Job orientation

It is not enough to try and find a job - you need to get the job that suits you best. In other words: it is no use investing your time and effort in applying for a job you might not actually want. Doing a job you do not particularly like is depressing and does not benefit your career.

Contrary to what you might think, somebody who applies for any remotely suitable job will not find employment faster than somebody who applies selectively. Indeed, the selective applicant will be able to focus more on each separate vacancy. People who blindly apply for different jobs at once however, will be more tempted to write one-size-fits-all letters and CV's.

A self-analysis is ideally suited to help you select the jobs to apply for. It helps you to narrow down your search and enables you to look for jobs more selectively. There are different ways to undertake a self-analysis, but the best starting-point is the initial self-analysis. Afterwards you can choose between different approaches that will narrow down your scope.

• What are your professional preferences? Perform an initial self-analysis .
• What is your market value? Compare your abilities to what recruiters want .
• Do you stand a chance? Find out with a job-specific self-analysis .
• What are my selling points for this job? Do I have any weak spots? Try the SWOT-analysis .
• Reading what it says is not enough. Learn how to read through an ad's lines .

Once you have selected a few ads, the real work starts. Now you have to understand what you are reading.