Are you preparing to ‘get selected’, ‘get hired’ or ‘sell yourself’ (to say crudely)?

Ask yourself a simple question: ‘what kind of job are you looking for’ any consultant will ask you this even before taking your CV.  You may find yourself somewhere in between

Answer 1: I am prepared to join any job in a reputed company as long as they pay well, pay in time etc.     OR

Answer 2: I want jobs that match with my knowledge and skills therefore belong to me (or I belong to a company that writes a good JD)

Be really frank with yourself, you don’t need to answer it on this blog post.

Last few years, I have spent more time training people who give answers that come close enough to Answer 2. These people also need good salaries in fact they command it and are usually hunted for by the HR teams of many companies as much needed talent or resource.  The reason is simple their own performance is measured by hiring the right talent. ‘You can’t fit square pegs in round holes’, can you?

The words that gets the HR teams and recruiters working: Head-hunt, Resourcing, Recruiting, Hiring, Engaging, Open-positions, walk-in interviews, campus selection, internal hiring, job posting on social/professional networks. The buzz words in the knowledge industry are Talent-Hunt or Recruitment Drives. By whatever name the HR may call its ‘getting people in the company’ their objective remains to get ‘the right person for the right role’ OR ’round peg in the round hole’

The start point for the recruiter is the JD or Job Description or Job Role. Whereas your main document is your CV. As a part of your preparation to Get Selected you must be (or become) a well rounded personality with the required knowledge, skills and right Attitude. The same should be reflected in your CV or Resume’

Your CV is your presentation document to sell-yourself as right talent for a good company. Do start with a ‘career objective’ that reflects your ‘can-do’ attitude and you should be able to demonstrate your skill and ability to work in teams etc. (re-read the JDs that attract you ). The experience you have can be in the internship project or it is great if you have real work experience – build solid references there. An year’s real ‘one-the-job’ experience is more valuable today than any M.Tech or an MBA. I often suggest my students to go for higher studies only after acquiring some job-experience ideally 2 -3 years experience is good for an MBA. Read “Snapshots from hell”- the making of an MBA by Peter Robinson.

To sum up, The most ‘common sense’ way to apply for a job remains: go for the ones that match with your qualification and experience. Similarly, the surest method to ‘Get Selected’ is: listing down knowledge, skills and personality traits that you have and match them with the Job Descriptions that you come across at your level in your industry. If there are missing technical requirements join a training program to acquire the required skills. Knowledge or Gyan in most cases is free and its the skills and abilities that sell! Develop your communication abilities and polish you personality as at the end of the day you need to ‘sell yourself’ at the time of interview. There is no escape from the question ‘Why should you be hired?’

Come on! HR folks are smart enough to single out the crammed answers from the genuine responses… read my post on ‘Can you get hired by cramming answers to a few interview questions’

Don’t fret, you will easily fit-in to the role that you are looking for, prepare well and leave the rest – the system takes care of itself!