WORKING WISDOM

In the first of our series on how to find a job we look at the most important part of the process – you

SO YOU’VE graduated and you’re ready for your dream job. All you need to do is secure an interview and you’re in, right? Well, not quite. The most important part of your career is you – and if you’re going to land that perfect position, you need to dig deep and ensure you know yourself even better than you think you do. Here’s how to do that.

KNOW WHAT YOU WANT

Depending on what you’ve studied or where your interests lie, you probably have an idea of the kind of career you’d like.

Research your preferred industry and speak to people working in that field to find out if it will suit you – are the hours irregular, for example, or does it require a lot of travel? If this doesn’t suit you, it’s time to start looking at alternatives.

An employer’s favourite interview question is, “Tell me about yourself,” says Brenda Bensted-Smith, CEO of Ad Talent recruitment specialists.

“This is the most commonly asked question, so rehearse it because it’s important,” she says. “Describe your qualifications, work history and acquired skills, emphasising the skills required for the position on offer.”

You should also consider your primary motivation for working. Of course we all need a salary, but is your driving force a need to be creative, financial security or something else?

Think about the work environment that would suit you – do you enjoy working with lots of people or are you more efficient working on your own?

Employers will probably ask you a few of these questions too, so it’s best to be prepared.

Before you ask a recruiter to help you find a job, you need to give serious thought to what it is you’re looking for, says Lorna O’Brien of O’Brien Recruit- ment in Cape Town.

“Too often we have candidates who are unable to articulate the kind of job they’re looking for, what industries interest them or what their ultimate career goal is. They’re unable to ‘sell’ themselves to us,” O’Brien says.

These candidates often have difficulty doing a self-evaluation to highlight the value they can add to an organisation, she adds.

Start thinking big then break it down. Decide what direction you want your life to take – these are lifetime goals. Then decide on smaller goals, which represent your day-to-day goals and act as stepping stones on the path to lifetime goals.

Once you’ve set the large lifetime goals, you may find the process becomes even easier if you break down the goals into categories, such as career, financial and family.

But as Tamara Wolpert of Viv Gordon Placements in Cape Town says, “Sometimes one’s goals change, because ‘life’

happens. It’s important to be flexible and don’t be too hard on yourself if circumstances change.”

If you’re in it just to pay the bills, be honest about it but also ask yourself if that’s the only reason.

“Some people are money-motivated, but most are looking for career fulfilment, not just a big pay cheque,” says Jack Molisani, author of Be the Captain of Your Career.

“People who pursue careers purely for financial gain aren’t as successful as those who are passionate about the job they do,” O’Brien says. She advises jobseekers to “get involved in something you enjoy and financial success will follow”.

“Your twenties is the time to put career building blocks in place to ensure you gain the skills and experience that will be useful to you and a preferred employer. It can be easy to get sucked into a role that has financial rewards but that won’t necessarily give you the skills to progress in your career,” she points out.

The obvious danger is that you could land in a position when you’re older where you have to take a step backward to move forward. This is much harder to do when you have a family to support and all the other responsibilities that come with being an adult.

KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO

The other favourite interview enquiry is, “Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses.”

It’s not an easy one to answer, and it will take a little time to establish exactly what these are.

In order to identify your strengths you need to assess your skills and make a list with three sections:

S Knowledge-based skills that you get from education and experience, such as computer skills and languages.

S Transferable skills that you can use in any job, such as problem-solving ability.

S Personal traits – your unique qualities, such as being a hard worker, a team player and being reliable.

You must make your own list but also ask others for their input. Create a survey using Google Forms for your friends, relatives and colleagues (google “how to create a Google survey”), and ask them to list your skills and abilities too. They can do so anonymously and this perspective will help you determine your strengths and areas which may need work.

You could also email them specific questions and follow up directly with them if you have questions about their answers.

What do you do when asked about your weaknesses? “Don’t say ‘I have none’, because nobody’s perfect,” Bensted-Smith says. “You can use a professional weakness, such as lack of experience (not ability), or turn a weakness into a positive and explain how you’re working at improving it.

“For example, you could say, ‘I’m reluctant to let go and tend to do everything myself, feeling like nobody can do it as well as me, but I’m learning to delegate, with excellent results’.”

Most people are poor judges of their own capabilities, says Erich Dierdorff, a management lecturer at Driehaus College of Business at America’s DePaul University in Chicago.

“Self-awareness is understanding who we are and how we are similar to or different from others,” Dierdorff wrote in an article in the Harvard Business Review. For a complete picture of ourselves we also need to know how others see us, he adds.

Alexis Kitchen of Afrizan Personnel in Johannesburg agrees. “One of our favourite interview questions is what you think your references might say if asked about your strengths, followed by what they might consider to be your weaknesses or areas that need development.

“This requires that the candidates consider feedback they’ve received about performance, rather than their own perception of it, and this is often telling. We always ask their referees these questions.”

And then there are skills – it’s not easy to find a job that requires only one. “Employers want people with a spectrum of talents,” Molisani says. And it’s important to focus on developing skills that will make you appealing to future employers.

Depending on your field, you may have to complete certain training. Set a goal to get the skill or degree within a specific time.

However, before enrolling – and potentially taking on debt – think about why you want the qualification, and if it’s going to make a difference in your career.