The PCS Job-Seeker’s Guide
Are You Qualified to Do the Job?

PART SIX IN A SERIES
 
While the topics covered in this guide will generally apply to all job hunters—from entry-level individuals to seasoned professionals and other experienced workers– this
week’s article is specifically addressed to first-time job seekers and those with only short-term job experience.
 
 For a discussion of job qualifications as they relate to those with years of experience in the job market, be sure to see the next installment of the Job-Seekers’ Guide.
 
Now that you’ve chosen your occupation, you’ll need to show that you’re qualified to do the work.
 
“But I’m just a beginner”, you might say to yourself. Or perhaps you’re concerned that the experience you acquired in your last job will not be of any use in your new occupation. Rest assured, however, that prospective employers often deem more valuable someone who can do the work or who has a positive attitude about learning the work than someone who has done the work. True, experience is nice to have, but experience is not everything. A pleasant personality and a willingness to be flexible can make up for an applicant’s limited experience. Keep in mind, too, that many employers feel that the experience gained elsewhere is at best only partially applicable to their firm. These employers provide training to ensure that their employees provide a uniform product or service. Most important to them is an applicant’s natural ability, outlook and work ethic.
 
Search your background to show that you have the skills or the capability to acquire the skills that the job demands. If you are applying for a managerial position, for example, you will be able to point to the fact that you once headed a group or team involved in a special community project. Your leadership skills also came into play, you might add, during the many summers you worked as a summer camp head counselor or during your stint as president of the PTA in your son’s yeshiva. If it is a position in retail sales you are after, let your A average in high school math and the fact
that you prepare your own tax returns demonstrate that you are the right person for the job.
 
Remember too, that any short-term on-the-job experience that you do have is probably more readily transferable to other industries or job specialties than you think. If, for example, your only previous job was as an assistant manager in a warehouse, don’t think you are limited to exactly that position. Bear in mind that the “people skills” you’ve acquired on that job will prove an asset in other kinds of businesses and positions too.
 
So don’t sell yourself short– at least part of the key to your vocational future may very well be in your past.
 

If you know of a job opening please contact Professional Career Services at 732.905.9700 or[email protected]

Agudath Israel of Lakewood, NJ, Community Services, Inc.
Yoel Tolwinski, Director of Placements     
Shoshana  Smulowitz, Director of Placements     
Daniel Soloff, Director

Agudath Isreal of America, Community Services
Moshe Tyberg,
Avraham Kahn
Daniel Soloff

(This article first appeared in the Hamodia)