I Just Want A Job

Many of us go to school because our parents/guardians believe that education is an important part of growing up and is somehow the key to success. Some people say that you should follow the money by choosing careers that will help you to make a lot of money. Making a lot of money really sounds nice but sometimes even if the money is not a lot, you just want a job so you can do some things for yourselves such as buying a technological device, paying for college/university or even helping out with some bills at home. 

Questions To Consider Before You Start Looking For A Job 

If you don’t know how to start looking for a job, ask yourself these questions: What am I good at? What kind of job am I looking for? What kind of skills do I have? Where do I want to work and how much would I want to earn? Is this job able to help me meet my daily, weekly and monthly needs? Do I need to complete an application form or write a cover letter? Do I need to submit a resume? Do I have any job/work experience? Do I need a summer, part-time or a full-time job? Where can I look for job openings? If you can answer these questions, you’ve already started the process of finding a job because you’ll know exactly what to look for.

Where Do You Start Looking For A Job?

If you just want a job, you must know where to start looking. This can be as easy as going to organizations/companies within your community/town/city and asking if they are hiring or if they need a volunteer. If you have internet access, a simple Google search can help. If you’re on social media, you can use it as a way to find jobs and not just to catch up on other people’s business and post pictures/videos etc. 

Here are some additional options that you can use to find jobs: 

• Link Your Purpose (www.linkyourpurpose.com)
• Scholarship Jamaica on Instagram
• I Need A Job on Instagram and Facebook
• Jamaica Classifieds Online
• Job Listings on Facebook
• Jamaican Medium
• Caribbean Jobs
• Networking (meet and receive contact information for different people from different organizations/companies who can help you in your job search)
• Jamaica Jobs Online
• Go Jamaica
• The Sunday Gleaner (Careers section)

Tips to Prepare For The Job You Have Found

1. Read up on or ask what the job is about so you will know what you will be doing if you get the job.
2. Prepare a cover (application) letter. Before you start writing your application letter, do your research on the company/organization that’s offering the job and write your application letter to meet their needs where possible. Say why you would be the perfect person for the job. 
3. Prepare your resume which will go together with your cover letter. Include your work, volunteering and internship experiences that are related to the job you are applying for. Don’t forget your extracurricular activities, leadership roles, hard (what you can do physically) and soft (how you talk/listen to people and how you deal with them) skills, educational background which are also important to mention.
4. Give it some time. When you submit your job application, it may take a few days or weeks to hear back from the employers. If you do not hear back within a reasonable time period, you can call to check on the status of your application.
5. Always answer your phone professionally because you may be called for an interview. 
6. For your interview, dress professionally, show up on time and have a nice quiet background if it’s online. 

Happy job hunting!

For more information on how to write your cover letters & resumes, check out these posts (place links here).