Looking for Employment Tips

With the unemployment rate quite high these days I still believe there’s room for everyone in this world. From my own experience I can tell you that if you are a good worker there will always be jobs for you, even if you have to create it yourself.

Below are some tips on how to find employment, and a bit more:

1. Have a change of mindset, believe that you will get employment somehow. Wake up early everyday as if you are working and put your efforts in as if you are already employed, eg: start searching the internet for work, clean up your room and house to stay proactive, etc.

2. If you have no or little work experience you can do volunteer work at companies and organizations for at least twice a week. There are plenty of non-profit organizations that are walking distance from your house if you live in residential areas, especially near a hospital or CBD area. Other places you can try are: churches, schools, children’s homes, special needs organizations, farms, etc. Enquire about Job Shadowing at companies, especially those of your qualifications. These organizations normally give a letter of reference for your CV for future employment.

3. Use your talents; I know one guy that volunteer by playing his guitar at a clinic while the patients are waiting their turn to be seen. You never know if you could get a job in the medical field, or if one of the patients will pass your name onto someone.

4. Use what you have; when I moved back to Cape Town from working for the government in the North-West Province I was unemployed for a month, I kept myself busy and earned some money by painting people’s houses, using my car to fetch my friend’s kids from school or take them to and from work ,etc. Wash cars and cut grass if you have to get a few Rands in to get where you want to be, it’s all steppingstones to the bigger picture and goals.

5. If you are a graduate you can look for work through your ex-lecturers, I got at job at a private company when I visited my lecturer at CPUT to ask if he knows anyone that needs workers, and just that week an ex-student was looking for someone to employ by my lecturer.

6. Visit libraries, they often have programmes to help unemployed persons, you can also use their facilities to search for jobs, do research, and print and send CVs. There are also a few non-profit organizations out there that offers free courses and organizes jobs for people.

7. Do the bit extra: a friend of mine bought a bus ticket from his home to one of the busiest business areas in Cape Town, and delivered his CV to as many places as he could, 2 weeks later he got a job from a company there. Another friend of mine was studying Mechanical Engineering and started walking to every engineering workshop in the Cape Town harbours, dropping off his CV, the very company that said they had no work but took his CV gave him a full scholarship a month later…you never know if you don’t ask.

8. Another option is to study; search for bursaries on the internet or ask your friends that works at small or large companies if they are offering internships or scholarships. I got a full bursary from the World Health Organization, they paid all my fees and paid me a good amount of money every month while I was studying (I got the bursary by writing hand-written letters to government departments).

9. Opening your own business can be an option too, from car washing to financial consulting, anything is possible. There are several Business Start-up Hubs around the city that helps people start businesses. The hubs also have areas you can use for business meetings and functions for free. Apply for business finance to help start your business. Some kids that grew up with me went shopping for people that couldn’t make it to the malls, and made a bit of money from it.

10. Move or Immigrate: there is plenty of jobs overseas. Who says you should live in one place only? You can start a great life in another town, province, country, or continent.

11. Lastly, don’t give up hope, for every 100 phone calls you make, or 1000 CVs you send out, there will be at least one reply, when you get the reply make sure you prepare yourself well for the interview and make a good impression. When you get the job make sure you add value to the company or organization. As said earlier, there is always jobs for good workers out there.

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