Job Seeking
Unit Three: Job Seeking
What am I Doing?
Everyone has to start somewhere.
Getting a your first job can provide you with many things: experience in the field that you are interested in persuing as a career, extra money for that first car, work experience for school, or just a way to keep you out of trouble in the evenings and on weekends! Regardless of your reasons, there is a lot of preparation involved in the whole process and the tools you will be creating will provide the foundation for every job search you complete from now on.
Job seeking is not a one-time thing. Looking for a job is an ongoing process wherein action plans are revisited and revised. You need to stay on top of employment trends that will determine which occupations are likely to grow in demand and which will decline. Since it is predicted that most people will change jobs or careers several times (some people suggest at least seven to ten times) in their lifetime, you will need to embrace change as a regular part of your lives.
In this unit you will investigate what is needed for getting both your first job and providing the foundation for applying for a job in your future career area.
There are four things that you will need to have to prepare yourself for your first job search:
- Resume: A short, detailed portrait of what you have done and your employability skills that would make you a good employee.
- Cover Letter: An introduction to the employer stating what job you are interested in.
- Application Form: The document provided by the company you are applying to that needs to be filled out and returned to them.
- Interview Questions: Practice questions that your potential employer may ask you during an interview.
Based on these, you will be creating a Career Package that will enable you to have digital copies of all of the tools that you can use and update throughout your working future.
Marks:
This unit will be worth 15% of your Planning mark.
Resume
Resumes
A resume is a way of providing a potential employeer with information about you and your previous experiences. It provides a clear and concise overview of your skills and experiences.
A good resume can be the first step to getting an interview. A bad resume can garantee you will never get an interview. Generally speaking there are three types of resumes:
- Chronological
- Functional
- Combination
Chronological
Definition: Organized by job titles with the most recent position listed first.
Employer Rating : Employers tend to prefer the chronological resume because the format lists prior positions beginning with the most current. Employers perceive this resume style as fact-based and easily skimmed.
Works Best for: For job seekers with solid experience and a logical job history, the chronological resume is the most effective. Career changers and those who lack formal on-the-job experience (like new graduates) find this resume the most difficult to write.
Click here to see an example of a Chronological Resume.
Functional
Definition: Rearranges employment history into sections that highlight areas of skill and accomplishment.
Employer Rating: Some employers dislike functional resumes IF they find it difficult to match up skills with actual job titles, level of responsibility and dates of experience. You can, and SHOULD, avoid or minimize this objection by including the company name in the "bullet" describing each accomplishment.
Works Best for: The functional resume might be thought of as a "problem solving" format. The functional resume gives you latitude to "make sense" of your work history and match up skills and accomplishments that might not be obvious to the employer in a traditional chronological format. If any of the descriptions below apply to you, you may want to investigate the functional format:
- You have a "mixed bag" work history: no clear thread uniting positions held.
- You are a new graduate or entering the workforce. You must show how the skills you have used in the past (in volunteer or coursework) apply to the job you are seeking.
- Your job titles do not clearly reflect the level of skills you used.
Combination
Definition: Uses features from chronological and functional resumes. It features a functional section that highlights skills, accomplishments and experience and combines this with a chronological listing of employment and education.
Employer Rating: Employers like the balance of education and skills a combination resume provides, but these types of resumes tend to be longer. This may present a problem.
Works Best for: You have done a similar job for three or more years and you want to highlight this experience You have limited job skills, but significant educational experience. Or you have worked in a variety of different jobs.
Understanding Labour Market Information
Understanding Labour Market Information
Part of looking for a job requires you understand what jobs are available. The Federal Government of Canada and the Provincial Government of Canada keep track of information related to information on various jobs or occupations. This information is called labour market information and usually includes:
- Type of employers who hire workers for a given category of work
- more commonly called occupational groups
- Job duties and responsibilities
- The level and type of education, training and experience required by workers in the group
- Main labour market characteristics of the group
- Job prospects for the next five years.
Recall your career goal from the last lesson. Using the following four sites, investigate your career goal and determine three potential careers or jobs you could do that are of interest to you and are consistent with your goals.
Jobs, Workers, Training & Careers
You may come across the term NOC or National Occupation Categories. The next page contains more information on this job identification system.
Emplyability Skills
Employability Skills
Employability skills are transferable skills that are used in all careers rather than work-specific skills needed for a particular job. The Conference Board of Canada, which represents various employers from all over Canada, have created the following employability skills profile.
Please click on the Employability Skills 2000+ English to download the file. (please remember to read both pages of the document that you will download). Continue reading below to gain an understanding of how to understand this document.
The employability skills profile is divided into three categories:
1. Academic skills: equip you to communicate, think and to learn throughout your life.
2. Personal management skills: ensure you know how to demonstrate postive attitudes and behaviours, responsibility and adaptability.
3. Teamwork skills: demonstrates your ability to work with others.
The profile describes each of these categories in more detail.
Developing Employability Skills
Usually there are two ways to develop your employability skills.
- Learn them as part of the courses you're taking in school
- Participate in work experiences, career preparation activities, on the job experience or volunteering
Resources
Use the employablity skills that you think apply to you to help you build your resume, cover letter, and answer your interview questions.
Assignment
Create a Resume using the example in the "resume" box.
