8 ways to boost your employability & job prospects

The New Year is traditionally a time for looking at starting afresh, whether that’s to get fit and healthy or, often, to look for new career opportunities.

With this in mind, the personal finance experts at Ocean Finance have uncovered ten ways in which you can enhance your employability…

Consider utilising this lockdown to learn new skills. If you know exactly what job you are after, find a job advertisement for this role and analyse the qualifications or skillsets that they require, so you know the improvements you should be making to better your CV. You can also find free courses on Open Learn (run by the Open University), Class Central (run by Ivy League universities) or Dash which is a free web development and coding course.

Read and research. However, if you don’t have any spare time to dedicate to a course, consider more informal, bite-sized learning. Subscribe to relevant newsletters and trade guides, as well as podcasts, as this will not only help you stay informed of your interested sector, but can help with any future interviews.

Learn a new language. Speaking another language, even to a basic level, can open up more opportunities, and make you stand out against other competitors, especially if it’s of relevance to the job role. Try the free app Duolingo, or Hellotalk, which is another free resource that pairs you up with a native speaker.

Volunteer. The UK is in greater need of community than ever before, so not only will volunteering in these testing times look favourably on your CV, but it’ll help society, too. Plus, if you have an existing skill set, you could use this to help people i.e. running free online tutorials.

Contact recruitment agencies. They have staff who are specialists in specific career areas and can keep a lookout for exciting opportunities.

Take up a new hobby. For example, starting a podcast or a blog is an excellent way of showcasing your communication skills. Or even classic pastimes like knitting could lead to you setting up a side hustle for the moment. These are all things that will look good on your CV.

Work on your CV. Really take the time to make a list of everything you’ve achieved in your last job role, and how these skills can be transferred to future employers.

Work on your interview technique. Whilst doing all of the above things are great, they’ll only get your foot in the door, so you should also spend some time practicing for future job interviews. Think about questions that relate to your achievements, failures, future goals, and more. Also make sure to use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action and Result), for full effect.

To find out more, check out the article here.