Remember your first time? Fresh out of school, waiting for your dream job to jump in your lap, or something close; you probably played your life 5 years into the future and enjoyed every bit of that thought each time.

But sooner than you had anticipated, you found yourself roaming the job market like every other graduate, you perhaps also learned to speak a new language called, “There are no jobs” .

But we’ve drummed this truth countless times over.

Getting a job requires patience, that’s why it’s called a job search or job hunt.

It’s possible that you don’t meet the requirements for all the jobs out there or you are repeating some blunders you made in your first application, some you still make despite the hundreds of applications you’ve forwarded since you set out on your job hunt. Some of these errors are;

- Polishing the résumé: An error for two reasons; first the job applicant uses high-sounding words, in a bid to impress (or overwhelm) any recruiter who reads through the résumé. But this is like shooting yourself in the foot (or head) because recruiters have seen lots of résumés that are filled with buzzwords and clichés but lack the requisite experience. Polishing your résumé with just words and no qualifications is like doing your personal branding wrongly, lofty words don’t make you stand out especially if you are a 20-something-year-old, recruiters know well enough not to get carried away by those words; it’s all a matter of how well you qualify (or how much potentials you’ve got).

Advice: slow your roll, from a glance at your résumé, recruiters can tell whether you are fresh out with no experience or you’ve really got something to offer. A well written cover letter can do the trick. Get recruiters on your side by explaining with brevity, the things you can do, not necessarily trying to daze them with past experiences that don’t add up. Feel free to include anything you think gives you a strong point, anything that proves you as the candidate they’ve been looking for. You may get only internship opportunities instead of full-time jobs, but it’s a good way to start your career too.



- Silly email address: it’s no crime to be sexy, cute, “hawt” and all that but killerfire@domain.com, 2sexyrealdirty@domain.com.. etc etc. is amateurish. Enough said. Let’s just say your application had a cutesy email address because you failed to properly proofread your résumé. Some recruiters may not find it a big deal but that’s not a risk you want to take.

Advice: cutesy email addresses don’t say anything professionally appealing about you; opening an account with any domain is still free, last I checked. Get serious about your job search, have an official email address.



- Waiting until you need a job: this is another killer, most first time applicants wait until they are out of school or when they are ready to work, and then they start thinking of a work experience that fits the kinds of jobs they want. Research has it that about 77% of Nigerians are unemployable; in other words, even if there were jobs, most candidates don’t qualify. Period.

Advice: experience matters, most employers want to give out responsibilities to people who are capable of taking ownership of their jobs. Build your career slowly by starting out in small places, handle this responsibility and that responsibility then tailor your experience to match the requirements for your next job. Your dream job may not come presto, it’s not magic, but you have to be prepared for it when it does.

- Writing cover letters that repeat the résumé. I got this from Forbes because I find this true, many first time applicants are yet to catch a whiff of what differentiates a cover letter from a résumé; this happens mostly due to poor research, or mere negligence. A cover letter and a résumé serve different purposes. With your cover letter, you create a more personal (but professional) feel for the recruiter, at the very least he knows it’s from a human; you give bullet points on why the recruiter should hire you. A résumé lacks that personal appeal, it just lays all the cards on the table.

Advice: read this on how to write a cover letter and this on how not to write a cover letter.

- Oh Please. Not your parents: it’s quite obvious, virtually all the blunders cited are made on the applicant’s résumé and this is not an exception. Many first time applicants put the names of their parents, siblings or close relatives as their references. These people can’t be objective in their statements about you. Duh! They all want you to get a job too and recruiters know this.

Advice: Get proper references; former team leader, direct supervisor during your internship or simply write “available on request” and keep looking for an appropriate reference.

These are not all the errors; some others are the overuse of clichés, poor dressing to the interview, attending interviews late, and the list goes on. The truth is, there are jobs, you just need to up your game and look in the right places.



Do you know more errors first time applicants make? Please share it in the comments section below.

@jobbermandotcom

Wonderful and highly educative info, keep up the good job.

I total agree with you. that was a nice piece of info. i learnt one or two things

Nice info Jobberman, keep it coming.
Front page please...

1. Checking out your interviewer. For guys that can't help but flirt with pretty ladies don't ever 'eye' your interviewer especially if she's older than you.

2. Forming Ajebo. some applicants think if they can form one accent they might impress someone. Unless you're making sense during the interview 'forming' is a waste of time.

3. Pungent Deodorant or perfume I once heard of an interviewer who was asthmatic that nearly died because an applicant entered the room with strong smelling designer perfume that made breathing difficult for the interviewer. Watch it peeps! It's not by force to smell nice!

no job in town jareee

take note job seekers

DJDOLA: no job in town jareee

You get what you believe...there are lots of job opportunities

#Juss Passing, peeping thru the window# Boring! YAWN!!!!

Pretty enlightening.

And hw does dis help in a country wia its man knw man dt gets u d job or hw mch u cn afford to pay the N300,000 above dt jobs are sold? The last time I commented on job opportunities on dis forum I asked a question and ddnt get any answers. I wll ask again,if u knw anybody dt got a job frm 2010 till date by jst applyin and nt hvin any backing let me see ur hands up.

Nigeria where the population exceeds the job available, and u telling us this irrelevant jagons. Who has time to be looking at all dos blunders if u have d right connections? Or maybe all the right requirements? Please, jobber man, go and keep posting job vacancies or tell us d way forward to massive unemployment in Nigeria.

Pergrace:
You get what you believe...there are lots of job opportunities

Supported!
I'm proof of that fact.

Hv a pal who gt a super job with over 170k per month with an official car and driver without even an interview or application, my neigbour paid 500,000 for FRSC, my classmate bck in school paid N300,000 for civil defence no training no application he ws told its replacement. May b sm of u are outside naija sha..am inside naija.

una nefa tire with all these 'c-fees', 'cofa-letters'

Go and get the connections first before you copy and edit a good cv...

We all have the certificates...we all have the cvs... but not all have the right connection!
Get connected and the job is yours. It is not what you know....but who you know.

DJDOLA: no job in town jareee

Keep deceiving yourself. Look around and see if your mates are not getting employed.

Hehehee!! .....



I Giggle wen i come across this kinda threads .


This stuff applies outside the shores of Nigeria, cos its an open-secret wat avenues one needs to go through to get "meaningful employment".


Not all this 'customer care' titles everywhere.


#.... Its sad bt that's our reality.

Tnx for dis info

An oldman of 72 is sittin next 2 me and I jst read some of ur comments to him and he simply told me dos of u claiming its CVs dt gt ppl jobs are either nt living in the country or are dos who gt d jobs tru ur man know man ways.. He jst told back in d 80s job wia sold in dis country. He jst added dt quota system and affirmative action hv bin hijacked by d rich for dia kids and fam. Can u tell Dame patience Gej's cousin her cv is d reason why she cnt gt d NNPC job?

I Thank God for my testimony,always prophesy Positive Deeds into your life and always believe in yourself!
GOD BLESS US ALL!

azimibraun: An oldman of 72 is sittin next 2 me and I jst read some of ur comments to him and he simply told me dos of u claiming its CVs dt gt ppl jobs are either nt living in the cointry or are dos who gt d jobs tru ur man no man ways.. He jst told back in d 80s job wia sold in dis country. He jst added dt quota system and affirmative action hv bin hijacked by d rich for dia kids and fam.

I dey tell u!
You wan carry Ekpoma, osu, or akungba certificate go compete with American University of Nigerian-Yola graduate wey dey pay 1.5million per semester (sponsored by Dad-Senator)

This country don finish...

I made the mistake of sending out a generic resume without tailoring it specifically to what the employer needs.

Modifying your resume is time consuming, but worth it!

solidbroda: Nigeria where the population exceeds the job available, and u telling us this irrelevant jagons. Who has time to be looking at all dos blunders if u have d right connections? Or maybe all the right requirements? Please, jobber man, go and keep posting job vacancies or tell us d way forward to massive unemployment in Nigeria.

You can still be lucky to get a good job if you're qualified. But man know man is a major factor in Naija.

azimibraun: And hw does dis help in a country wia its man knw man dt gets u d job or hw mch u cn afford to pay the N300,000 above dt jobs are sold? The last time I commented on job opportunities on dis forum I asked a question and ddnt get any answers. I wll ask again,if u knw anybody dt got a job frm 2010 till date by jst applyin and nt hvin any backing let me see ur hands up.

I did. I got a federal govt job by responding to a newspaper advert.

God Bless this Poster.

I wish all these were true but in Nigeria we all know what gets you the job......CONNECTION. A little merit here and there but It's more of who you know. They even sell slots to federal jobs now

asala1:
Keep deceiving yourself. Look around and see if your mates are not getting employed.

as a marketer in insurance coy?