The past year has been one of uncertainty and makes stepping out into the construction job market daunting. There have been restrictions, which means fewer jobs have made the industry even harder to get into. With time we will see this ease, but getting noticed in construction or any job market, requires a little work to succeed. This article looks at how you can make your mark and stand out from the competition.
Know What Makes You Different from the Rest
One of the best ways to stand out from other applicants is to confidently know what makes you unique for the position. Don’t be scared of this, because it doesn’t mean an unknown or exotic skill. It’s mostly about the combination of skills you have and how this is unique to the position. No one else is likely to have the same mix as you.
Action Recommended: Create a list of your skills, talents, and competencies to have a good understanding of your relevant and unique attributes.
Relevant Work Experience
When applying for jobs, examine whether you have the right skills to succeed. Your future employer will be considering whether your skills are relevant to the job. Make sure that you put all your experience in your application pertinent to the position. If you find after several applications that you don’t have the knowledge and practical application you need, now is the time to seek this.
Action Recommended: Engage in some voluntary work in your field so you can develop your experience and show your willingness to learn and upskill.
Be Armed with Examples
Regardless of what field you’re in, you should always have a list of examples already typed up so you can grab them when you need to apply for a job or are attending any interview. These examples need to back up your skills and experience and keeping portfolios of projects you have worked on is a firm way of giving examples.
Action Recommended: Regularly review the work you have been doing and add them to a document for applications. Practice talking about them, so they come naturally when you are in an interview.
Be Flexible
Employers appreciate an employee who is willing to be flexible. This could mean considering roles lower than what you are qualified for. It’s also about the willingness to relocate, or considering an offer other than advertised. Flexibility can also be about the hours you work or working weekends instead of weekdays.
Action Recommended: To reach your long term goals, keep an open mind.
Follow Up
There is no harm following up after a few weeks if you haven’t heard back about the job. You can ask about a timeline for the decision, and it will show your enthusiasm for the role. It’s important to consider how you do this though, as you don’t want to come across as pestering.
Action Recommended: Develop a standard greeting for following up on a position for which you have applied. Rember to include a thank you for their time.
Highlight your Skills with a High-Quality Resume
Your resume is usually the first opportunity to WOW your potential employer. This is where you highlight your skills, experience and abilities into a tidy summary. Your resume should be updated regularly and depending on the job you are applying for, may need to be changed accordingly.
The most critical part of a resume is keeping it only to a few pages because an interview panel does not want to read pages and pages full of information. If this isn’t your strong point, seek out a professional to help you create a high-quality resume.
Action Recommended: Check your resume. Is it up to date? Is it too long? Spend some time honing your resume until it’s of good quality.
Prepare for your Interview
A lot of people just go into an interview expecting to wing it. However, adequately preparing for an interview where you research the company, understand what you’re applying for and arm yourself with responses for potential questions will get you a long way. Be sure to review your resume and any other documentation that you sent to apply for the job.
Action Recommended: Make a list of potential questions and answers you may encounter in an interview and practise answering them.
Register with Brix Projects
If construction is your career of choice, we invite you to contact us to register you on our database — Call 1800 621 066 or email info@brixprojects.com.au to discuss how we can help you move forward.
