Five guaranteed tips to land the dream job

Introduction

Are you struggling to find a job? Do you feel like you've exhausted all your options and still haven't landed the position you desire? Fear not, you are not alone. There are millions who face the same challenges as you do and make the same mistakes in their job search.

In this article, I will share with you 5 valuable secrets that if you do will revolutionize your career mindset and will guarantee that you will put you on the right track of finding a job, depending on your seriousness and ability to follow them.

In this article, I will not focus on how to make the best CV/cover letter or improve your interview skills, or how to approach employers. I will focus on how to build a new mindset that will make you more self-aware of yourself and your surroundings. This includes self-discovery, personal branding, and some tools to boost your knowledge.

"Mindset is everything. The way we think and the beliefs we hold shape our attitudes and behaviors, which in turn determine the outcomes we achieve." - Carol Dweck

These tips will work best for fresh graduates, but they will also benefit people who worked before and wish to improve their career prospects. So, are you ready to take your job search to the next level? Let's dive in!

1. Be Critical & self-diagnose your personality

This is one of the most important tips of this article. Most people overestimate their capabilities and will have a biased way of looking into their own shortcomings. The key to knowing "thyself" is to tune down your ego and wear your critical hat. This will help you diagnose yourself, identify your weaknesses and set a plan for how to tackle them.

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." - Richard Feynman

The easiest way to start discovering yourself is to seek people's feedback. My advice is not to do it in person the first time because there is a big chance that people won't be honest with their feedback but rather send them a video. So here are the steps that you need to do:

1. Pick a topic to talk about, it can be a product idea, a sales pitch, or simply an answer to the question "Tell me more about yourself".
2. Position your camera and record yourself in a "video" while standing.
3. Record for at least 3 mins.
4. Send it to 3-5 people that have been working or that you trust will be constructive and brutally honest. You can also send it to your university professors.
5. Use the following feedback template if you wish.
6. Consider the feedback as a gift! Trust me, it is a priceless gift when someone criticizes you constructively.

When you get the answers, gather the feedback in a list and start the self-reflection journey. Set realistic goals and ensure that you are tracking your progress. Try to seek help from others when needed. Additionally, there are hundreds of courses, YouTube videos, and articles that can help you improve in each of these aspects that you have identified.

Don't be too hard on yourself or ashamed of your weaknesses. Instead, recognize that they are opportunities for growth and learning. Embrace them and use them to become a better version of yourself. Remember that everyone has weaknesses, and it's okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them.

2. Stop bragging about your degree

I know that education filled most of your life and therefore you are probably shoving it in everyone's face but trust me, no one care, or at least they care 99% less than you.

Remember that everyone who is applying to the jobs you are applying to will most probably have a university degree. They might also be in graduated from a fancier institute and had higher grades. Therefore, you are not that special.

First Exercise:

Ask 3-5 people with jobs in your field how much they utilize their education in real-life work situations.

Second Exercise:

Ask yourself how much you remember from course X that you took in your first year at the university.

Spoiler: both answers will shock you.

"I have a problem with the education system. It's not necessarily the information that's being taught, but the fact that it's being taught in a way that doesn't necessarily apply to the real world." - Robert Kiyosaki

That does not mean that university is unimportant (at least for now). It means that your education can be the bare minimum, but not an indication of your worth. Therefore, in this tip, I want you to reduce the emphasis on your degree and focus more on the "value" that the employer will get by hiring you.

3. Build your portfolio

What makes you stand out from the crowds? It is your work. But if you are a graduate, you have zero to little experience and you have told your friends and family these words before: "All jobs need 2-3 years of experience! How can I get experience if I just graduated!".

Well, this is not true. You have a lot of experience from projects you did at your university and from your individual projects. What did you say? you don't have any individual projects? Start now.

Are you a designer? Imagine you are hired to design a website. Are you a programmer? Imagine you are hired to code the backend of a payment system. When you finish, post your portfolio on a blog and be ready to attach it as a reference with your application or with your cover letter!

"Your portfolio is your real resumé. Its contents are the concrete evidence of your skills, capabilities, and qualities as a professional. It's a tangible representation of your work and your worth." - Loren Weisman

Building a portfolio even a sample one shows your skills and will also teach you tons of knowledge about the real world and will definitely boost your chances to get an interview.

Remember experience can be in years but it can be also in things you do best and that's what your portfolio will show.

4. LinkedIn, LinkedIn, and LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a dynamic and powerful platform that can be a game-changer for individuals seeking employment or career advancement. I have been active on LinkedIn for 12 years and I cannot emphasize enough on its importance. LinkedIn builds your professional profile, provides you with industry news and insights, gives you numerous networking opportunities, and most importantly gives you the platform that shows you successful people in your profession.

"LinkedIn is not just a platform for personal branding and job searching; it's also a place to share knowledge, connect with other professionals, and contribute to the conversation in your industry." - Melinda Gates

If you are guided to this article and you do not have a LinkedIn account. I want you to stop everything you are doing and create one right now! If you are already on LinkedIn, I want you to review your profile from start to finish and remember that the majority of recruiters are recruiting using LinkedIn. Follow these steps to improve your visibility:

1. Your profile picture should be professional and expressive of your profession.
2. Write a compelling headline. Don't be boring and ensure to summarize your skills and experience (the portfolio you did is step 3 is experience)
3. Write a summary that will emphasize more on your skills, but this time remember to mention core personality traits. This can be curiosity to learn, confidence to speak up, ethical integrity, flexibility, adaptability, and others.
4. Add SKILLS in the skills section. You can add up to 50 skills. These act as keywords that will help recruiters find you. So make sure to write the best ones. Keep on refining your skills by looking at the skills needed in the job ads. Use chat gpt to help you with that using the following prompt: " I want you to act as a career counselor and provide me with the top 50 skills needed for me as a (Add your profession) to add for LinkedIn skills section. include skills in relevant tools needed in the workspace"
5. Get recommendations. If you did not work before, ask your professor at the university to write a recommendation for you. (Click here for a Recommendation template )
6. Be active! Comment, share, and keep your profile updated. Add and follow people who are successful in your field and always look at their profile and refine it as such.
7. Ensure your profile is free from grammatical errors and typos. Ask people you trust to have a look and provide feedback. Also, check YouTube for tips and tricks on how to make the best LinkedIn profile.

5. Be curious and a continuous learner!

We live in an era where information is available everywhere. You have tools in your hands that people some years ago will dream of having. So, what is your excuse for not learning?

The technological developments, especially the explosion in artificial intelligence tools, will render some jobs and parts within the jobs obsolete. Therefore, the need to reinvent oneself is now more critical than ever. Employers are seeking people who have a continuous learner mindset since these are the ones who will always bring efficient ways to the table and be able to innovate more.

"The future belongs to the curious. The ones who are not afraid to try it, explore it, poke at it, question it, and turn it inside out." - Anonymous.

As there are tons of platforms that offer free online courses, it is valuable as well to pay for courses that are taught by industry experts and are relevant to the job market such as Udemy and SkillShare. Below are my top courses providers:

1. Udemy for professional industry-related courses
2. SkillShare
3. Coursera
4. EdX
5. MIT open learning
6. Harvard Online Learning
7. Stanford Online

Bonus

Freelancing is also a great way to build a portfolio and rack up experience. This post has a list of 10 remote or freelancing opportunities to get you started.

Finally, remember that

Employers view job candidates not as robots, but as individuals with unique qualities that are valuable in their business and collaborative efforts.

These 5 tips are designed to revolutionize your career mindset and help you find a decent job in the upcoming weeks/months, depending on your ability to follow them. Always ask questions, seek advice, and reinvent yourself.

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