Everyone around declares that this year they start training regularly, learn foreign languages or get up earlier, so you decide to change too? Know that decisions made only on the spur of the moment do not give the best prediction of success. Take a look at your New Year’s plans with some distance. If you insist that you want to start a new job soon, find out how to prepare for it.
Change… but what?
It is important that the changes you want to introduce are well-thought-out and planned, and above all, result from your own needs and willingness to develop, and not from temporary fashion, friend’s passion or colleague’s ambition. So before giving your current employer a termination notice, think carefully about why you want to do so. You can’t get along with your boss or colleagues, but the actions you are taking are okay? Or maybe you feel that your current position no longer allows you to develop?
Specifying what motivates us to change helps to identify further actions. It may turn out that the atmosphere in the company can be “cleansed” by initiating more open communication, and the current employer, contrary to our initial assumptions, may guarantee us, for example, a change in the scope of duties within the internal structure so that they better suit our predispositions and goals professional – says Marta Kwiatkowska-Kujawa, recruitment consultant at the training and consulting company Integra Consulting Poland. Have you thoroughly verified the possibilities that your current job gives you and are still thinking about quitting? Or maybe you are just looking for new challenges or have come to the conclusion that what you are doing is not enjoying yourself and you are thinking about changing the industry? Please do it carefully.
Not so fast…
Thinking about yourself as a participant in the labor market or a business partner, it is worth taking care of your personal brand and building a professional image in the field of interest to you. This does not mean that everyone has to create an expert blog right away, but it is good to follow the news from the industry and share knowledge e.g. on thematic groups in social media. Let’s take care of professionalism and consistency not only on professional websites, where we supplement the most important information about our experience to date – suggests Marta Kwiatkowska-Kujawa from Integra Consulting Poland. However, the image on the Internet is not everything.
It is also good to participate in industry meetings and conferences, the unquestionable advantage of which is the possibility of expanding the network of contacts. Even if there are no separate networking sessions planned during the events, make good use of the breaks between the lectures, the opportunity to ask questions after them, but also a little less official scenes accompanying often industry initiatives. Try to find out who will be there and think about who you would like to talk to. When you manage to start a conversation, don’t treat it as a recruitment where you want to present as much of your advantages as possible. Listen carefully to the interlocutor and, if possible, suggest ways to help him. If you had an interesting discussion with someone, it is also worth referring to it a bit later, e.g. by inviting such person to a group of friends on professional websites and sending a link to interesting news on the topic you were talking about. Such contacts often result in joint projects and even job offers.
Broaden your horizons
Building a personal brand and networking, while very helpful, may not be enough to find a new job if you are not yet specialized enough for headhunters to look for you. So when you decide what to do next professionally, do not limit your search to offers on recruitment portals. Some brands look for new employees among their followers in the first place, so it is worth browsing the websites and profiles of companies for which you would like to work. It also happens that information about the vacancy is sent in newsletters. As a result, the employer increases the chances that people who are keenly interested in his activities and share the brand’s values will participate in the recruitment. If you care about working in a given industry, it is good to observe the thematic groups in which there are also frequent job offers. Also, think about contacting recruitment agencies. They have a large resource of offers. In addition, they verify the convergence of competencies required for a given job position with the real skills of the candidate. In practice, this allows you to avoid the loss of time caused by participation in recruitment processes doomed to failure.
Why you?
When you are invited to an interview, prepare for it properly. Remember your most important experiences, remember that the basis is knowing the brand you want to work for and motivation. Before the interview, prepare, for example, three situations from your current professional life that you will be able to talk about, not only boasting about your successes but also showing, for example, how you react in stressful moments. It sometimes happens that the competences of the candidates may be on a similar level – then what makes you different will be decisive. It can be enthusiasm for work, energy, willingness to act and develop, and interesting interests. These issues are very important not only for people with less professional experience.
A new job is a big change. So if the situation does not force us to do so, let us take time to think it over and plan it properly. You work for a personal brand for years. It’s important to get started and not be afraid of the first step. The thought of taking on new responsibilities is so paralyzing for some that they prefer to stay in conditions that do not quite suit them. The better we prepare for the change, the more we increase the chances that it will be successful and will contribute to our further development – summarizes Marta Kwiatkowska-Kujawa from Integra Consulting Poland.
