The job market is awash with job hunters right now, and they aren’t just the lower-level employees, either. Businesses have gone down, needed to make redundancies, or even had to cut employee pay outright. There are a thousand and one reasons why someone who is highly experienced will be looking for a job right now, and competition is fierce.
You need to be at the top of your game, which means investing in your skillset and your expertise so that you are the perfect candidate:
Earn Certificates in Relevant Fields
Certificates are a great way to further your qualifications without committing to an entire degree. This way, you can focus on topics that really interest you and will help you further your career. Data analytics, for example, is a very topical skill to have under your belt. With a Boston College Data Analytics certificate, you can specialize yourself in the topic without committing to the full degree.
Of course, if you decide you want that full degree later on, the credits you earned by completing that certificate will be transferred to your degree, meaning you’ve already finished four units and can fast-track your degree.
Attend Talks, Events, and Conferences
On top of certificates, it is a good idea to attend talks, events, and conferences. Even digitally, they are wonderful places to learn and meet people in the field. You never know when one of these networking opportunities will turn into a job offer, but even without that offer, it still shows you are invested in your industry and with staying on top of trends.
Diversify
You don’t need to keep your skillset along a linear line. Diversify and learn things you are interested in. Diversifying makes you a more interesting, unique candidate and also proves you are dedicated to learning and improving in all aspects of your life.
Learn a New Language
If there is one thing that will automatically set you apart from a huge collection of candidates, it’s knowing more than one language. It’s like getting two for the price of one for employers. Use the languages you know to their fullest, and if you don’t already know two or more, then go through the effort of learning. Go for professional and accredited courses, or simply take the final exam so that you can prove your skill level in the language or languages.
Volunteer
One easy thing you can do right now for yourself that will help with your job hunting is to volunteer. You can either be proactive and volunteer your own services, or you can join as a volunteer at an established institution. This says a lot about your character and can actually be a great networking opportunity if you are interested in working in the non-profit sector.
Use this time while you are job hunting to invest in yourself and in your future. Some options are free, others paid, but all of them combined will make you a great candidate any business will be lucky to have.
