Advice About Job Hunting

Looking for your first adult job is unbelievably daunting. Picking up the phone to strangers telling you they've seen your CV online and feel you'd be perfect for a role they're recruiting for; your inbox being flooded with emails titled "1000 jobs in your area matching your search credentials" (quite how 'Forklift Driver' matched my search of "advertising account executive", I'll never know); and endless hours of waiting, searching, driving, smiling, lying, dressing smartly, re-working your résumé and so much more. Keeping your sanity is definitely no easy feat.

Still, I somehow made it out alive and I picked up some handy tips along the way:

1. Lose the bullshit
Every person looking for a job is "hard working", "a fast learner", and every other cliché under the sun, so don't waste space on your CV proving to an interviewer that you have zero individuality. Either provide relevant proof, or cut it out altogether. It's not an accomplishment to have "IT literate" on your CV anymore; this is 2015.

2. State your achievements loud and clear
Make the interviewer pay attention to you; I chose to create a small section on one side of my CV briefly listing four of my best (relevant) achievements. Interviewers won't read all the mindless body copy, but they will take notice if you state that an advertising campaign you helped create won an award in Antwerp.

3. Have confidence in yourself
This is something I struggled with; I still do, in fact. But once you realise that oh wait, you are ready and more than prepared to do this, it'll be so much easier to tackle any question an interviewer has for you.

4. Don't let the recruitment agencies boss you around
Or tell you what you want. I had one agency tell me which roles they'd be seeking out for me and neglected to hear when I tried to suggest otherwise. This is your career, don't let someone else tell you what you should be doing.

5. The perfect job does not exist
But the one that's perfect for you, will absolutely find you.

6. Be prepared to put up a fight
I have no shame in admitting that I fought very very hard for the job I have now and I don't regret casting my ego aside for one moment. In order to get this role I had three separate interviews and wrote an email to the MD stating the reasons why, although they had doubts about hiring me, they really needn't. Turns out they liked my ballsy attitude and my desire to not give up, and lo-and-behold, I now get to call them my managers.

7. Always ask at least one question at the end of an interview
Something I realised far too late, frankly. It is so important to ask your interviewer questions, either about the job, the company or what you can expect from your life at work. By doing this, you're showing you're interested, you're keen and you have a drive to impress. Just make sure they aren't questions you should A) already know the answer to, or B) something they've already covered. (Or C) "What's the salary" - that'll get you struck off straight away).

Job hunting is one of the most unenjoyable experiences there is, but what you learn will be invaluable.
~ Eleanor xo