5 Ps of job-hunting

1. Paint a picture of your desired job. To paraphrase Napoleon Hill, what your mind can conceive, you can achieve. Visualization drives realization. What are the characteristics of the job you desire? What industry, Company and corporate culture? What type of people would you want to work with? What designation and job description do you desire? What salary, allowances and benefits? Painting a picture helps to focus your mind to take the necessary steps up the escalator. Don’t just stagger into a job. 
2. Prepare for the job. Having painted the picture, prepare for your dream job. What qualifications, aptitude, experience and attitude would you need to be considered for the job? Close the gaps you identify through reading, courses, certification, and mentoring by more experienced people in the profession or industry. Do a thorough study of the Company you seek to work in. You are most likely not the only person chasing that job, so you need to be the best you can be. ‘Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men’. 
3. Put in your best in what you currently do. Every job that you do is a preparation for the next one. That has been my experience with hindsight. I have got new jobs based on the experience and performance of jobs that I have done. Even if you are currently unemployed, whatever your hands find to do, do with all your heart and mind. Seek for volunteering opportunities and be useful to people around you. ‘If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones’.  
4. Publicize yourself.  Update your resume. Make it professional. Get tips on creating a best-in-class resume from the internet or HR experts. Send your resume to key influencers and decision makers in the jobs community. Network with purpose and humility. Relate with people who can help you on your way to that desired job. Be active in relevant professional circles. Be visible on professional websites such as Linkedin. This might be sound like a plug, but I find Linkedin increasingly relevant in making connections with headhunters and employers searching for good candidates. A couple of my job moves were triggered on Linkedin. Update your profile and widen your network. 
5. Pray.  I recognize that not everyone that reads this might believe in the existence of God and that He rules in the affairs of humanity. But my experience tells me that prayer and faith do make a difference. Have faith in God and yourself. Quoting Martin Luther King Jnr., ‘Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase’. 

             Take the first step now. Good luck!

Author – Lampe Omoyele