Jobs

Dos and Don’ts That Can Affect Your Employment for a Lifetime


Has your endless hunt for employment exhausted you and made you feel inadequate? As you sat down and looked at the long line of people next to you, holding files during those dreadful interviews, you surely would’ve seen the same kind of frustration in all their faces. The struggle is real, and it’s certainly no fun dealing with the wait and the disappointment. You might feel like you’ve had enough, but here’s the thing – don’t quit just yet. Instead, you may want to look back at all you’ve done, both in life and in your career, and see if your experiences might have influenced your employment opportunities. If you do find little errors, you still have a chance to fix them. But if they’re the type of mistakes that cannot be undone, you need to make sure you learn from them and see that you don’t repeat them. They should not affect the rest of your future endeavors. Here are a few crucial things that could impact your career hugely.

Know What It Means to Be Qualified

While degrees are authentic evidence of your qualifications in a specific field, nowadays, it isn’t everything that people seek in a good employee.There’s a lot more to it than certificates and awards. Of course, these are the only documents that validate your skills and abilities connected to a specific field of your expertise. However, in the current professional world, people seek a more rounded combination of qualities in an individual. In addition to theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience, there are a couple of in-between factors that could actually go a long way in determining how qualified you are. For instance, your personality, the way you react to an issue, your approach to problems, your ability to manage your emotions and the people around you are some of the essential features that would determine your actual qualifications for a specific role.

Take the ‘First Impression’ Seriously

There is a reason why any interviewer will start off by asking you to speak about yourself. This is quite a crucial part when it comes to the assessment of an individual. Learning about your character, your background, your likes and dislikes in general, and your outlook on the world can tell your employer (or anyone) a lot about you. It doesn’t really mean that people would judge you straight away based on a few details, but it certainly does help them gauge quite a few essential factors about you. The way you present yourself at this point also reflects a whole lot about who you are. Whether or not you might agree, the first impression you create does carry weight and goes a long way in the professional world.

Have Goals

A common mistake we all make in life is that we work towards a goal only when it comes to education and a career. In other words, we are made to feel that ‘goals’ apply exclusively to a phase where we start becoming independent, grown-up individuals. The truth is that goals need to be developed much earlier in our lives, starting at a very young age. Of course, it isn’t entirely your fault that you didn’t have one back then. Nevertheless, it isn’t too late to start living with goals, not just professionally, but in every aspect of life. Your intention to quit smoking by the end of the year is a goal, too: a huge one that could change your life entirely! Knowing that you live by such goals reflects your determination and gives your employer the assurance he requires to hire you.

Be Genuine, Be Yourself

It is very important to be yourself, particularly when you attend interviews. This is who you will be once you take up a specific role. Of course, this does not mean that you need to act casual and forget your manners. It means that you should not try to disguise your views, personality, and conduct. You certainly will improve on all these aspects as you go on. However, exhibiting your real self during an interview is essential for growth, and it all comes into play in determining your eligibility for a specific role. Always make it a point to be truthful about yourself and your life. Even if it’s something as simple as being divorced twice, or being legally charged for an offense, it is crucial that you are clear about it all. Being secretive or dishonest isn’t likely do get you anywhere closer to securing a job; it will only make matters harder. In the world today, employers stay updated and are well equipped with the right tools in order to ensure 100% security. For instance, websites like http://www.checkpeople.com/ and other reliable sources are widely used in the commercial world to identify individuals with criminal records who may pose a threat to organizations.

Maintain a Clean Slate

A person’s past doesn’t really matter too much, at least not in most situations in life. In fact, forgetting the past altogether is often the best thing to do. In the professional world, however, things work quite differently. Everything about your past becomes a matter of concern when it comes to employment. This often applies to all aspects of your life, and not just to your career. This is why many employers request records of your character, dating all the way back to your high-school days and right up to the present. This is because they need to check for reports of misbehavior or malpractice. Sometimes, it isn’t the magnitude of a misdemeanor that would matter to an employer, but the nature of it. Looking at all the factors above, there’s clearly one simple issue that makes the bottom line: being a good person, in general, is what ultimately gets you places. Sometimes, it isn’t your achievements and qualifications that will get you far, but your character. Keeping the basics in mind can actually open the doors to success for you in the long run.