A new year is upon us and like previous years, many decide to embrace new beginnings and start the year with a search for a new job.
You’ll be pleased to know that the first quarter of a new year is an excellent time to look for your next opportunity. Lots of businesses have a refreshed strategy and goals and decide to expand their team and recruit to implement them.
With this in mind, here are six things you can do to find and secure that new job you’ve been waiting for last year.
Get clued up on your sector knowledge and jargon
If you keep up to date with sector news, you’ve probably noticed that terminology changes all the time. Do your research to find out which new terms relate to your skillsets and use these to describe yourself and show you understand the industry.
For example, if you’re a PR person, and your day-to-day responsibilities include writing SEO optimised case studies and regular blog posts, you may want to refer to your skills as Digital PR. Digital PR skills are in high demand and this can give you a differentiator from other candidates applying for the same role.
Or if you’re a Frontend Developer and you’ve recently skilled up in Javascript frameworks such as Angular, Vue or React, you could refer to yourself as a JavaScript Developer. This will help give you a point of difference when compared to other Frontend Developers.
There are lots of ways to stay up to date. Sign up for relevant newsletters, follow accounts on social media and subscribe to relevant blogs for tips.
Expand your network
In person events look to return even more this year and they’re a great place to connect with people. Over the last few years online events have increased significantly, so there’s nothing to stop you going along to those too. You never know, you could learn something new, meet a potential employer or hear about a new business who may be recruiting.
Away from events, LinkedIn is the perfect place to connect with potential employers and other creative industry professionals. Follow the content they’re sharing or join groups so you get notified of developments as they happen and can be part of the conversation.
The most important thing to remember about expanding your network is that it’s all about relationships. You should expect to contribute as much as you get from your connections, otherwise they won’t be around for long!
Refresh your digital presence
Potential employers are likely to search for you on social media, so your profile should always be current. We’ve previously spoken about what your social media says about you, and it’s still just as important when you’re trying to land a new job.
Know your worth, salary expectations and skillset
Give yourself some time to really focus on your skillset, previous experience and what you’d like to learn next. When you’re speaking in an interview, have confidence about what you would bring to the team, what you’d expect and how you’d like to grow
Salaries have changed a lot in recent years. Brexit has created a loss of European workforce, and the pandemic has created an increase in business owners investing more in their digital presence, whilst turning to digital processes.
The result is that the demand for skills in the digital sector has increased rapidly. The knock on effect is that salaries have now soared – it’s simple supply and demand.
Know your salary expectations when you go into your job search and be willing to discuss this during the interview at the appropriate time. An open and transparent dialogue enables a much more fluid process when it comes to the point of job offer. Everyone will be on the same page from the start. You don’t want to get to the point where you’ve received the offer, only to find the salary is much lower than you expected!
If you work with a recruiter when searching for a job and share your expectations, they can make sure you only interview for roles that meet your salary requirements.
Broaden your search
It goes without saying that hybrid and flexible working is the norm for most people now. Many employers have either downsized their premises or given up their offices completely and are happy to have a remote workforce.
So, opportunities that you may not have applied for due to location, could now be something you can throw your hat in the ring for.
Work with a recruiter
Working with a recruiter who has built up trust with clients, a thorough understanding of your sector and job market, can help you learn about opportunities first and even ensure that you’re considered for the role.
If you need help with your job search in the creative and digital sectors, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
