10 Smart Things A Job Seeker Can Do *
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| #10 Be positive! |
Prepare yourself mentally. It will be a long process. Don't expect to get hired straight away. The bar in Brussels is really high so if you're not an exact match to a certain profile or if you're not born under a lucky star, it could take a while.
Take a hard look at your finances. Really important. Lots of internships are unpaid & full-time. Don't wait to get the internship offered so that you start negotiating for an allowance. NGOs budget at least an year in advance so chances are that they will stick to that part. Forget also about working part-time. If you don't have the finances, don't apply at all. This will keep you out of the black list of applicants.
Doing a SWAT analysis is a useful thing. I would personally not rely on my own biased judgement. My advice - ask a friend or a couple of friends to do this for you. It's easier to have a clear perspective on your weaknesses and threats from a certain distance.
Set realistic goals. True. Please don't review them daily. You'll get crazy if you do that.
Develop a job search strategy. And by that I certainly don't mean knocking on the doors of NGOs with a CV in your hand. That's not a job search strategy. But hey, you've just scored a 10 on the Brussels humiliation scale.
Treat your search as your job. It is a job, and it's a full-time one. Take the time to review your application before sending off.
Network to build relationships not to find a job. Smart advice. How do you spot the novice intern in Brussels? (S)he starts the conversation with "Hi, I'm an intern at... I am looking for a job, blah, blah, blah" I'm not kidding. I've heard that at least a dozen times. Never gives the right impression. So be curios, but be smart.
Focus on self-improvement. Work on your French/German/Spanish or whatever transitional skills you (would like to) have. You can never lose an investment in knowledge and it's one of the few things that employers actually do care about.
Volunteer and stay relevant. Plenty of opportunities to do that in Belgium. Don't miss the chance to get to learn a new organisation & some people. Go to conference, seminars, trainings...
Be positive. That's easier said than done. I'm a huge fan of negative thinking so I established a ritual: each time that I get a negative response to a job application I go for a beer! A Belgian one ;)
* Credits to Brad Attig, Ivy Exec’s Director of Talent Development
