment below.