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Ways To Make Yourself More Employable

COLLABORATIVE POST

Competition for jobs is tough. If you’re looking to land a new job or work your way up the career ladder, then you’re going to need every advantage you can get. 

Professional development is an important part of your working life as it puts you in the best possible position to get a jog and proves to potential employers that you are dedicated and ambitious. 

Learn To Drive 

While not vital for a lot of jobs, being unable to drive will automatically exclude you from a number of roles and not just for obvious things like delivery driving or Uber. Many roles involve visiting clients, suppliers or stores and employers often state that applicants need a driving licence. You can learn to drive over a period of time or take an intensive driving course and get your license quicker. 

Keep A Record Of Your Achievements

If you’re applying for a new job, it’s likely that you’re going to need to supply a CV or portfolio as part of the process. Rushing around at the last minute trying to put something together isn’t going to produce the best quality application. Try and get into the habit of keeping your CV and portfolio up to date on a regular basis so that you can jump on any opportunity that arises. 

Learn How To Network

A strong network of contacts can be a great resource throughout your working life. Not everyone is a natural networker, some of these skills can be learned. The trick is to stay active in your network.  Don’t just pop your head up when you need something and then disappear back into the ether again. 

Stay active on LinkedIn and attend as many networking events as you can. Go there with an open mind and a genuine intention to get to know people and learn more about them. Being genuine will get you much further than being cutthroat. 

Update Your Skill Level

Ensure that your accreditations are up to date. Experience is more important but some employers prefer that you have a piece of paper too. 

Take a look at your skillset and see if you can find any gaps that you can fill or skills you might need for your next job. Then go an make it happen. There are many free and inexpensive ways to do this through systems such as EdX, Coursera, Udemy and Futurelearn

Volunteer

Giving your time and talent to a good cause is a great thing to do.  We should all strive to give back whenever we can. It also looks good on your resume. If you have specialist skills, you could look to help out by offering free advice to organisations or sitting on their committees or boards. 

Using your skills in this way will look good on your CV and you can take genuine pride in being able to help a cause that you believe in.

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