NHS Jobs

Great Reasons to Be Specific in Your NHS Jobs Search

My most frequently asked question: Why do you recommend being specific about the NHS Jobs I want? Many people tell me I should be more general. Here are great reasons to get specific about the job you want - your "right fit" job. Specificity allows you to identify jobs for which you are suited and want to apply. Targeted applications are much more effective than scattershot applications. There are many jobs out there yet there are only a few for which you are qualified and in which you are interested. It's a waste of time to apply for anything other than jobs well-matched to your background and abilities.

Being specific about the job you want allows you to look more effectively at the NHS Jobs marketplace, and it enables other people to help you. You're going to have to get specific sometime, so why not do it consciously? A job hunt is like a trip somewhere. When you know where you're going, it's much easier to map out a route to get there. The challenge is deciding where you are going. Many people find it difficult to commit to a specific goal. The biggest fear is that they'll exclude themselves from too many possibilities.

A major problem with modern NHS Jobs search is that so many people can with the click of a mouse apply for jobs that are totally inappropriate for them. This clogs the recruiters' pipelines and makes it more difficult for qualified candidates to stand out. To cut through the clutter, recruiters use key word search engines to find the most qualified candidates, and they use referrals. It's almost impossible for your resume to get reviewed if you don't have the right key words on your resume or a referral from an insider. For these reasons, it makes no sense to spend any time applying for inappropriate jobs.

Next specificity enables you to market yourself very powerfully to potential employers in four key ways. You can craft a resume and cover letters that are internally consistent and build a clear picture of your abilities and impact in previous NHS Jobs. This gives you a much better chance of rising to the top of the pile and getting an interview. You can show a potential employer how you will help them achieve their goals, building a case based on your past experience, expertise and enthusiasm. You know why you want to do the job, so you can answer that question in an interview.

Employers want to hire someone who wants to work for them, so your desire to do the job will make a difference in an application and an interview. You know what you're looking for in an employer and job, so you can have more confidence in the interview, which avoids the deadly smell of desperation. When you are specific, it's much easier for other people to help you. "What are you looking for?" is the first question people usually ask when they find you're looking for a job. If you say "anything," people don't know how to help you. Don't you get suggestions you immediately reject? I've heard "I just want a job, any job," from many people. Yet when I suggest that they apply at a bookstore or to do sales, they come back with "but I can't do that" or "I don't want to do that." In fact, they are narrowing the NHS Jobs search and getting more specific even though they didn't consciously decide to do that.