How to Make Yourself More Employable
By Carbon60
When you focus on improving yourself, you’ll be ready to jump on any opportunity that comes your way. Becoming a more employable prospect brings a lot of benefits, and increases your sense of self-worth. You never know when you may need to find a new job or sell yourself to your current employer for a promotion. Here are some proactive ways you can make yourself more employable by taking action and learning some practical, effective skills.
Broaden your social network
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, and remains the best platform to promote yourself and advertise your skills as a professional. Potential employers and recruitment consultants regularly seek out candidates with evidenced experience that demonstrates they’re worth investing in.
Although social media has many productive advantages, it can also have consequences if not used carefully. Content can be found by your employer within minutes, and can potentially jeopardise potential professional opportunities.
Keep your CV updated
A good quality, updated CV will considerably boost your chances of securing an interview. It is vital to make sure your CV is formatted in a neat, organised, and consistent way, and has a list of your successful achievements and responsibilities to show why your set of skills make you the perfect candidate over your competition.
On average an employer takes only 8 – 10 seconds to screen a CV before deciding on whether or not you are suitable for the interview. First impressions are crucial, and your CV provides you with the opportunity to make a great first professional impression.
Volunteer
There are a huge range of skills that can be developed by volunteering, which can help you stand out from the crowd. Volunteering for a worthy cause can help to develop your skills in team work problem solving, and leadership.
Volunteering offers the chance to give back to your community, and with our passion and involvement, it can add depth to your CV and demonstrate your passion and commitment to personal development. Volunteering not only expands your network, it helps you build confidence, and gives you experience and can improve your career prospects.
Dress to impress
A recent study, conducted by the Wall Street Journal, pointed to the fact that wearing the appropriate clothes for your industry can affect the way people perceive you and even how you’re able to think abstractly.
It is vital to dress as you want to be seen: professional, successful, and the kind of person the company wants to represent it. There’s a ‘feel good’ factor associated with dressing well, too. Dressing professionally can make you feel better about yourself and can give you more confidence.
Push yourself out of your comfort zone
Our comfort zones provide safe mental places of familiarity and security. When we step outside of our comfort zones, we are open to the increased risk of stress and anxiety. Although this can be discomforting, it can also have positive results. Challenging yourself can push you to perform at your peak – as psychologists have demonstrated, we rise to the occasion when we find ourselves in these situations, as trying new things can make you more creative and you can be seen as suitably fit to employers.
Believe in yourself
The difference whether you succeed or not in your career comes down partly to believing in yourself. If you hardly believe you are capable of doing something, you will never give your full effort. A strong belief in yourself has many advantages including: recognition of your ability to accomplish goals, a feeling of being uplifted and more satisfied with life, treating yourself kindly and being more motivated. If you practice these strategies, you will discover the comfort of knowing you can do anything you choose to when you believe in yourself.
Learn a new skill
When you’re looking for work, having extra skills can make all the difference. Improving your current skills is a beneficial way to use your time and increase your chances of finding employment. If you receive the right training it helps you build new skills, boots your confidence and will help you stand out from other candidates. Employers are usually impressed if an individual has taken the initiative to develop a new skill. It is important to push yourself out of your comfort zone and try new things to increase productivity and creativity.
Having the confidence to seek out new opportunities and develop your professional skillset will make you more employable, and lead you towards what you want to achieve in your career. An investment in yourself is a worthy investment in your life, and in your future.
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