According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job market is finally on the rise, with nonfarm payroll employment rising by 200,000 in December of 2011. Even though this spells good things for the economy and the employment outlook for our future, it still doesn’t mean that getting a job is easy – especially if you’re in a particularly competitive field.

How to Raise your Chances of Getting a Job:

It could often be very frustrating if you do not hear from the interviewers after the interview is done. Since you are anxiously waiting for a response, it becomes even more important that you get an update immediately.

If you’ve been sending out applications and getting interviews without follow-ups, here are some things that you need to start doing after every interview to raise your chances of getting hired:

Know What Comes Next

Before you even leave the interview, make sure to get a clear idea of what happens next in the hiring process. Most of the time, a potential employer will have an idea of when they will be contacting candidates for further interviews or job offers.

Asking questions about this timing lets the interviewer know you are definitely interested in the job and also helps you decide how to time your post-interview communications properly.

Ask If You Can Get In Touch

Another way to ensure that the interviewer knows you are interested in the position is to ask if and how you can get in touch after the interview. You don’t want to be annoying, but most potential employers won’t mind if you touch base through a short phone call or email a week or two after your interview. Asking about this at the end of your interview can lead an interviewer to expect such contact, as well.

Send a Thank You Note

This is one of the simplest ways to make a good impression. Send a hand written thank you note to each person who was part of your interview shortly after the interview.

Some job coaches recommend sending an email twenty-four hours after the interview and a hand written card or letter that will arrive one to three days after that. A thank you note makes you look polite, and it also keeps your name in the front of your interviewers’ minds.

Follow Up with a Letter

Sometimes, following up with a longer letter – rather than just a short thank you note – can be a great idea, as well. If you’ve learned more about the company after your interview or have had time to process some of the company’s problems or challenges after the interview, link your accomplishments and skills to those issues in your letter.

A letter can also be a good place to address achievements, skills, or experiences that you did not get around to discussing during the interview.

Keep Your Word

If you say that you’ll send a list of references or a documentation of a certain training or experience the day after your interview, then do it. Punctuality in carrying out such tasks will show that you’re serious about the job and will ensure that you look nothing but professional.

Be Careful of Your Credit

Many potential employers will check your credit history to gauge how responsible you are in your personal life – which is often a good indicator of how responsible you will be in your job. This means that you may not want to apply for a credit card online or run up a bunch of new debt the weekend after your interview.

Remember, credit card applications and other applications for credit will put dings in your credit history, so make only wise, necessary credit choices in the few weeks before and after an important job interview.

Be Patient

While it’s a good idea to have some contact with your potential employer and interviewers after an interview, it’s also important not to come across as desperate and avoid becoming a pest. Choose one or two forms of contact, and stick with that. Wait for the employer to call you, otherwise.

If you have not heard from the potential employer for two or three weeks after the interview, it’s acceptable to call to check on the status of the hiring process.

Don’t Burn Bridges

This is perhaps the most important piece of post-interview advice. Even if you aren’t chosen for the position at that particular time, remain professional. Unprofessional behavior can burn bridges with employers and interviewers who might otherwise hire you sometime in the future, so remain calm, professional, and courteous throughout all your post-interview interactions with anyone from the company.

Don’t forget to remain professional and courteous even on your favorite social networking sites, as well! Using them for a venting outlet about a potential employer could well cost you a job opportunity in the future.

These steps will help you stay in contact with potential employers after your interview so that you’ll more likely be hired for the job. It may take you a couple of interviews to learn to use these techniques perfectly, but once you do, you’ll raise your chances of getting a job any time you get an interview.

About the author:

Ashyia Hill contributed this article.  She is a social media advocate at the credit card comparison website, http://www.creditdonkey.com/

One of my ex-subordinates had once applied for a job with a leading financial firm. This guy in question was extremely talented in analytics. He used to consult me for important things even after I had left the job. Over a period of time I realized that he had developed immensely in the field and hence I knew he could any day bag a good position anywhere.

So, when he informed me that he was appearing for an interview, I knew that he would crack it and so it was. After about 4 months into his new job, he called me. He was extremely frustrated, tired of the job he was doing, de-motivated and desperate to quit the job.

I wondered as to what the reason could be. What could have changed in 4 months?

I met him the next day and after a 3 hour long discussion, I realized that it is not only important to crack interviews, but it is also important to do it at an employer who understands your abilities.

This guy in question was good at data crunching, interpreting and presenting it. But his employer never understood his abilities. His initiatives were shot down saying he was knew to the organization and he needed to spend some more time. He was put into a data accumulating team, whose job was to run queries on servers and pull data and hand it over to people who would analyze it. He spent time learning it. Very often he would find that the analytics people had not interpreted the data correctly, yet his feedback was discarded.

His frustration grew and finally he quit the organization.

Finding an employer who can understand your abilities

If you are looking at a long term career, then it is very important that you find an employer who can understand your abilities and channelize your energy in the right direction.

Some tips that can help you are mentioned below -

Know what you are applying for -

Don’t just apply for a job. Know what you are applying for. You are the best judge of yourself. You know your strengths. You know your skills.

Before you apply for that job that you see in the newspaper, ask yourself if it fits your profile. Will it help you put your skills to use? Will it help you learn and enhance your skills?

If what you are applying for is not something your love to do, you are sure to get frustrated very soon.

Don’t be shy of asking questions -

I have often seen interviewees shying away from asking questions, in spite of the interviewer asking them. Ask questions about the details of the role. Ask whatever questions you have about the job profile.

One thing as a caution; Ensure that you have read whatever information is available about the profile before asking questions. Else it will appear as if you are under-prepared.

Be an Optimist -

People are hired equally for the attitude that they display as for the technical skills they possess. Exhibit optimism. Very often people are put into the wrong roles just because of their attitudes. Nobody will like keeping a pessimist in their team.

Be a continuous learner -

Career building is not about doing many jobs and possessing fancy titles. It is about building an inventory of skills and knowledge to execute the required job well. Hence it is important that you keep gathering whatever knowledge comes your way.

Take on challenging roles -

Seek roles that you always wanted to do. This will provide you the most needed visibility. Visibility is what will take you placed. It will not be easy to get these roles. You will have to toil hard to get them, but once you are into it, your career is sure to get the boost it needs.

Conclusion:

Building your career is not just about cracking that interview. It includes a lot of things and starts from the very point you see that “Wanted”ad in the newspaper. If you wish to build a long term career, it is important that you work with employers who understand you abilities. At the same time it is also important that you understand the needs of your employer and fulfill it.

This is a guest post by Angelita Williams on the traits of a good job candidate. You can read the guidelines to guest posting at our write for us page

While a strong resume, showcasing professional experience, strong academic marks, and a balanced skill set is a perfect start to landing a rewarding career, there are several other attributes not on paper that employers are desperately seeking in their employees. All too often, job hunters rely too heavily on their resume and cover letter to land them the job of their dreams, without also considering how they present their “soft” skills to a potential employer. Demonstrating your own positive character traits to a potential employer during an interview and through your correspondence is just as important as your written credentials. These three traits are the most highly sought after characteristics of a strong and desirable employee.

Positive Attitude

Your attitude communicates more about your potential as an employee than anything else. Even the best of resumes can be a seriously unfortunate employee, if their attitude is bad. Positivity says so much about a person and can have so much to offer a company. Individuals who display a level of drive and enthusiasm for their work are always more successful at their job. A positive attitude in a professional setting helps to boost the company’s morale.

With happier employees, people are able to be more successful at their jobs. A positive attitude from just one member of a professional team can help to motivate others significantly. Employees look for job candidates that are energetic and excited about their job and their work. Though it sounds like the oldest cliché in the book, a positive attitude really can get you nearly anything. So, work to demonstrate your positive attitude, energy, and enthusiasm at work or during your job search.

Communication Skills

For the most part, the professional world is all about working with others to accomplish your goals. Of course, there are several careers that are more individually motivated, but we will always have to work with someone in some way or another in the professional setting. For this reason, strong communication skills are one of the most important attributes an employee can have. It is essential for the working order of any company or organization that the employees can successfully communicate their ideas and thoughts as well as easily understand the ideas and concerns of others.

With the ability to clearly articulate what it is you are thinking and what it is you need to succeed, you can produce a working environment that is efficient and successful. Communication is an aspect of every part of our lives and is often overlooked during one’s job search. If you are seeking a position, you must display your strong ability to communicate clearly and effectively. Moreover, you must also demonstrate your ability to listen carefully and effectively. Employers desire job candidates that can easily enter a new situation and communicate their thoughts and concerns, while also taking in others thoughts and advice.

Strong Work Ethic

While your work ethic is certainly an aspect of your attitude, it cannot simply be combined with the trait of having a positive attitude about your work. Your work ethic demonstrates your dedication to your work. Employers seek job candidates who love what they do and want produce the best work that they possibly can. Tenacity and dedication go a long way in the professional world. Obviously, if you are passionate about your work and passionate about doing a good job with your work, you are going to be a valuable employee.

One of the most difficult situations employers have to deal with is when an employee is capable of completing a job successfully, but does not have the work ethic to do so properly. An employer would far prefer an employee who has a strong work ethic, but is lacking some of the technical skill sets required to do a job. In this case, the employ will have the tenacity to learn that new skill set and complete their work to the very best of their ability.

Photograph courtesy jonny2love

About the Author:

This guest post is contributed by Angelita Williams, who writes on the topics of online courses.  She welcomes your comments at her email Id: angelita.williams7 (at) gmail.com.

Can a book really prepare you for an interview?

I never believed it could and to be very frank, I had never read too many such books. But some time back one of my readers suggested that I should refer books that could help them in appearing for their interviews. This is when I decided that I will review a few such good books from time to time so that it benefits you.

This month I will review one of my personal favorites – “Winning Job Interviews” by Dr.Paul Powers. Of all the books that are based on cracking job interviews, this book has been one of the best that I have ever read. I was surprised to find this on Amazon and at a really low price.

What is “Winning Job Interviews”?

This book written by Dr.Powers, is a complete job hunt book, which starts from job hunting, getting called in for the interview and then cracking the interview. Dr.Powers has sandwiched humor and thought into his book excellently and in such a way that you will enjoy the read and will never feel that your are reading a book on job hunting and job interviews.

Dr.Powers opens the book with a chapter on “Job Hunting” and titled it appropriately as “Why Job Hunting sucks”? The chapter is presented in a humorous way and after you read it, you will realize the humor behind job hunting. He goes onto discuss about being an effective job hunter and the ways to being and effective job hunter. A few techniques that he discusses included thing like networking, posting and researching the success statistics of each recruiter. Initially I felt that the things being discussed were a bit too theoretical, but as I read through to the next chapters, I realized the relevance of each of the things that Dr. Powers had described in the book.

The next section focuses on preparing for the job interview. In this section his focus is mainly on researching and practicing. His lays emphasis on researching about the company that you are applying for. You can prepare mock questions and practice them with your friends and relatives thus improving on the preparedness for an interview and reducing the anxiety associated with it.

As a closing note in the book, Dr.Powers discusses about the importance of maintaining a record of your contacts so that your can use them in the future if you have to go job hunting again. It seemed irrelevant initially, but later as recession crept and people started loosing jobs, especially the ones who felt that they were very secure in their current jobs, I started to realize the importance of this.

The book beautifully describes tips to get over the normally asked question – “tell me something about yourself”. The author describes about how to include your skills in the answer that you give rather than just harping on your tasks. He teaches how to take control of the interview instead of the interviewer being in control.

This book is an amazing read and at the cost that it is available at Amazon, it is a steal of a deal for anyone who is looking to prepare for an interview, rather crack an interview. The book is a beautifully laid out masterpiece that can help you achieve your personal career goals in life.

Check out the book at Amazon -

Winning Job Interviews: Reduce Interview Anxiety / Outprepare the Other Candidates / Land the Job You Love