Career Skills (and a lucky break?) Lead to Getting Hired
Q: What does it take to get hired in this wacky job market?
Does anyone really know that answer? If only… What I can tell you is it’s a combination of education, experience, and luck.
My husband landed his first job after earning a computer certificate following a job interview that went very well. Of course, I tease him that it was his broken foot that earned him a sympathy vote, not his tidy resume or sharp interview answers. What else would his interviewer be thinking, but, “Here’s a dedicated guy. He breaks his foot after making the interview appointment, and still manages to come limping in 15 minutes early!.”
Then, just yesterday, my future brother-in-law went on his gazillionth job interview. Not for lack of trying, but he just hasn’t had any luck in finding a good fit for his bookkeeping skills. He felt good about yesterday, but when he woke up with no voice from a bout of laryngitis, he figured it was a bad sign. I encouraged him, telling him it was my husband’s broken foot that brought him luck once. Sure enough, this morning he called to tell me that he was hired!
The lesson here? No, it’s NOT to go out with no coat looking for pneumonia or slip on the ice and break a limb — it’s simply that you have to stick out the sometimes long, arduous job-hunting process, and be confident in your skills. In my husband’s case, he had just completed a computer technical support program at a reputable career school, as well as short technology courses like A++, SQL, and other techie acronymns my editorial brain can’t recall. He just needed to find a company that would give him a chance to showcase his skills, while offering the chance to build on them and keep learning.
My bro-in-law-to-be, I think, was simply the victim of a tough job market and bad timing (despite having a business degree and experience in his field). Sure, he had a few job offers during his search, but none of them offered advancement opportunities, a decent salary, or normal hours. Until yesterday, that is.
So hang in there, new career seekers. Sometimes it takes a little luck, lots of patience, or even a networking fluke. But good career education and top-notch skills will always come in handy.
What do you think is the most important factor for getting hired? Share your comments…