Be selective in your job applications.

Be selective in your job applications. Life is about choices. You are selective about most things, the food you eat, the news apps you read, the people you spend time with. If you let other people make decisions for you, the chances are you’d be less happy yourself. Being selective puts you in control of the activities you care about.

Finding the right job

Being in the right job is fundamental to many peoples happiness and wellbeing. When you spend 35 hours or more doing work in a full time role, you owe it to yourself to make sure that you are fulfilled and are doing something you enjoy. At least relatively anyway, we can’t all be professional footballers or golfers. There are lots of things we might factor, for example, the nature of the work, remuneration, ethics and sustainability practices of the company.

Do not be tempted to apply for everything

Applying for jobs nowadays couldn’t be easier. Literally at the click of a button you can apply for multiple roles. However, this technological advancement I believe gives a false impression and sense of optimism. It has become a numbers game where candidates might apply for 50 or even 100 jobs or more. Sure, you might score an interview or two. But how much research have you carried out into the organisations you have applied to? How many of these jobs would you actually be happy in?

Spend more time on fewer applications

Applying for lots of jobs and getting no responses is something I often hear from anxious and exasperated job seekers. Surely a better strategy to success would be to spend more time on fewer applications and doing everything you can to tailor your application for the roles you really like the look of? Adapting and focusing your CV to the specifics of a particular role will not just make your CV perform better, it could get you into a job that you really enjoy and put your heart and soul into.

Look for that lightbulb moment

Sometimes when you read an advertisement or job description you feel a wave of excitement thinking, not only would you enjoy that role, you really like the sound of the company too. You can already visualise yourself in that role and are excited at the prospect of doing it. It is lightbulb moments like this where your intuition comes into play and the more you look into it, the better it sounds. These are the jobs you should focus on and spend time tailoring your CV and cover letter to maximise your chances of interview.

Neville Rose, Director of CV Writers.

We provide a CV writing service and can also help with LinkedIn profiles, cover letters and more. You can get things started with a Free CV review.